Will Hydrogen end our Fossil fuel addiction?

Question

Will Hydrogen end our Fossil fuel addiction?

Answer 1

Exactly where will the hydrogen come from.  Currently it is produced from hydrocarbons (aka fossil fuels).

Answer 2

As soon as we can figure out how to produce it without using more energy than it contains. Until then, no. Right now it's like smoking crack to end your heroin addiction.

Answer 3

No.  It is not a source of energy and it is the worst possible way to store & transport energy.

Answer 4

Not likely!!  The reason is twofold.  First is that the cheapest way to get hydrogen is by cracking oil to get it.  We would still be importing the black stuff.  The second, is how to store it.  You need a pressure tank like they use for Oxygen in a welding set.  Also a big compressor and related expensive machinery.  Fuel cells hold some promise, but why not just use a modified gasoline engine.  They run great on hydrogen with (almost) no pollution.   Also, the amount of energy going in is greater than what you get out!  It would be cheaper to use ethanol or methanol in a gasoline type engine.   Yes, an engine runs great on booze.  When I was young, that is what all of the racing jocks used in their cars.

The car of the future is probably the electric.  Better batteries and more efficient delivery systems are coming.  Also better electric motors to run cars, boats, lawn mowers, chain saws and most other machinery.  

We will always need oil for many things.  Plastics, medicine , and clothing, are all oil products.  Pesticides and fertilizers as well come from oil.  

Now if we could just build an electric space shuttle.

Answer 5

Hydrogen cars will come, and some are already available in some markets (BMW), with Mazda also soon to have a production model.  the real question is how and where the hydrogen will be produced.  The ideal situation is like what you would find at the Munich Germany Airport.  they have a hydrogen fuelling station there that is self-sustaining.  The fuel is created on-site with solar power, and is therefor completely clean.  If like others have said they use fossil fuels or nuclear power to create hydrogen then really we are no better off.

Answer 6

If we have large nuclear generating stations with over-capacity such that they must make hydrogen or have their generating capacity go to waste, perhaps. Well, the same might happen if we have so many wind machines churning out power,

Our problem is not whether to convey the power as hydrogen, but getting the power in the first place.

Answer 7

Maybe, but how about shale.  We have more oil in Colorado and Utah than all OPEC countries have combined. At least 500 years worth, and 80% is on government land.

Answer 8

Yes, hydrogen cars give off no emissions and some auto manufacturers are working on making them now.

Answer 9

Absolutely not.  Firstly, hydrogen has to be made from fossil fuels -- usually natural gas -- in a process that is very costly with respect to energy.  Secondly, hydrogen is an awkward fuel to use for land vehicles because it is so un-dense; large tanks and very high pressures are required to deal with it.  Thirdly, some transportation, such as aviation, cannot use it at all.

Answer 10

Not at all.  Hydrogen isn't really a fuel (nobody's discovered hydrogen mines yet).  It takes energy to make it, and it's damned inconvenient to transport and store.  The only advantage is that it's locally "clean" - meaning the pollution involved in making it shows up somewhere else.  Government subsidies are the only reason anything is being done with hydrogen at all.  

The easiest way to cut oil consumption, by far, is to burn coal.  That's an ugly solution, in terms of air pollution and CO2 emissions, but China isn't bothered by it.  The second-best solution (best, if you consider the environment), is conservation and efficiency.  After that (using present technology)  comes nuclear, then wind, then solar, in that order.  Electric and hybrid cars can use all those energy sources, and plug-in versions of those vehicles (which are only a few years away) are likely to but a big dent in our oil imports.

Answer 11

Not likely. Large scale H2 production USES fossil fuel as a feedstock.

Answer 12

not in and of itself. as it has been pointed out, it takes energy to make hydrogen for use in a fuel cell, and that energy generally come from burning coal. so that would be just trading one fossil fuel for another. i think it is however part of the many solutions we are finding apart from gasoline for powering cars. but our fossil fuel addiction is not just cars.

Answer 13

You should watch "Who Killed the Electric Car?" It is on you tube so its free.  It will explain why hydrogen will not become an alternative energy.

Answer 14

Not likely.  It might seem that way as govt forces it down our throats, but it won't really solve anything.