YouTube video of GM's HyWire in action
GM's hydrogen-powered HyWire is not your typical car. All controls are in the steering "wheel" and the chassis is easily changeable. It's only a concept car, but the BBC Prime show Top Gear took the only HyWire in existence for a bit of a test drive recently. The test drive is kind of cool to watch (which you can do over on YouTube). Top Gear correspondent James May takes the car out about a minute into the video (the first minute is dedicated to the Mazda RX 8). The HyWire is not a new concept (it was introduced to the public a few years ago. Here's a write up from the 2002 Paris Motor Show.), but it's cool to see one driving around. Of course, no mention of hydrogen cars would be complete without the standard "the hydrogen economy is 15-20 years away" disclaimer, which May admits at the end of the clip. Sigh.
[Source: BBC Prime via Top Gear. Hat tip to Martijn]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Vikram Dhaliwal 11:33AM (6/30/2006)
"The hydrogen market is 15-20 years away"
It is unfortunate that such a potential fuel market is given a comparitively large window for market penetration. But it's justified for various reasons:
1.) The greatest source of hydrogen generation today is the reformation of methane. A process that counter-intuitively results in immense green-house emissions.
2.) There is no feasible method of storing hydrogen for distribution on a grand scale. Hydrogen 'embrittles' most containers which means it leaks out of the tightest of fixtures and containers do to it's molecular size. Aside from this, hydrogen has a high energy/density ratio - and large volumes of hydrogen usually yield better energy efficiency.
3.) Not only is storage an issue - so is tranportation and distribution. Hydrogen is a powerfully explosive fuel and could cause some spectacular problems especially sitting in a cell of an engine.
There are some key obstacles that are currently being addressed and researched as we speak. The biggest proponents of hydrogen as a feul source are energy companies that see the future of our demand warrant the shift from non-renewable resources to more renewable ones.
(I'm currently modelling a pilot for the generation of hydrogen via ethanol reformation, which is a much more renewable resource with processes yielding fractional formation of greenhouse emissions, favorable hydrogen production and at the same cost/kg produced numbers as methane today.)
Cheers
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Howard Lee Harkness 12:14PM (6/30/2006)
Vikram Dhaliwal summed up the problems very well, but he is still far more optimistic than I am about hydrogen. I don't see a "hydrogen economy" in 15-20, or even 150-200 years. The fact that hydrogen is not a source of energy at all, but only a relatively poor storage mechanism, is a show-stopper.
Even if hydrogen can be (relatively) economically produced from ethanol, ethanol is problematic in itself. Like the conversion of methane, production of ethanol typically uses fossil fuels because that is cheaper than burning the ethanol itself (DOH!).
Biodiesel, on the other hand, doesn't require several entirely new technologies to be invented, and it has recently reached a "tipping point" in price. Not to mention that a gallon of biodiesel contains more hydrogen than a gallon of liquid hydrogen. I'd like to see more research into cleaner, more efficient use of biodiesel (and SVO).
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Vikram Dhaliwal 4:53PM (6/30/2006)
That's a valid point. Biodeisel is a promising venture because it pivots two industries (the food-processing and energy) to develop effective solutions for the future.
Ethanol production is actually fast becoming less dependant non-renewable resources to drive the process. Ethanol starts off as either sugarcane, corn, or beets. It is then fermented - a process in which, yes, energy is expended to create ethanol and further extraction to produce ethane. But given the emissions depicted and the potential to convert ethanol production to be fueled by ethanol/alternative energy resources, I believe it to be a strong candidate for hydrogen production in the future.
Biodiesel and ULSD (Ultra-low sulfur diesel) are gaining credible shares in market demand. Unfortunately, the infrastructure is still lacking on all fronts - be they hydrogen or diesel or any other alternative renewable energy on the market.
We need to lobby for regulations that push companies to explore the various ways of networking and distributing such resources instead of just focusing on the production end.
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