Here is a Simple Hydrogen(H) powered engine. Runs on H, output is water (H2O). Break down water into 1 H and 2 O'S, put H through this engine as fuel which combines with O in the intake and combustion process and water is produced. Endless cycle. No pollution.
Or use Hydrogen fuel cells. H and O goes in and makes electricity, water comes out. Incredibly less polluting than electric cars given all the pollution created when mining the lithium for batteries, destroying big sections of the Earth, processing it into batteries, and running coal plants to produce electricity to recharge the little beasts.
Why the push for electric cars? Politicians and their friends are cleaning up on the associated insider trading of all the stocks of companies involved, No doubt money also coming in from all sorts of places that don't give a shit about You.
It's either that or Hell if I know because it ain't a good plan.
There is some question as to whether California has recently asked residents to not charge their electric cars. Who knows about today, but I guarantee you if California is doing rolling black and brown outs already last summer, you can bet this will be a problem when enough electric cars are on the road there.
And there is the basic problem that unless you are making your own electricity, you are 100% dependent on the government to be able to transport yourself somewhere.
In contrast, you Could build up supplies of hydrogen just like you can gasoline and propane.
Well, enough of my yammering. Whaddya think of Hydrogen to solve these current pesky problems, real and imagined, that the government is putting all its eggs into the electric car basket.
If history teaches us anything, it is that change is inevitable. Here’s what else we know: some people will resist all change. I’ll bet you there were people who were alive last week who never once turned on a computer.
ReplyDeleteUnhappily, I’m not smart enough to analyze hydrogen engines (or bombs). Sounds good, though. It sounds better than 8.00/gallon for Arab gasoline, or propane trunk bombs, or boxy looking cars with solar panels welded to their roofs. I’m not sure how nuclear power works in automobiles. I also know that NOW is not the time to purchase a diesel powered vehicle.
The truth is that I would know all of these things if I had paid attention during Jerry’s last weekend seminar. I drank all his beer, instead. Sorry. And I really mean that. I was very sorry come the end of the weekend.
Well anyway, you asked what I think. Okay then ... go for it. Just don’t blame me when the counter starts ticking.
Mustang, Jerry's lovely and hospitable wife is all too happy to serve up the beers. I must admit to being overwhelmed there once or twice myself. But I don't blame anyone. No siree.
DeleteWell, take it from me, Hydrogen is the way to go, or at least part of the solution or even just part of the future. I like reducing pollution so I got no problem moving on to something if it makes sense.
company called Plug Power is converting lead acid battery powered fork lits to hydrogen fuel cell. No recharge time r expense and the customers love em.
Rolling blackouts are almost a yearly thing for a few weeks, nothing new. No big deal. Arizona and other drier states have them, too, but CA gets all the attention. Did you hear Biden talking about getting all the military vehicles ELECTRIC? As FOX's Pete Hegseth said "That's a GOOD idea because there are electric charging stations all OVER the Middle East where we could have to go to war~!" :-)
ReplyDeleteZ, I didn't know about Arizona's blackouts. Thanks for the info. Regardless, electric cars wouldn't be such a good idea there either.
DeleteEarlier at the Backgammon club while having a couple drinks, you and I were discussing how logic eludes the left.
Get this. Biden is trying to appeal to the climate freaks by yapping about all these vehicles going electric. Even if they did it which they won't it would take an unbelievable amount of time. In the meantime, since biden and the democrats have shut down oil sourcing in the US as much as they could as the climate freaks cheered, all they did was make it so the oil which we're going to use anyway is going to come via rail car powered by diesel trains, and truck, diesel again, and supertanker from the Middle East which also use gobs and gobs of diesel fuel which costs more and puts an incredible amount More of CO2 into the air. The leftists cheer this. Why? Because they're fricken morons. Really annoying that so many embrace the ignorance. This isn't hard stuff.
Long interested in hydrogen fuel cells. We have 2 stations here in Santa Monica. Except when we only had one and they took it offline for 6 months for repairs. Now what Dick Tracy? I've seen beta versions for personal stations you can have at your home. Yea! But hydrogen is tricky. It's a very small molecule. Needs special vessels and fittings.
ReplyDeleteOne year at Solar Decathlon competition on the Mall in Washington DC one of the solar houses was actually running on hydrogen fuel. Everybody else was plastering solar panels all over to run the core appliances required by the competition - lights, fridge, washer/dryer, all the modern comforts - from storage batteries. One entrant used a solar array to split water into its hydrogen and oxygen components. Ample power. From them I learned the trickiness. If hydrogen leaks you have an explosive problem. They had 3 levels of protective failsafe mechanisms. (In fact, the gave the Parks Dept. the willies when they arrived on the Mall with a "bomb" like device and it took a lot of negotiating to stay.)
I could see instantly its utility in rural areas. You build your powerhouse, fit it with failsafes, and make the wall closest to you or any important thing a 'blastproof' wall, and make the opposite wall a flimsy one. That way, if it comes to the worst, you have created a "shaped" charge whose energy blows away from things it can damage.
