Has anyone seen the Hydrogen Vehicle commercial? Do you realize how silly it is?

Question

There was a commercial on about a hydrogen vehicle touting how the exhaust is just water with a bunch of kids saying H2O.

Reality Check - Hydrogen is an energy vector, not source. This means that basically the hydrogen is not taken out of the ground, it is made through electrolysis of water which is done by using fossil fuels. Basically you are still using fossil fuels and polluting, its just not coming out of your tailpipe.

It seems to me they are trying to suck in the less informed that they are essentially not polluting or contributing to "global warming" in some way by using hydrogen cause only water comes out of the tailpipe. What do you think?

Basically I think Hydrogen is pointless . . .

Answer 1

Carbon tax scam will pay for this

Britain backs new nuclear power plants

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 10, 2:35 PM ET

LONDON - The British government on Thursday approved construction of the first new nuclear power plants in a generation, saying atomic energy could help fight climate change and secure the country's energy supplies in an increasingly unstable world.

Britain joins a growing list of countries rethinking the long-unpopular nuclear option, driven by global warming, geopolitical uncertainty and rising fuel prices. Environmentalists, however, condemned the move as an expensive and dangerous folly that would divert resources from the search for genuinely clean forms of energy.

Then This

Answer 2

actully it is true and they do work... they cant sell them yet because how many hydrogen stations do you see?

and its like e85 ethonal- its taking them 3 years so far to get maybe 4 stations in each major city

Answer 3

Actually, we currently get hydrogen from natural gas.  Electrolysis takes more energy than we can get by burning the hydrogen as fuel, so we don't even use this process commercially.

Of course, the process to get hydrogen from natural gas produces as much CO2 as burning gasoline, so it's not remotely environmentally friendly either.

It is a very deceptive commercial.  Theoretically if you could find a way to weaken the atomic bonds to make electrolysis a viable method, hydrogen could be an environmentally friendly fuel.  However, this is not the case, and will not be the case for a least a few more decades.

I wouldn't say hydrogen is pointless, because it has the potential to be a good alternative fuel source.  But until that happens, we should be focusing on hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles in the transportation sector.  We certainly don't need deceptive commercials for a product that won't be available in an environmentally friendly design for decades to come.

Answer 4

we dont have to burn oil or coal to get energy  to produce hydrogen,, and no not neuclear.... it can all come from the sun thats our power plant and is constantly putting out more power than we could ever use,,not to mention wind , tidal (which is really gravatational power) and wave power .. with all the power at our disposal to run everything you can imagine .,,the only chalenge is that hydrogen could explode and therefor be dangerous./ have you herad of the compressed air engine , the car carries two large carbon fiber tanks that are filled at home by a copressor . and the home runs on solar, suplied by national solar power stations. and to think we in australia apent $36 billion  on F***n christmas presents last year and we have more sun than any other country in the world.       oops im getting carried away

Answer 5

You have a point. However, once the process is streamlined it will become cheaper and more efficient to produce. No doubt they are pulling the wool over some people's eyes, but the idea is good. It promotes people to want a change, it helps ready citizens for a change from oil. It's the same as the environmental effect of the massive batteries in hybrid cars; no one considers the impact these batteries will have in 5, 10, or 15 years when they need discarded, but it feels good to feel like you're making a positive difference.

At least if people promote technologies like hydrogen we can work on more environmentally friendly ways of producing it.

Answer 6

Actually, the hydrogen is probably made by steam reforming of methane, not by electrolysis.

Marketing is always  targeted at the weak minded.

Answer 7

You  are correct. There are many other concerns to be overcome to make Hydrogen power safe and cost-effective. This is not new science and if it were easy, we would all be driving H2 vehicles. Maybe someday.

Answer 8

It's TRUE. Everything you've heard about burning hydroogen in a car is true. PURE, unaldulterated, clean, potable (look the word up) water is ALL that is expelled from the tailpipe.

NOW. Where to get hydrogen from is another story. But hydrogen is not found in ANY quantity on the face of this earth. It is SO reactive with other elements that is must be "cracked' from its constituent molocues, perhaps natural gas, or crude oil, or split by electrolysis as you pointed out. But to insinuate that ALL hydorgen MUST come forom electrolysis by burning fossil fuels is to shoe a great ignorance on your part as one who put's him self out a "more informed".

Did you know that the process of electrolysis to produce hydrogen by spliting it from the molocule H2O can be accomplished through the generation of electricity by wind turbines? Did you also know that there is enough "proven reserves" of wind currents in the Texas, Kansas, Nebraska corridor to supply ALL of the power needed to electrify this country and have enough left over to provide ALL of the hydrogen needed to propell ALL pf the cars, trucks, busses, boats ect in this country WITH OUT the importation into this country, or the pumping of ONE drop of oil...EVER again.

NOW! Take a look at that commercial again and the words coming from the "mouths of babes". Not so silly a dream it is.

You job now sir is to get that 3 lb lump of grey matter sitting on your shoullders, off its duff and figure out HOW to do it. Or...will you be one that just thinks the whole idea is just too silly?    

Oh! BTW, see MY question for a detailed study of the subject.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 9

I don't believe hydrogen is the best choice for a fuel source. It has very little BTU's per cubic yard vs all other gaseous fuels! Although it is renewable and can be produced from just water with a proper electric supply it requires a large supply of hydrogen to do the equivalent amount of work as a gallon of gasoline! What would be best is to use a fuel that is renewable and holds a lot of energy. Perhaps synthetic chlorophyll would be a better selection. Plants have used it for millions of years now if we can find a way to produce it with light and then release that energy without having to burn it this would be an excellent source and choice of alternative fuel!