Is it time to rethink this idea of switching to hydrogen fuel cells?

Question

At 32 times the total operating cost of diesel, it appears that hydrogen fuel cells may not be all they are cracked up to be.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/02/transit-agency.html

Answer 1

Serious environmentalists are not pushing for hydrogen cell adoption, even if there is some interest in development, just in case it ever pans out.

Actually a super-flywheel appears to be a better way to store electric power and deliver electric power. It also acts as a braking recovery system.

But the super flywheel may represent a slightly greater hazard should the vehicle be in an accident, and the  flywheel go on trucking down the highway.

Storage of hydrogen remains a freaky problem, almost as difficult as economic production of it.

So difficult is it to store that when one covers a hydrogen cylinder with a foil made of palladium, the foil will glow, as escaping hydrogen reacts at the surface with oxygen in the air.

Failure to cover with that palladium foil means that hydrogen is building up in any enclosure around the cylinder. The cylinder has to be stored only in a ventilated area.

Answer 2

80% of the cost was repair parts and labor!  That needs some more development. Then the cost will go down dramatically.

Hydrogen fuel is created by running electric power through water.  If that power comes from photo voltaics or windmills then it could be a good thing.  If the electricity must come from a fossil-fueled power plant then the vehicle could just as well burn gasoline or diesel instead.

Answer 3

Hydrogen is the most explosive gas there is. A gallons of liquid hydrogen could blow away the whole block. It would be like riding a bomb to work.

Answer 4

No kidding. A far better alternative for diesel vehicles is the conversion kits that allow you to run your diesel vehicle on SVO (straight vegetable oil).

There is no sulfur content in vegetable oil which eliminates the first major carcinogen associated with diesel fuel. Vegetable oil plants absorb more carbon dioxide from the air during their growing cycle than is released when the oil is burned, this means that vegetable oil does not produce excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (this is referred to as carbon neutral). Due to a slightly cooler burn some studies have shown NOX reductions when burning vegetable oil.

Conversion is a do-it-yourself project and you can get the kits for between $2,000 and $4,000 depending on the make and model of the vehicle you own.

For more information check out http://www.greasecar.com/

Answer 5

Think about the Commodore 64 or TRS 80 for a second.   My $5 calculator has more processing power than those computers had and cost hundreds less.   Just because something is costly now doesn't mean it will be forever.   Advancements and cost reductions will eventually occur.   Did you know some fuel cells are now designed to extract the hydrogen from heavy fuel oil for use on ships?     That oil has to be heated just to flow and will cause absolutely no explosive hazard in a vehicle accident, unlike gasoline.

Answer 6

plus, I doubt we would be able to make hydrogen powered trains or airplanes...

Answer 7

Rethink?

I stopped liking them a few weeks ago!

Answer 8

Lets see,  

It's expensive to make,

Has a short life of 17000 miles before wareing out.

Loss of fuel when filling it.

Fuel cost a lot to make.

When all is said and done it acts like a battery.

Lets see,

What else acts like a battery?

Is cheap.

Refills cheap.

Doesn't spill out when refilling.

Has Longer life.

It's energy is made cheaply from several sources.

Can be easily researched and invested in to become better.

Can some day have a 10 minute recharge.

Hmmm. I don't know.

Answer 9

Yes.  It's not just operating cost, there's also the lack of an environmentally friendly source of hydrogen and a lack of infrastructure for transportation and storage which would cost billions of dollars to build.

Electric cars already have the infrastructure in place (power grid) and can be made as environmentally friendly as we want by improving the power grid energy sources.  Plus the technology is already as advanced if not more so than hydrogen fuel cell cars.