aparantly (acording to conspiracy theorists) a load of Technology students in America started running thier cars on Hydrogen in the 1970's only to have thier Houses burnt down.
probarbly a load of rubbish
Absolutely a load of rubbish. It takes more energy to free a mole of hydrogen from its feed-stock than is gotten from the utilization of it in a vehicle (fuel cell or burning). The only real gain from a hydrogen economy is the reduction in emissions from the vehicles utilizing it as a fuel source. Unfortunately, that pollution is made-up for at the power plant that feeds the electrolysis or hydrocarbon-cracking plant. So, instead of a bunch of vehicles spreading the pollution out over a city, it's all concentrated at the power plant where possibly it can be better managed with electrostatic scrubbers or whatever in the stacks.
Technological advances with fuel cells probably show the most promise as the feedstock is converted to energy with much greater efficiency than simple burning. Precious metal catalysts are the current hang-up since the available supply isn't great enough for total conversion of the world's vehicle fleets.
Edited by FrankRizzo, 23 April 2006 - 10:37 PM.
