The world needs a new source of energy, an unspillable source.

Random Post

(may be broke/outdated!)

13 Responses

  1. it’s better and the price depends. the carbon emission is lesser using natural gas. hydrogen fuel cells is not good as oil or bio-diesel in running cars.

  2. It is too expensive. There is no distribution system that can handle fueling these cars. It would cost billions to build one but gas companies wont build it because there are no cars to use it and they lose billions. Car companies wont build cars if there is nowhere to fuel them because they would lose billions.

  3. hydrogen fuel cell cars ARE being seriously considered. in fact honda is about to put a hydrogen fuel cell car on the road in a few areas. in fact all the major automakers are developing hydrogen fuel cell cars for future production. the problem is that there in NO infrastructure to support refueling a hydrogen fuel cell car at the moment.

    natural gas is currently available, the cost of building the infrastructure is modest, and converting an internal combustion engine is fairly easy, and reasonably priced. the other advantage of cng is that it buys time to build the infrastructure for other alternative fuels including hydrogen.

  4. Neither hydrogen nor natural gas is a viable option.

    Hydrogen has major problems. Fuel cells require platinum right now, so they’re incredibly expensive. Honda is leasing their fuel cell car for $600/month, and that’s just a lease! Then there’s the fact that there’s no fueling infrastructure, which will cost billions to build. And the fact that you’ve got to get hydrogen from somewhere, and currently 96% comes from fossil fuels. More reasons at the link below.
    http://greenhome.huddler.com/wiki/hydrogen-cars

    Natural gas has many of the same problems. In fact, nearly half of our hydrogen comes from natural gas. At least there is some infrastructure – most homes have natural gas lines, but you would need to buy or lease the equipment to fuel up your car with it. Honda also sells a natural gas Civic, and it costs like $70/month to lease the fueling equipment. And there aren’t natural gas stations all over the place, so you can basically only fuel up at home.

    There’s also the problem that the US doesn’t have all that much natural gas. It’s not a renewable resource, and we get much of our natural gas from abroad.

    Electric cars are the best solution, which is why virtually every major automaker is developing plug-in hybrids, fully electric cars, or both. The infrastructure is easy – you can install a power outlet virtually anywhere. They’re so efficient that they create lower emissions than gas cars even when most of the power comes from coal. The technology is advancing rapidly. That’s the future of our transportation.

  5. Neither, it is just one more option.

    For a reason AGAINST Hydrogen, look up the “hindenburg disaster”. This was a hydrogen filled dirigible.

    The main problem is transport and storage, with ANY easily ignited and/or explosive fuel.

  6. Dear Noah,
    *****For an automobile, the problem is the fuel tank.
    To get any range, the tank is so big and heavy that
    for us common folk that gasoline is more practical.
    Also, where do you get the hydrogen? Usually
    from petroleum. If you can find another source that
    is cheaper and simpler, then maybe it will go.
    To get hydrogen from water, you have to put much
    more energy in than you get out. So you need a
    source of energy that is very, very cheap.
    *****An electric car with common batteries seems
    to work well but range is very limited (fifty miles).
    Then you must plug it in for a while. If you drive
    twenty miles to work it will work for you. The
    oil companies seem to have us “by the short hairs”!

  7. Look at the statistics of how many car crashs happen daily. Hydrogen, being the most reactive element known to man, will kill us before we make a major impact on global warming. If two cars crash, the blast from the fuel cell will be devastating. Also its VERY expensive.

  8. As previous posters have stated….. the cost is prohibitive.
    Natural gas (in spite of what a previous poster stated) is plentiful in this country and is readily available. Natural gas refueling stations are relatively easy to install, as the pipeline infrastructure in already in place. Obviously, Natural Gas is a cleaner alternative to regular gasoline….. and especially cleaner when compared to gasoline with ethanol in it!

  9. Hydrogen is not a viable energy source and it’s an inefficient means of storing energy. You need to either produce it with electrolysis or ‘reform’ it from natural gas as Dana states. In either case you lose a lot of the potential energy and with natural gas you actually cause more harmful emissions than compressed natural gas would release (overall). Then you’d need to build a network of stations to refuel your car or restrict yourself to a small radius around your home refueling station. There are a few good things about the Honda FCX and similar vehicles but many more negatives.

    The main problem with hydrogen fuel cells is that they require exotic materials that are very expensive and the cells need to be replaced regularly. So, you have no infrastructure, a fuel that is not cost effective to make, that is highly combustible and must be kept in a pressurized tank, and fuel cells that are prohibitively expensive and wear out quickly. That’s too many negatives for hydrogen to overcome so it’s a good thing we have so many good alternatives.

    Ethanol from switchgrass or algae, compressed natural gas, and electric cars are all much more promising than hydrogen fuel cells. We do have enormous reserves of natural gas and increasing prices have led to discoveries of even more reserves, not less but using compressed natural gas in cars would only be good as a temporary replacement for gasoline until we have enough electric cars and the infrastructure to charge them.

Why aren’t hydrogen fuel cells being seriously considered?

It seems like hydrogen fuel cells were all the hype a few years ago, and now everyone wants to turn to natural gas. Why? Is natural gas that much better or cheaper?