Is hydrogen vehicles right around the corner?

originally posted by: Zanti Misfit

originally posted by: suicideeddie
a reply to: CriticalStinker

using hydrogen is a bit of a backwards move unless these companys have already made largescale biomass plants to produce it. the usual way is to make hydrogen out of fossil fuels which defeats the benfits of burning clean. its better using the electricity directly for transport instead of using an extra process

Yes , and not to mention the Thousands of Fueling Stations Needed around the Country to Refuel them . That alone would take over a Decade to Build .

Nikola's plan is to have 700 stations by 2028. It seems feasible given their capital raised through becoming publicly traded. They also said they're going to build them in relation to who buys the biggest fleets and their routes of operation. If they do that, they'll be associating the cost with trucks sold, which will help fund those stations.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

The plan (IIRC) is even a bit more game changing: the semis run around with their own hydrogen generator on board cleaning the air as it goes!

The semis are a service and delivery system at once.

I think that CISRO/Australia have the right idea (a question of scale now), and “store” hydrogen as ammonia and either store it (less a pain on a permeable membrane than a gas) and there is already an infrastructure for it (even if people are dumb, lazy, and careless with ammonia).

The killer of Big Oil is hooking hydrogen up to renewables (or fusion) and we get taxed like an actuarial table instead of “pay as you go” or “at the pump”!

That day will happen if we can reliably store the gas. Otherwise it is ammonia.

Watch Japan at the Olympics!

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: pteridine

But hydrogen will offset some of the problems associated with battery technology and charging as refilling on hydrogen will get you the energy for your next leg of the trip.

I don't think we can look at it in the same lens as pure electric vehicles you have to charge.

As stated, infrastructure is the problem. Without infrastructure, no one will buy the vehicles. Without the vehicles, there will be no economic driver to build the infrastructure. Chicken-egg problem.
Use of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier is technically possible but consider what happens in a traffic accident. Ammonia is a flammable gas that is also toxic. Trapped in a truck cab with diesel leaking or trapped in a truck cab with ammonia leaking -- take your pick.
Here is the MSDS from AirGas www.airgas.com...

originally posted by: pteridine
What will we use for road surfaces when we aren't processing enough oil to provide asphalt?

Recycled plastic bottles cleaned out of the oceans.

originally posted by: Blue Shift

originally posted by: pteridine
What will we use for road surfaces when we aren't processing enough oil to provide asphalt?

Recycled plastic bottles cleaned out of the oceans.

Purportedly, they are also the source for low cost hydrogen. Most of the Pacific Gyre plastic comes from two rivers in Asia and the actual problem is not the bottles, it is the microspheres. If Indians and Chinese stop, the source will "dry up."

Hydrogen from carbonaceous materials is about 1/4 the cost of that from electrolyzed water.

Here's another article from today's news discussing the limitations of hydrogen:
currently.att.yahoo.com...