Hello,
> hydrogen is NOT a fuel source. it is only an energy STORAGE
system. that's because it takes as much energy to extract
hydrogen from the air, or from water, as you get back when you
use it "as fuel". the energy has to come FROM somewhere, and as
of now most of that energy comes from fossil fuels. UNLESS and
UNTIL we go to nuclear power plants we will make MORE
greenhouse gasses GETTING the hydrogen than we would by simply
using the fuel in an internal combustion engine. this is a
point that most greens (and the largely uninformed public) seem
to miss. when asked about this very large stumbling block, the
answer is, "oh, we'll get the electricty from biomass, or wind
power, or solar, all nonpolluting power sources". .. i'm
hopefull, but sceptical. .. if we covered ALL of arizona will
solar cells, that would be enough only for the present
electrical needs of california, .. without trying to power
everything with hydrogen... ..
Neither is gazonline (or petrol), it's also an energy storage (storing ancient
solar energy converted into biomass and then into petrol).
If you look at energy, they are only 3 sources, 2 coming from outside of our
plannet, 1 from inside:
- solar (from nuclear fusion) generates heat, biomass (ie: transform CO2 + H2O
into O2 and CH chains), watter cycle and wind...
- gravity generates tides
- earth internal heat (from nuclear reaction)
Then, you also have the 2 types of stored energy:
- solar energy stored in biomass and it's derivatives (including petrol)
- nuclear energy stored in matter (some more accessible than other)
Solar energy generates on average 300W/ metter2 (1hp = 750w) so it would take a
whopping 248 m2 to generate enough power for you 100hp car...
A nuclear power plant generates usually around 3.2GW per reactor and have
usually 4 reactors, generating a whooping 12.8GW of electricity which would
require 42 km2 or 16 miles2 of 100% efficient solar pannels to replicate...
The 3 energy sources will not disapear (well, they will one day, but by that
time, we will have other issues to deal with than car powering!), but only the
solar energy is a real viable energy source for mass production.
Stored solar energy (in chemical bond form: CC and CH links) will eventually
disapear and is causing issues.
This leaves us with only 2 form of energy to tap: external solar power (biomass
and direct solar energy being the 2 only convinient ones) and one stored
energy: nuclear (in form of fission and fusion).
Not many choices isn't it?
cyrille
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