Is
it worth $15 billion to kick start the hydrogen economy?
Wednesday,
October 24, 2007
Is
hydrogen worth the investment?
Thus far, war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan is over
$140 billion dollars and another $40+ billion is on the
table. Other reports
suggest that the total cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars
could hit $2.4 trillion. Sadly, when push-comes-to-shove,
these wars could not have happened if not for America's
foreign oil dependency.
So, how do we get off oil?
For decades the world has been told the 'hydrogen economy'
is the future. According to GM, the future is here.
By 2010, if a hydrogen highway existed to fuel around
1,000,000 fuel cell vehicles, GM believes if could produce
hydrogen fuel-celled vehicles at a price competitive with
conventional technology. Ultimately, the problem with the
hydrogen economy isn't fuel cell vehicles, it's the lack
of hydrogen fuel pumps.
To build enough hydrogen filling stations to make fuel
cell vehicles convenient in the top 100 metro areas, plus
enough stations interspersed along all major highways to
enable transportation between these 100 metro areas, would
cost between $10 - 15 billion according to GM.
Is hydrogen worth it?
Based upon today's technology, many in the scientific
community believe that hydrogen is both an inefficient
carrier of energy, and that producing pure hydrogen is too
energy intensive.
Of course, since hydrogen is the most common element in
the universe, understanding how to efficiently tap into
hydrogen and effectively utilize this element would be the
greatest technological development in the evolution of the
human species.
Still, critics of hydrogen not only rightly point out the
inefficiencies of hydrogen, but they also claim that plug-in
hybrids and electric vehicles would be a better
investment. And those critics might be right.
So, hydrogen is a waste?
Countries such as China are completely dependent upon coal
for their electricity consumption, so electric cars are a
scary proposition in such a country.
Additionally, in terms of larger vehicles and long
distance commuting, hydrogen seems a much better solution
than electric vehicles. Moreover, there are still problems
with lithium batteries, such as weight and cost - even
safety.
Furthermore, the world's cleanest and greenest automakers
- Honda and Toyota - believe in the future of both
hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles. So, can American afford
not to be at the forefront of this technology?
Finally, GM's current fuel cell vehicle, the Chevy
Equinox Fuel Cell Vehicle utilizes a NiMH battery that
provides supplementary power to the fuel cell vehicle for
extra acceleration or going up a hill, but that
electricity does not extend range. With lithium batteries,
combined with next generation fuel cell technology, it
would seem to make far more sense to enable the
regenerative-braking Equinox fuel cell vehicle to use a
lithium pack to extend the range of the vehicle, much the
way as does a plug-in hybrid - reducing the the amount of
hydrogen needed.
Inevitably, it appears unclear as to whether hydrogen is
worth the investment, at least in terms of hydrogen
vehicles. If, however, a better way to isolate hydrogen -
a better method of electrolysis, for example - were
developed, $15 billion would seem like chump change.
Is a $15 billion investment worth the risk to put an end
to the trillions we spend on foreign oil dependence?
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