> too. But remember the big problem emmission is from nitrogen
> and oxygen
> (NOx) in various chemical combinations. Guess what - for
> those that don't
> realize it air is 79% nitrogen, so if you combust hydrogen and oxygen
> under pressure in the presense of nitrogen, there's likely to
> be some NOx
> in the exhaust. Can't say for sure, but I'm guessing it
> isn't as clean in
> practice as it is in theory.
It does make NOx. But apparently it's just enough to fail California's ZEV
requirements. So we're not looking at a whole lot.
The problems with hydrogen is that it's really just an energy storage
medium. Most commercial hydrogen comes from cracking natural gas, which
requires energy. The laws of physics and thermodynamics dictate that the
energy required to break the chemical bonds is less than what you'll get
when you allow the hydrogen to join with oxygen. So from extraction to the
gas pump, hydrogen is one of the least efficient fuels available. You're
still creating CO2 in the cracking process (if you're concerned about that),
plus whatever stuff the energy production method used for the process is
cranking out.
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