Posted on 05/20/2023 4:03:16 AM PDT by FarCenter
Japanese motorcycle makers Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha will work together to develop hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines for “small mobility.” In addition to motorcycles, that is likely to include various hydrogen-powered mini-vehicles, small marine vessels, construction equipment and drones.
Each company will develop its own final products. Their current product lines give an indication of what those might be in addition to those mentioned above: three- and four-wheeled minicars, all-terrain and off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, jet skis, outboard motors for small boats, golf carts and multi-purpose engines for the likes of lawn mowers and generators.
The four companies announced this week that they had received approval from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to form a “Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine technology” (HySE) research association with Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and Toyota Motor as supporting members.
The association’s R&D efforts will be focused on the functionality, performance and reliability of hydrogen-powered engines and the fueling system, including small hydrogen tanks and related equipment.
Japan’s idea of green
The companies participating in HySE, other Japanese auto companies and the Japanese government favor “a multi-pathway strategy” to move beyond gasoline engines and achieve zero-emission transportation.
They have been relatively slow to embrace battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), preferring hybrids and continuing to develop alternatives including hydrogen fuel cells and now hydrogen internal combustion engines. For this, they have been harshly criticized by Greenpeace and other decarbonization purists.
In response, Toyota’s chief scientist, Gill Pratt, explains that when it comes to carbon neutrality (the term for having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks), “diversity is strength.”
Pratt has been CEO of Toyota Research Institute (TRI) since 2016. Before that, he spent several years at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he led the Robotics Challenge, Robotics Research and Neuromorphic Computing research programs. He says,
Making a BEV [battery electric vehicle] requires up to six times more critical minerals than a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle. What’s more, while a battery plant can be built in two to three years, a new mine takes 10 to 15 years to be operational. As a result, despite the planet’s abundance of untapped battery minerals, many experts including the IEA [International Energy Agency] forecast a 30-50% shortfall in battery minerals over the next 10-20 years (roughly the lifespan of an automobile).
Kudos to your sarcasm as well, FRiend. ;-)
Where are the hydrogen mines located? How is the refined hydrogen transported to point of consumption? What about the greenhouse gas emissions from the conversion of the hydrogen into that most notorious greenhouse gas of all, water vapor?
So many questions so few answers.
It was in gas form not liquid form major difference.
Fuel cells work
Ding!
Reality is a challenge these days.
The British Top Gear guys said hydrogen power was at least worth exploring so that’s good enough for me.
+++++++++++++
You are going to hitch your wagon to that?
I’d consider that over a battery car that’s for sure
Hydrogen is near impossible to store. Plus it will blow up or start a fire you cannot see until you are on fire.
All in the name of "clean energy"...nevermind the slave pits where children are forced to mine for lithium, all so we can feel better about ourselves.
If hydrogen can be made safely and economically, then by all means go for it.
If hydrogen can be used as a positive fuel source, then by all means do it.
The irony is that right now most hydrogen is derived from nat gas.
If we ever return to a point of energy surplus (i.e., establishment of modern nuclear power, as opposed to the antique plants now operating), safely & economically will quickly follow for sourcing hydrogen from its natural source: Water.
Solar cells produce electricity that separates water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Hydrogen fuels automobiles
So, we need more wind turbines and solar cells to produce the planet saving hydrogen
QED
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