On Jan 17, 2007, at 9:20 AM, Scott Cowle wrote:
Will Hydrogen be the racing fuel of tommorrow? Scott
The gas company discontinued offering CNG refueling stations because
they cost too much and there was NO consumer demand for them. And
darn near every gasoline station has natural gas available -- they
use it for heating the place and maybe the water.
In other words, the distribution system was 100% in place -- and it
wasn't viable. Hydrogen isn't piped everywhere. Hydrogen isn't made
in commercial quantities. Hydrogen is even harder to handle in
commercial quantities than is natural gas -- and natural gas couldn't
cut the mustard. So how in blue blazes do the "hydrogen economy"
folks think they're going to get H2 out into the market place in any
reasonable quantity?
Too bad -- H2 would be a fine fuel, I suppose. I know CNG was great
-- 100,000 mile spark plugs looked so good that I'd mark them as used
-- otherwise you couldn't tell that they'd been in the truck for that
long. I think I remember that the effective octane was in the 120-
range, too, and that'd allow for some experimentation by racers, you
betcha.
Making hydrogen is energy-intensive. If you use solar -- well,
you've got to make a heck of a lot of solar panels. If you use
nuclear -- the NIMBY folks'll be up in arms. If you use biomass --
the natural gas folks'll love you for using so much of their product
to make the fertilizer to grow the grass to provide the feedstock for
the fermenters - and on and on.
It'd be nice, but I don't see it happening. There, boys and girls --
that's my take.
Jon Wennerberg
Seldom Seen Slim Land Speed Racing
Marquette, Michigan
(that's 'way up north)
|