Honda Leases Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car To Family -- Prepare For Hydrogen Hype
from the enjoy! dept
Honda has apparently leased the first hydrogen fuel cell car to a family. They've leased a few in the past to local governments and a few companies, but this is the first real family to get one. They're planning to lease a few more as well -- all in California (which makes some sense, given the obsession around these parts for electric and hybrid cars). Of course, while Honda may learn a little bit about how the car performs under real world conditions, at this point it's more of a publicity stunt. Real production of such cars is still a long way off. Also, the whole emphasis on "zero emissions" may be a bit of a red herring. The car itself may not emit anything, but the production of the hydrogen for the fuel cell most likely involved some level of emissions.
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Bunk
Basic laws of Physics say that in order for a car to have a hydrogen gas tank that stores as much potential energy as a gasoline tank, it would have to be the size of a house and be pressurized to hundreds of atmospheres, i.e. it would turn city blocks into lunar craters if someone smoked a cigarette at the wrong place and wrong time.
One workaround is the use of metal hydride batteries, though these are also caustic substances that have a tendency to create lunar craters for car applications.
Hydrogen gas, composed of rather tiny molecules, also has a nasty tendency to leak through any containers that hold them. People who work with hydrogen gas have been known to spontaneously explode from the inside out.
But that might be fun, it would make Silicon Valley truly look like Mars.
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Re: Bunk
"...People who work with hydrogen gas have been known to spontaneously explode from the inside out...."
if we can somehow find a way to harness the potential energy of all the crap that comes out of your head we can do away with gasoline and hydrogen altogether.
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No Subject Given
Mike,
here s 2 videos of the Honda FCX, released by Honda as VNR s, showing the car at a Hydrogen refuellling station in Japan where power is provided by a hydroelectric plant, and a winter start test for the car in freezing weather in Hokkaido
cheers
Lorenzo
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No Subject Given
Yeah, I was about to say that not all energy grids are powered by gasoline turbines and its certainly possible to build more power generation facilities that don't use gas.
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No Subject Given
Please do not feed the Dorpus. It only makes him cranky.
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Hydrogen can be dirtier than gasoline
Here's an excellent page that explains hydrogen powered cars, with some good car pictures. Dorpus - I suspect they are looking for investors - with your expertise in this subject you'd be exactly the sort of person they want. With the profits you could afford your own Website.
United Nuclear
Hydrogen is not a pre-existing source of energy like fossil fuels, but a carrier, much like a battery ... The largest apparent advantages are that it could be produced and consumed continuously as well as cleanly using solar, wind and nuclear power for electrolysis. However, hydrogen production methods currently utilizing hydrocarbons would actually be more pollutive than direct consumption of the fossil fuels.
Wikipedia
"produc[ing] hydrogen will be as fossil fuel-dependent -- and potentially as dirty -- as the one that fuels today's SUVs. According to the administration's National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, drafted last year in concert with the energy industry, up to 90 percent of all hydrogen will be refined from oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels... The remaining 10 percent will be cracked from water using nuclear energy."
Mother Jones
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Lease -
lease = "Its a prototype. you can't keep it"
When the first electric cars came out in California, the companies would only lease them. Several owners (leasees) were quite upset when they weren't allowed to renew their leases after the pilot test was completed.
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Re: Bunk
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