I've mulled this over vis-a-vis a tank in a car set-up, or even your own private home hydrogen pump. This is as much as I know about it, but I suspect there is a safety issue that's not fully worked out. Of course, gas and electric cars are not benign, especially with politicians pushing for their interests, not YOURS. And their interests may include NOT working out safety issues that would remove barriers to your freedom of movement while dissipating donations to them from these industries.
BAYSIDER
Thanks Baysider, excellent info. I know Toyota had a beta test fuel cell vehicle at a home in California, fully supported by Toyota. It was years ago and I'm not sure what happened with it.
DeleteWell there are LP gas vehicles on the road, and I imagine if gasoline hadn't been invented yet, it would probably be illegal. You also have a decent fire danger with overheated lithium ion batteries.
A fair amount of text could be typed in that vein. But bottom line, Not arguments, just some high level thoughts. My basic thought is logic would argue for a variety of solutions depending on the environment the machine is running in. Lots of sun? Home solar with a home battery ala Tesla's solar shingles and home battery would make a lot of sense depending on payoff time.
Hydrogen is good, but the following link provides answers to why it's not economically viable for most consumers at this time.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-hydrogen-fuel-cells
Thanks Jess, I'll check that link out.
DeleteWay to go, Kid ... we're all going to be blown up ... and it's all your fault.
DeleteChecked ut that link Jess. Thanks again. Thoughts -
DeleteExtraction seems like the biggest stumbling block. I wonder how the cost of this process compares to extraction and processing of oil into gasoline.
Investment. Yes, high volume adoption is a must.
Cost of raw materials. I wonder how the cost of cell production compares to the cost of an IC engine.
Regulatory, Not a real issue if the will is there, and imo public acceptance is no longer a requirement if it ever was.
Overall Cost, I'd like to see how that breaks down and whether volume sales could or would make this a non-issue.
Good points, but it seems that overall the author was reaching a bit to put hydrogen in a negative light.
Interesting link. Also read it. Also wonder about the extraction costs. I have followed the Solar Decathlon every time, and no one has brought forth another hydrogen powered house by using solar to split the molecule. I don't know if that is because it was way too expensive or because everyone is falling into lockstep with green = solar panels, LED lites, and less comfort.
DeleteNothing short of uranium is as energy dense as fossil fuel. But it's sure appealing to the novice to think of having your own hydrogen fuel generator to back up power to you home!
BAYSIDER
I'm not sure either Bayider.
DeleteThorium/Molten Salt reactors appear to be very efficient and safe. If you haven't seen it yet, here is LFTR in 5 Minutes. The claim is that we would never ever run out of Thorium as well.
There is also the claim that they can eat the waste from uranium reactors.
Great video! Easily understood. Always interested in this reactor since reading about it in Lawrence Livermore research years ago. The fact that you don't deal with the pressure issues in a uranium reactor and it's a 1000x less radioactive than uranium I see as a winner.
DeleteBAYSIDER
I fail to see any downside Baysider.
DeleteAs I recall isn't this what Hitler was running his stuff on or at least was the plan? I guess there was not enough money in it for the players.
ReplyDeleteBunk, well the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen. The story is that Germany actually wanted helium but we were the big supplier and wouldn't sell them any.
DeleteBack to the money thing, I have to think oil and gasoline are still big because it is cheap for the vehicle owner and there are powerful people all over with lots of oil inventory that they don't want to leave unsold in the ground. Plus, not that I care, but what happens to a country who's entire economy is based on oil sales..
At the moment, it is a solution looking for a problem.
DeleteWe have enough petroleum based fuel and nat gas to serve us a long time.
And it burns so clean these days you can't lock yourself in a garage and off yourself.
Don't ask me how I know.
Ed, well we've been using the stuff a long time and it only gets cleaner and more efficient so I go no problem with continuing to use gasoline. Be nice if it didn't have ethanol in it and the gov didn't screw with the petroleum situation this much to cause the price spikes.
DeleteHydrogen does not exist in meaningful quantities on Earth. Almost all of it is attached to other atoms.
ReplyDeleteTo obtain Hydrogen we use electrolysis to split water atoms into Hydrogen and Oxygen. It requires more
energy to get the Hydrogen than you get back "burning" it. It's a waste of energy. Hydrogen as a fuel has its
uses but it will likely never replace gas/diesel. It's a niche market. The best bet currently is radioactive diamond batteries or thorium based reactors. But those are still in development staes.
Dan, Thanks for your comment.
DeleteSo many agendas around this issue, it's hard to know what the facts are. That is not a challenge to what you've said.
I see nothing wrong with LFTRs, 100% safe. I've been mentioning them a long time. We should have them every couple hundred miles across the country. Maybe 500 :).
Seems like they make too much sense to ever happen though,
As always, follow the money. What a gang of crooks, psychos, mountebanks and thieving buffoons.
ReplyDeleteLSP, Yep, when was the last time government actions did anything for Americans. Interstate Hwy system comes to mind. Beyond that, I have to think pretty hard.
DeleteI know, and they're getting rich off the fat of the land.
DeleteDang those critters LSP.
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