Thursday, June 09, 2005

Hydrogen Hoax

Hydrogen itself may be non-polluting, but there is a sting in the tail. It is produced either as a by-product of the coal, oil or gas industries, or by splitting water molecules using copious amounts of electricity, often generated by nuclear power plants.

No current production technique is non-polluting.

“If you produce hydrogen from coal or oil, you still have some emissions,” admitted Dietrich. “That’s why we have to find sustainable ways of producing hydrogen.”

Researchers are pinning their hopes on solar-based production, a method Michelin is working on now.

Specialists say that eliminating pollution from the production process will also boost hydrogen’s chances of mainstream success.

“If you can introduce a method for producing hydrogen cheaply and cleanly, this would probably the best argument for its use,” Wokaun told swissinfo."

Well then, that would be a good argument if we could produce hydrogen cheaply and cleanly, but we can't. So why are we persuing hydrogen? Electricity can drive autos....batteries aren't as dangerous as hydrogen. Seems to me that just a few improvements in battery technology and we could have great electric autos that could charge themselves (like hybrids) during braking, take an 80% charge in 10 minutes and have a range of 200 miles. Sure, electricity isn't clean, but it could be with improvements to the electrical grid and forward thinking about nuclear power, fusion, etc.
Why waste time on hydrogen? My guess...it's another behind-the-curtain giveaway to big oil. What will they do when the oil runs dry...well, they'll be in the hydrogen business! Even oil companies gotta plan for the future, a future without oil.
Stopping air pollution is a noble goal, but hydrogen does not address that. Sure, water vapor will come from the hydrogen-powered auto, but the plant that makes they hydrogen will be burning fossil fuels, or be powered by electricity. So why not just power the autos with electricity?
Oh yeah, the article I linked to is pro-hydrogen, and the part I quoted is at the very end of the article.