View Single Post
Old 08-10-2009, 11:49 PM   #43 (permalink)
RobertSmalls
Left Lane Ecodriver
 
RobertSmalls's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Posts: 2,257

Prius C - '12 Toyota Prius C
Thanks: 79
Thanked 287 Times in 200 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by hyperyaris View Post
Why would anyone not?? It is almost free energy, no pollutants, incredible mileage, and tons of torque! It outperforms any gasolione engine known to man.
This is exactly the kind of nonsense that you occasionally read in some newspaper whose circulation is lagging. The energy is not free by any means. Producing H2 from CH4 means you have less CH4 available to burn, and producing it from H2O consumes enormous amounts of electricity, which has to come from somewhere.


So you ask, what if we build a wind farm or a solar array to produce that H2? Wouldn't it then be pollution-free and 100% renewable? Well, yes, if compressing and transporting the H2 was also done with renewable energy. But if you can afford a wind farm of that size, you should use it to put fossil fuel fired power plants out of business.

As NeilBlanchard points out, H2 directly competes with batteries as an energy storage medium, and it's far less efficient. The only advantage I see is that you refill the anode rather than recharging it, so you can drive as far as you like without stopping long to refuel. Fast-charging EV batteries would be the death of the HFCV, and even the fuel cell's strongest proponents admit it's a transient technology, rather than the final solution to our transportation energy needs.
  Reply With Quote