[dmizer]

dmizer

dmizer

Visit dmizer's website.

Show dmizer's last posts.

Show general stats for dmizer.

• Say, that's a fine looking cat you've got there...
• Administrator
• scd cult
• Posts: 2178
• keeper of the sacred words: meh, bah, and indeed.

oh dead thread i have moved the rock before your tomb.  "car of the future" ... come forth!

i found what i feel to be an excellent un-biased look at the reality of hydrogen fuels, and hoped that it might reopen a discussion that i have an extreme interest in.  i also learned something i didn't previously know about hydrogen fuel.  the PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell was invented in 1839.  hydrogen is by no means a newly discovered fuel source.

here's something i wanted to point out:

At present, 95 percent of America's hydrogen is produced from natural gas. Through a process called steam methane reformation, high temperature and pressure break the hydrocarbon into hydrogen and carbon oxides — including carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Over the next 10 or 20 years, fossil fuels most likely will continue to be the main feedstock for the hydrogen economy. And there's the rub: Using dirty energy to make clean energy doesn't solve the pollution problem-it just moves it around. "As a CO2 reducer, hydrogen stinks," Romm says.

but what i find disturbing about this is in the following paragraph.  in an effort to stem the tide of co2 emissions:

Capturing that carbon dioxide and trapping it underground would make the process more environmentally friendly. In July, General Electric and BP Amoco PLC announced plans to develop as many as 15 power plants over the next 10 years that will strip hydrogen from natural gas to generate electricity; the waste carbon dioxide will be pumped into depleted oil and gas fields.

if the thought of that doesn't absolutely terrify you, click here for why it should

anyway ... here is the link to the popular mechanics article.  lots of really good information in here about the reality of using hydrogen as a fuel source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4199381.html

[heyIMmike]

heyIMmike

heyIMmike

Visit heyIMmike's website.

Show heyIMmike's last posts.

Show general stats for heyIMmike.

• Juno owns my balls
• Administrator
• scd cult
• Posts: 2936

Not to steal your thunder, but I hardly see the link between lakes with carbon and underground oil reservoirs.

However, I do agree that it hardly makes sense to continue to use fossil fuels to create a hydrogen economy...

I think that we need to focus on continuing to work towards cleaner electrical grid and look towards electric cars...

[Photon440]

Photon440

Photon440

Show Photon440's last posts.

Show general stats for Photon440.

• 
• street musician
• Posts: 228

dmiser, opening dead threads is what keeps things alive:)

Hydrogen sounds so cool (no pun intended), but I think it'll be awhile yet.  Until we get a clean source of the gas, instead of what's being done now, it won't make sense.  BMW is thinking of offering a few of it's 760 series with gasoline/hydrogen dual fuel engines, could be interesting.  But the experiment has also managed to add 440 pounds to the car, and tame the V-12 engine with about 180 less horsepower than the gasoline-only version.

My view is that electric cars will develop quicker, and be a more likely contender, as long as those pesky gasoline engines stop getting more and more efficient and ever cleaner.  Hybrids, anyone?

-=Photon=-

[XVI]

XVI

XVI

Show XVI's last posts.

Show general stats for XVI.

• 
• tourist
• Posts: 14

One thing I have to say about these new car ideas... you know it's one thing to start new ideas for cars, but most of the new hybrids are UGLY AS HELL.  I don't understand why 'future' cars have to look so ridiculous.  Want to know my idea?  A super quick fix. Remake the Geo.  Make it look better but the same size and same engine[maybe made better though].  That thing go upwards of 60 miles to the gallon.  Why don't they make hybrid cars with more or better alternators so they can run much longer or maybe not need a charge at all?  Where do you think all the electricity is coming from to charge up your cars?  Smog coughing power plants[granted not all are like that anymore].  Also hydrogen cars?  If they think pollution is bad now just imagine water being dumped into our atmosphere for decades. It will rain constantly....

Well there's my rant, I know there's some good ideas and I'm all for the environment but I believe it could be done in different ways.

[DrakeWurrum]

DrakeWurrum

DrakeWurrum

Visit DrakeWurrum's website.

Show DrakeWurrum's last posts.

Show general stats for DrakeWurrum.

• 
• scd cult
• Posts: 1491
• Three-headed mongrel

Being that this video is no longer available, and I imagine hasn't been for sometime, I have to go off memory...

And I have to say, the car in the video didn't look at all ugly. It looked like your standard modern car to me, except with less clutter since there wasn't no monstrous dashboard to worry about.

I've seen other "car of the future" articles since then, and most such cars don't actually make it past the design room. But most of them actually look pretty awesome. Most of them are designs I would actually want to drive.
As for the "hybrid" car thing. I don't know about other hybrid cars, but the power a Prius runs on is generated using the heat that the brakes generate when the car stops. You don't take a hybrid car off to a power station and recharge it.

[dmizer]

dmizer

dmizer

Visit dmizer's website.

Show dmizer's last posts.

Show general stats for dmizer.

• Say, that's a fine looking cat you've got there...
• Administrator
• scd cult
• Posts: 2178
• keeper of the sacred words: meh, bah, and indeed.

It was a clip from a Top Gear episode, so you can be pretty sure it was a damn good looking car.

Hybrid cars don't do all that great on gas mileage unless you run on battery only, which means in town, short trips. They're great for some, but most North Americans put gobs of miles on their cars.

They're not really a solution, they're mostly a "feel good" option, as upwards of 50 MPG can be had with a gasoline only option.