Popular Mechanics gives us the truth about hydrogen
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Popular Mechanics is giving their readers the truth about hydrogen, describing what it thinks are the four major roadblocks to the hydrogen economy: production, storage, distribution and use. While a number of technologies are available to produce hydrogen, they each have their specific drawbacks. To produce hydrogen without producing carbon emissions, electricity generated from renewable resources can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The next generation of nuclear plants also promise to produce hydrogen without carbon emissions, but there are clearly other concerns when considering this option. When it comes to storing hydrogen, the different solutions either require significant amount of energy, or result in very large tanks or very heavy tanks. It sounds a lot like choosing between three evils. As for distribution, pipelines and local production sound like the solutions that are the most interesting.
While some see a hydrogen economy where everything is powered by the simplest element in the universe, the most promising use of hydrogen is in transportation. Whether hydrogen will be burned in internal combustion engines, or powering fuel cells, it might not be the silver bullet some people think it is, but it does have its place in a future where a whole array of energy alternatives will be available.
[Source: Popular Mechanics]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Lee Harkness 8:33AM (10/19/2006)
"Whether hydrogen will be burned in internal combustion engines, or powering fuel cells, it might not be the silver bullet some people think it is, but it does have its place in a future where a whole array of energy alternatives will be available."
WRONG. Using hydrogen as a fuel is insanely stupid. For starters, it isn't even remotely 'green'.
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christopher 8:43AM (10/19/2006)
We covered this article on Energista as well. It seems to me that hydrogen will be totally inconvenient for most people and will not live up to the hype it currently has, but I don't want to totally write it off yet. There is too much innovation that remains to be seen as to whether it is useful at the margins or not.
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George Krpan 12:10AM (10/21/2006)
They ought to call it Hype-drogen.
It would require an entirely new distribution system. It would have to be built way better than the current system because hydrogen is leak prone. It would need more maintenance because it is so corrosive. There would be way more trucks on the road delivering hydrogen to filling stations because hydrogen takes up more volume than gasoline. James Howard Kunstler covers this topic in The Long Emergency.
I recently read somewhere that Honda was planning to have an at home hydrogen generator. That sounds good but how efficient could that be?
More efficient than batteries?
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