Ubiquitous Hydrogen Power Not Getting Any Closer 267
NewScientist has a story about the "hydrogen economy" that has been resting on the horizon for a decade or more. Despite a great deal of enthusiasm for and research into hydrogen-based power systems, the technology seems just as far away from everyday use as it's always been. A British startup, ITM Power, has recently claimed a breakthrough in lowering production costs by using a nickel catalyst (rather than platinum) with a membrane small enough for home use. But, even if their method is proven and adopted, it still wouldn't address huge energy efficiency problems in the process. "The point was made forcefully by Gary Kendall of the conservation group WWF in a recent report called Plugged In (PDF, pgs. 135-149). Kendall, a chemist who previously spent almost a decade working for ExxonMobil, highlights how the energy losses in the fuel chain - from electrolysis to compression of the hydrogen for use to inefficiencies in the fuel cell itself — mean that only 24 per cent of the energy used to make the fuel does any useful work on the road."
re: solution. (Score:2, Funny)
I have a solution.
Clone dinosaurs. Bury them. Use the oil they turn into.
Cryogenic freezing in the meantime powered by the sun.
Over-seen by Skynet.
YAY.
Well, damn, who'd have thought... (Score:5, Funny)
that converting chemical energy to heat, then to movement, then to electricity, then to hydrogen, then to electricity, then to movement might not be the be turning out to be such a great idea after all...
Re:Of course not, Exxon doesn't make $ from H (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What I still don't get is... (Score:2, Funny)
What you fail to mention is that the far majority of hydrogen is generated by electrolysis.
The algae thing is rather new, and takes up a lot space, and generates almost no hydrogen (last I checked) and is nothing but a mere curiosity, almost like a science project to say "look what I can do".
Then, as for solar energy, just make electricity, thats what we want at the other end anyways. If we generate hydrogen its just to make electricity, so just make electricity and be done with it.
Nuclear energy, see previous comment.
And lastly our "Neanderthal-style" system, is pretty much the only one used.
But, you know, even if that all was magically solved, because we all farted hydrogen, and cows farted hydrogen, and cars gave off hydrogen instead of CO2, what you always come down to is: How do you store the hydrogen? You can't! It is very difficult to store hydrogen in a compressed from.
So, the final nail in the hydrogen coffin is you cant store it.
That should be default answer I think.
Hydro- YOU CAN'T STORE IT
Breaking news: new method of hydrogen instantly coverts anything people touch into hydrogen without any effort or energy! - But, we still can't store it!
Guess what, I have a magic lamp, and my first wish was that all the water in the world becomes hydrogen. To bad we can't store it. (And that were all dead because there isn't any water in our bodies anymore)
Billy: "Guess what Bob, I made a fuel cell car in my garage!"
Bob: "Excellent Billy, to bad there is no way for you to carry around enough hydrogen for your car to actually be useful."
Billy: "Thanks for ruining my life's work Bob, go get hit by a bus!"
Bob: "Oh no! 32 bits of data!"
Sigh, I think I've just lost it.