by MonteQuest » Fri 29 Sep 2006, 00:11:52
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Micki', ' ')I have some difficulties in understanding the complaints people bring up that hydrogen is not an energy and therefore not a solution. OK, that is true, but hydrogen can be charged with electricity and we will have access to electricity long after we run out of oil.
So until someone thinks of something better, I think it still is an interesting alternative to petrol. Perhaps not yet economically viable and efficient enough, but we got to start somewhere.
Hydrogen must be made from an
existing energy source.
Currently, that is mostly natural gas which will go into decline shortly after oil.
2nd law of thermodynamics says you will get less energy from doing this than you started with.
Electricity is not an energy source either, it must be made from an existing energy source like oil, coal, natural gas, or uranium. You can use solar or wind and electroysis to separate the H2 from H20 and produce hydrogen.
With the last two, we have scalability issues. And to use conventional electricity sources, this also assumes we will have
excess electrical capacity to feed a heat sink like hydrogen post -peak.
I doubt that very much.
A Saudi saying, "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son will ride a camel."