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Hydrogen Powered Boat
- Thread starter Barry Rietz
- Start date
It is kind of interesting. But until there is a widespread refueling infrastructure hydrogen powered anything is not going to amount to much. There are (were?) hydrogen powered cars available in LA. But there was only one place in the LA area to refuel them.
Also have to consider the carbon footprint of "making" and transporting the hydrogen. If you have to use a lot of fossil fuels to refine it, it's not going to be as green as they hope you'll believe.
For instance, from the environmental toll of all the concrete to the carbon released when a forest is turned into a reservoir to the methane released from the reservoir surface, hydro power is not as green as you might think.
Also have to consider the carbon footprint of "making" and transporting the hydrogen. If you have to use a lot of fossil fuels to refine it, it's not going to be as green as they hope you'll believe.
For instance, from the environmental toll of all the concrete to the carbon released when a forest is turned into a reservoir to the methane released from the reservoir surface, hydro power is not as green as you might think.
smckean (Tosca)
New member
I have found many folks misunderstand this point. I had a friend who actually thought you could just pump hydrogen from the ground!If you have to use a lot of fossil fuels to refine it, it's not going to be as green as they hope you'll believe.
I'm a physicist by training, and I will confirm that it takes more energy to create the hydrogen fuel than you ultimately get out of it. However, there are still potential advantages. Cars spew pollution here, there, and everywhere (including in already smog choked areas); with hydrogen you can localize the pollution to the location where the hydrogen is produced (and perhaps even sequester it).
The ultimate benefit hydrogen vehicles could enable would be when the hydrogen is produced with renewable, pollution free energy sources (e.g., solar). Since nearly all such energy is electricity, which can't readily be stored, and is very dependent on the limits imposed by battery technology, a complex and localized infrastructure to distribute electricity is needed (e.g., transmission lines and charging stations). OTOH, with hydrogen you can fill up your tank fast and do so theoretically anywhere; hydrogen can drive airplanes when batteries are out of the question. Hydrogen has a lot of potential.....if we ever get there!
Being the most plentiful molecule in the universe, at first, hydrogen seems like a
reasonable cheap fuel source. But, it's not, as we find out by digging deeper,
closer to where the truth is buried.
And, to you younger whipper-snappers who may be unaware of the Hindenburg
Disaster (1937, New Jersey), hydrogen has very real drawbacks.
Aye.
reasonable cheap fuel source. But, it's not, as we find out by digging deeper,
closer to where the truth is buried.
And, to you younger whipper-snappers who may be unaware of the Hindenburg
Disaster (1937, New Jersey), hydrogen has very real drawbacks.
Aye.