Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Maybe never. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross discusses some of the problems: Can Hydrogen Cars Reduce America's Oil Dependence?
In addition to the cost of the car, one must consider the cost of the fueling infrastructure needed to make hydrogen vehicles a viable replacement. British Petroleum’s chief scientist noted in 2003 that for hydrogen to succeed as a transportation fuel “it has to be available in 30 to 50% of the retail network from the day the first mass manufactured cars hit the showrooms.” Joseph J. Romm, who served in a number of high-level positions in the Clinton administration’s Department of Energy, writes in his definitive 2005 book The Hype About Hydrogen that “a hydrogen fueling infrastructure alone based on current commercial or near-commercial technology could cost more than a half trillion dollars.”
A fueling infrastructure would cost more for hydrogen than for other alternatives to petroleum, such as biofuels. Standard liquid fuel tanks are insufficient for hydrogen distribution since hydrogen can only be converted to liquid form at -423 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees from absolute zero). Thus, Brookings Institution energy and environment scholar David Sandalow notes in his 2008 book Freedom from Oil that in order to carry hydrogen, fuel service stations would require new varieties of tanks “capable of handling pressurized gaseous material or supercooled liquid.” The cost to these stations would be high...
Etc. It's not all about an initial investment in infrastructure, no matter how much you're willing to spend. There are serious issues with the choice of hydrogen as a fuel that make it less appealing than other sources.
How about compressed air?
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Chicken and egg ? we all loose as long as we use Arab oil...
1) "The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones"
So what is the superceding/transformative technology that will end the oil era?
Arguably - the computer. Advances in computing and communicatins technology will eliminate more and more actual travel and make shipping more efficient. This is already happening, and bringing the same social/cultural changes that the autombile brought.
2) About a year ago, Israeli scientists patented a system that generated small amounts of hydrogen and oxygen on-board (by splitting water molecules) using waste energy recovered from the car's exhaust.
The hydrogen and oxygen were injected into the engine's cylinders, where they increased the efficiency of fuel combustion - more energy, cleaner exhaust.
Don't know who bought them out.
Such a system could allow more efficient use of marginal fuels - which leads to:
3) There is currently a world surplus of high-sulfur "sour" crude oil. India and some other 3rd world countries are investing in the more expensive refinery equipment that can handle this feedstock.
Joseph Romm writes in the MIT Technology Review:
Most egregious: where, exactly, does the Times think hydrogen comes from? Santa Claus?
Hee, hee, should bloggers tell him something about the NYT?
Americans should be pushing for nuclear power plants right now to try and get the most out of electricity and reduce the need for petroleum to a minimum.
Kerry and co., can't complain cause the French are generating some 75% of their energy needs through NP.