Thursday, October 07, 2004
Next Step
I wrote yesterday about the inherent problems of hydrogen-fuelled cars. Today, I see an article that really ought to have made more national headlines, but addresses (partially) some of my concerns.
This truck is an interesting proof-of-concept, as if something slapped together by hobbyists can fuel itself a few miles at a time, one hopes that, say NASA, can do an order of magnitude (or two) better. And as solar panels and hydrogen cells get become smaller and more efficient, the idea comes closer to reality.
As the first idea that popped into my head, that it could produce hydrogen all the time, even when parked, and so store up for longer trips, I remembered problem number three: hydrogen is tricky to store. And driving around with big (even petrol-size, 21 gallons) tanks of H2 just doesn't seem like a good idea, for crash (and pothole)-prone autos. Time will tell.
This truck is an interesting proof-of-concept, as if something slapped together by hobbyists can fuel itself a few miles at a time, one hopes that, say NASA, can do an order of magnitude (or two) better. And as solar panels and hydrogen cells get become smaller and more efficient, the idea comes closer to reality.
As the first idea that popped into my head, that it could produce hydrogen all the time, even when parked, and so store up for longer trips, I remembered problem number three: hydrogen is tricky to store. And driving around with big (even petrol-size, 21 gallons) tanks of H2 just doesn't seem like a good idea, for crash (and pothole)-prone autos. Time will tell.
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