Hydrogen girlie man?

Posted by Lisa Hymas at 1:21 PM on 12 Nov 2004

Read more about: Arnold Schwarzenegger | energy | hydrogen

Schwarzenegger blusters on about building a Hydrogen Highway in "the great state of California," but little ol' D.C. has beat him to the punch on one key front. This week, the District of Columbia became host to the first hydrogen-dispensing pump at a public gas station in North America.

Green-leaning folks may or may not think the hydrogen revolution is an admirable or even attainable goal, but it seems to be inching forward nonetheless. Or, considering the fact that the new Shell-owned pump will be servicing a mere six demonstration minivans owned by GM, millimetering forward?

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams could take a few lessons from Arnold on enthusiasm, though. "This is a good thing, unless I'm missing something," was the most effusive praise he could muster at the opening bash for the new pump.

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Hydrogen girlie man?

I'd like to know how much the per gallon equalvalent to CNG or Gasoline Hydrogen is at the pump. I know from the EPA Fuel Economy Site that the Honda FCV costs 1600 dollars a year for fuel. The Nissan Altra EV or the Prius is in the 300 dollar range with the Altra being slightly less expensive to run than the Prius. Lawrence Rhodes.......

by lawrencerhodes at 5:36 PM on 12 Nov 2004

Hydrogen Economy Sustainable?

Have we (scientists) developed a sustainable method for creating hydrogen? (Hydrogen cannot simply be harvested from the earth as oil can.) How will such vast amounts of hydrogen, enough to supply the energy based economies of the world, be produced? Moreover, problems arise from the extremely small size of the hydrogen atom. Most notable is that when transported in pipelines, as oil is today, a fair percentage of the hydrogen would leak from the pipes. Ah, and then one thinks of the dwindling supply of oil and knows, as is most often the case, that sustainability issues will not be taken into consideration in developing economies based on a 'new' energy source. So, that being said, what are the implications for the future of earth?

by Bla82 at 6:57 AM on 13 Nov 2004

hydrogen is a distraction

I hope you all know how they plan to produce the hydrogen- it takes tremendous energy to separate the hydrogen atom from parent molecules. The current plan is to use (yes, you guessed it), oil. Or, maybe nuclear. Not only will there be pollution created (somewhere else) in the production of hydrogen, but as pointed out earlier, the storage and transport of the hydrogen will not be cheap. Its common knowledge that when Bush made hydrogen his vision for the future, he cut off funding to automakers gearing up to mass produce hybrid cars (which would have easily cut fuel consumption by new cars in half) to fund his vision for the future (of his oil producing friends, that is).

Did you see the article about the French car that runs on compressed air- you charge up the tank at night (sure, this takes energy, but it could be produced with wind or solar) and then you get something like 60 miles at 60mph on the charged up tank. It emitts a cool breeze as it runs. But of course, the car and it's occupant would soon be nick-named the 'sissy-mobile' around he-ar.

a liberal in redsville

by birdboy at 6:31 PM on 16 Nov 2004

ADVERTISING POLICY

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