Dolemite wrote:
] Take the Richmond station, which generates hydrogen fuel by
] electrolysis, a process that separates water into hydrogen and
] oxygen. Using technology from Canada-based Stuart Energy, the
] separation process is powered by electricity. The catch: The
] electricity comes off the grid.
]
] "You can connect to the grid, or you can connect to renewable
] sources like wind and solar," says Wanda Cutler, a spokeswoman
] for Stuart Energy. "The grid is very clean, and you don't
] necessarily have to make your hydrogen during peak periods."
]
] The grid is very clean? In the United States more than 50
] percent of power plants are coal-fired, while renewable
] sources, like wind, account for less than 2 percent of
] electrical energy, according to the Union of Concerned
] Scientists.
]
] "If you take the electricity from the current energy mix in
] the U.S., then in fact it doubles the CO2 [produced] per
] mile," says John Turner, a principal scientist at the National
] Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.
]
] Wow. I knew that there had to be some kind of catch to
] Dubya's endorsement of Hydrogen Fuel-Cell vehicles, but I
] figured it was along the lines of ADM producing lots of
] genetically engineered corn to create ethanol. The idea that
] it will be produced through electrolysis is much worse, since
] he also rolled back the requirement that power plant add-ons
] are exempt from clean air laws.

I don't know if I agree with the quote that the CO2 gets doubled. Emissions from hydrogen fuel cells are zero. It's water and heat at the end of the process. So even though you are consuming more coal fired electricty, you are reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, which gives you a net of zero, not 2x.

PLUS, as Decius pointed out, green power is on the rise. There's a lot of movement towards using natural gas instead of coal. There's also several flavors of fuel cell, which use things like ethanol, methanol, alcohol, and even gasoline. The bottom line here is that the technology works, it's only going to get better, it's only going to get cheaper, and at some point, our energy matrix will be solar generated electricity feeding hydrogen fuel cells, resulting in reverse greenhouse gas emissions.

I've spent the last year investigating fuel cell technology as a possible business and I'm convinced that we will get to the above point within my lifetime.

RE: Not-so-clean cars