Posted on 04/01/2014 10:59:40 AM PDT by kingattax
Hydrogen-powered cars are coming to U.S. dealerships. But will Americans buy them?
Toyota (NYSE: TM ) is betting that at least a few Americans will be willing to pay for a car that runs on hydrogen. The company is expected to launch a production version of its FCV Concept vehicle in Japan, the U.S., and Europe next year.
The FCV Concept is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Essentially, it's an electric car that extracts its energy from compressed hydrogen, instead of a battery. Advocates of fuel-cell-powered cars say they're just as clean as battery-electrics -- their only "exhaust" is water vapor -- but they can be smaller and lighter in weight, because they don't have heavy battery packs.
Toyota isn't the only company making this bet. Hyundai (NASDAQOTH: HYMTF ) is already selling a fuel cell version of its Tucson SUV in Southern California. And Honda (NYSE: HMC ) is expected to launch a new hydrogen car of its own in 2015.
(Excerpt) Read more at fool.com ...
Hydrogen has a future, but it’s not yet par with gasoline in terms of work load vs tank load.
It’s also made from the reformation process called Gasification that many coal plants in the 1800s and 1900s in the US for street lights and cooking.
You know what else is in “towngas”? (Also called “producer gas” these days)
Carbon monoxide! Yeah, it will burn 1 more time to produce CO2, but your house better be WELL ventilated if you’re using it.
Today’s homes are too well insulated for that. Too bad in a way - if everyone had their own gasifier, we’d be more energy independent.
Hydrogen is not a fuel. It is an energy storage medium.
I gave up my GMC Yukon years ago for a Toyota Prius and I have not regretted it for a minute. I am also 6’3’’ 250 pounds and I get 48-53 MPG regularly. I would look into anything that Toyota makes.
Hydrogen does not behave well at room temperature at anywhere from a 5% to a 95% concentration.
Can you say BOOOOOOMMMMM?????!!!!!
I thought you could.
Oh it will be a fight for sure and conservatives will need to lead the charge. In this instance though we would be able to use their own green movement against them which will be so delightful to see...
I think a good basic rule of thumb is, if it flams, it’s dangerous.
I would buy anything made by Toyota before I buy a Government Motors Car.
“Hydrogen cars generate DiHydrogen Monoxide which is a potent green house gas....”
Yes, and it can be fatal if you inhale too much of it.
Yes, I’ve studied gasification, especially for the purpose of powering a generator. I understand chemistry as well so I know what a H2 + O2 reaction produces.
One sentence jumped out at me from your post - are you implying that they used to somehow separate the carbon monoxide out of the producer gas before it was piped to homes?
I can’t see that as being cost effective, if even possible with that contemporary technology.
Hindenberg ping. Thanks kingattax.
“or possibly by microbes (the latter is not done on any major scale yet, AFAIK”
Not yet. If feasible I think that is the way to go.
“DiHydrogen Monoxide which is a potent green house gas....”
And a deadly chemical that causes death.
Not really.
You can’t just dig a hole in the ground and find hydrogen. So we get hydrogen either by very inefficient electrolysis or a chemical process that has hydrogen as a byproduct. Both are expensive and not efficient.
Every car runs on a battery - every single one of them. The battery, or energy storage device in my car is 14 gallons of gasoline...in a Nissan Leaf its a lithium battery...in a hydrogen car its a tank of hydrogen. In every one of these, potential energy is stored, and converted into kinetic energy.
So, the search for the best fuel comes down to cost, efficiency, weight of the storage device, range, availability of refueling stations.
How does hydrogen stack up? Its like 40% efficient at converting electrical energy to hydrogen...so that’s terrible cost wise. I’ve got a hunch that the range per lb of a hydrogen fuel cell is less than what a gas tank gives you...another drawback. Availability? Hydrogen is corrosive, and the existing pipeline infrastructure could not move hydrogen around...so it has to be trucked all over the place (ethanol has a similar problem for different reasons). This makes it difficult to imagine a large scale network of hydrogen stations. And also its probably too dangerous for John Q Public to fuel up since its high pressure(U-Haul never lets you fuel your own propane tank, for example). So its destined to be used in fleets only. Frankly, hydrogen won’t be the fuel of the future.
I think natural gas will be the alternate fuel of the future. Now there will be great resistance, since its a ‘fossil fuel’....nobody understands that natural gas very well may be what is being used to create hydrogen. But at the end of the day, natural gas is more viable.
Gracie, you're all wet on this one... ;)
I’d rather have fuel cell tech for the home even if it wasn’t enough to power everything.
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