If it actually is that inexpensive then it would cost less than gasoline for equivalent energy output.Scientists have developed a large-scale economical method to extract hydrogen (H2) from oil sands (natural bitumen) and oil fields. This can be used to power hydrogen-powered vehicles, which are already marketed in some countries, as well as to generate electricity; hydrogen is regarded as an efficient transport fuel, similar to petrol and diesel, but with no pollution problems. The process can extract hydrogen from existing oil sands reservoirs, with huge existing supplies found in Canada and Venezuela. Interestingly, this process can be applied to mainstream oil fields, causing them to produce hydrogen instead of oil.Hydrogen powered vehicles, including cars, buses, and trains, have been in development for many years. These vehicles have been acknowledged to be efficient, but the high price of extracting the Hydrogen from oil reserves has meant that the technology has not been economically viable. Now a group of Canadian engineers have developed a cheap method of extracting H2 from oil sands.
Prediction: since the whole "Climate Change" nonsense is politically (rather than scientifically) motivated, the Usual Suspects® will start coming up with reasons that this is bad for the environment. My guess is that they will say that burning hydrogen produces water vapor (true) which is the most prevalent greenhouse gas, responsible for ~ 80% of the greenhouse warming (also true). So they will claim that water is a pollutant, just like they claim that carbon dioxide is a pollutant. I mean, the economy isn't going to change itself into a Grand Socialist Experiment, so they need something to complain about.
13 comments:
Yep, forcing the agenda down our throats at all costs...
It sounds good, but then so do a lot of things. I guess time will tell. I always wonder what the unexpected effects are.
Your prediction paragraph took the words right out of my mouth.
By their refusal to consider anything except solar and wind, both of which need to be backed up by equivalent power plants running on something else, they demonstrate this isn't about CO2 it's about destroying modern civilization. Some of them will tell you they want to kill off over 90% of humanity. Most won't.
They'll object to something about hydrogen power.
Well, the solution is to have a condenser installed. More 'forward' thinking places will probably require condensed water to be stored and 'returned' to the state at the owners' expense. Because illegally collecting water is illegal, after all...
They've been crowing about hydrogen cars for, like, forever. Just two problems.
1. Water is the death of moving parts, whether they be steel (really bad) or aluminum (just, over a long time, bad.) Gas or diesel tend to have no negative effects on metals. I remember when water was called 'The Universal Solvent' because, eventually, it breaks almost anything down.
2. H2 is a slippery molecule. Smallest molecule around. You can have some slop in a gas or diesel system, or a propane system, but hydrogen requires a tightness and fit far above anything else on the market. Which means, like German Zeppelins in WWI, there will be an inevitable loss from slippering gas. And one doesn't want loose H2 floating about, as it tends to ignite rather easily.
Though, actually, modern airships with modern gasbags would do quite well with H2 rather than the increasingly rarer Helium. (It's far safer for H2 to escape in the air rather than a garage or other closed space.
Hydrogen is a terrible fuel - not an "efficient one". It is not "energy dense", so you need a LOT of hydrogen to match the performance of anything else. Then there are the handling problems: hydrogen is a tiny atom, and it tends to leak out of containers and valves very easily. It also permeates into metals, leading to a phenomenon called "Hydrogen embrittlement".
The best way to utilize hydrogen is to create larger molecules by bonding atoms together by using something like, say, carbon. The larger molecules become much easier to handle and much more energy dense. The resulting "hydrocarbons" - gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc. work very well as practical fuels.
The public’s infatuation with solar will last until the are forced to rely on it. Only then will it’s limitations dawn on the greenies. If we’re making predictions here... I will bet California will break with solar first.
Neon above is right about H2 but he missed one - hydrogen has a nasty habit of igniting fro static energy. When I was a kid working for the Research Council the big H2 trailer out by compressor shed blew out and ignited. It sounded like the space shuttle taking off in our own back yard as it blew itself down. A couple of us had to check our shorts afterward. We were damned lucky it blew down and didn’t explode.
We could do ourselves a world of good by turning off the power and oil pipelines to the big liberal cities, and force them to live out their pipe dreams.
So, scientists have found a way to turn valuable petroleum into nearly worthless hydrogen? Way to go.
"Some of them will tell you they want to kill off over 90% of humanity. Most won't."
Agreed. The Dieoff isn't the endgame for this lot: it's the whole game (see the population recommendation on the Georgia Guidestones).
Not to discount the dieoff theory for which there is substantial support among the watermelons, there is an intermediate goal too which is to deny personal transportation to the Deplorables, thus forcing them into the cities where they may be more easily controlled.
Sufficient H2 for 250 mile range requires either cryogenic cooling or 10K PSI. Hydrogen is explosive in concentrations as low as 4%. It leaks through everything, including steel pipes and tanks. It is truly a bad idea.
Gasoline and diesel, as well as anything in between, are relatively safe top transport, store, and use. They are among the highest energy density for volume and weight.
Pluggable hybrids may make sense when, or if, a reasonable storage battery is developed. Of course, we will have to increase the capacity of the power grid pretty substantially if pluggable hybrids are produced in high numbers.
And now California (land of the unreliable electrical grid) wants to ban natural gas stoves, furnaces, and hot water heaters for new homes.... Now you WILL freeze when your power is turned off to protect the Sacred Forest...
Some of us are still waiting for that 'hydrogen economy' to take off. Maybe this will help.
This idiocy will be a terrorists' delight. The victims supply the bombs!
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