Honda Clarity - First production Fuel Cell car

Dang, and I thought filling my car's interior with hydrogen to make it lighter was a great idea. Aw shucks.

 

that's pretty sweet.

 

There's two issues here:

1) Could this help ween us off foreign oil? Possibly.
2) Is this actually green/not produced from fossil fuels? Not yet.

Current hydrogen production methods are producing hydrogen from natural gas. In that manner, the carbon footprint isn't really reduced. Does this give us the possibility of getting natural gas from a more stable, friendly governments instead of oil from Middle Eastern countries? Definitely.

My hope is that scientists figure out how to get bacteria to produce hydrogen on a mass scale. Hydrogen is released when certain bacteria "burp" after metabolism. Once those scientists can figure out how to get a high enough yield then hydrogen powered cars becomes a legitimate, green proposition.

 

Hydrogen can be found in Water so the need for hydrogen can be sufficiently and easily gained.

 

I would say that this move has the benefit of rejecting the oil companies, possibly making everything cheaper, along with not being bound to a limited resource as we can use solar or nuclear energy to make it.

 

Yes, hydrogen can be found in abundance, but not in a form usable by fuel cells. In order to convert it, you require a lot amount of energy. The most efficient way is to obtain it from natural gas, but there goes your dreams of removing reliance on the oil companies (they produce all the gas as well, and the USA is rapidly increasing its dependence on imported gas).

The next best method is by electrolysis of water, but that takes a LOT more energy, and would be a net increase in carbon footprint overall.

The only real benefit of fuel cell cars are that they reduces tail pipe emissions, and allow you to centralize energy production to a place that is easier to control emissions.

 

It's not quite that simple. The energy used in a fuel cell is the energy released when hydrogen and oxygen mix and form water. If the source of the hydrogen was water in the first place, it's going to take a lot more energy to break up water (electrolysis) than is generated when you reform it in the fuel cell. Hydrogen is not an energy source, it's an energy carrier.

Gasoline is an energy source. The energy is derived from when you break the C-H bonds in long hydrocarbon chains and reform the elements into smaller carbon molecules (CO2) sans all the energy-holding bonds.

 

Solar is the long term answer. Just like the computer chip, solar cells/panels will continue to get smaller and more efficient, and eventually you'll see millions of them on hoods of cars collecting energy and powering transportation.

There is 1000's of times more annual solar energy available each year than any other form, plus it will last...well, as long as the sun does.

 

I don't understand why these days new houses in warm climates have to have a water tank to collect rain water and solar panels.

 

If the world no longer need the oil supply from middle east, that will be the greatest news for mankind in the last two hundred years. Pull out all the US troops from that area and let them at it and we can watch all the fun from the sidelines.

All those royal houses be damned!

 

There was already a car 10 years ago that could have reduced our need for foreign oil. Unfortunately the ev1 was killed.

 

You do realize you would need oil to create the electricity for that car, so it would not have reduced the need that much.

 

I'm all for alternative energy sources, but everybody does realize that getting rid of oil for fuel/energy, only reduces our need for oil, not eliminates it, right?

A very large percentage of oil is used to create plastics, used in manufacturing, used to make products, used to create chemicals, etc., right?

Reducing the need for oil is good, yes, but I don't think you can eliminate the need for it.

 

You don't need to completely reduce the need for oil. I would love to see the day when 90% of the demand for oil is replaced with demand for cheap alternatives. Many of the trouble the US face today in the world is due to its dependencies on oil, if oil is no longer critical to the US, I think much better policies can be used to guide the US foreign policies.

 

I just wish they would allow the car to be bought and not just leased.

 

Hate to post two straight, and not to derail this into the D&D, BUT:


If I were a swing voter(which I'm not...already know who I want), I would look specifically for a candidate that would give companies like Honda HUGE incentives for developing and putting these cars out to market, and someone that would push to make these cars more affordable to the every day consumer (either by large tax breaks, government assisted payments, or something). That combination would play a huge role with environmental factors.

 

Not to be a downer, but something that wasnt pointed out in this thread is the fact that almost all fuel cells use platinum as a catalyst to convert the H2 into protons. Unfortunately, the price of platinum has over doubled in the last 4 years, and if they try to mass-produce these fuel cell vehicles, it will only get higher.

On the other hand, there is A LOT of research going in to making better and more cost-efficient catalysts, so we'll see....