Peter van Hardenberg wrote:
> Further, as H2 production comes from
> industrial chemical processes the warm and fuzzy green feeling you get from
> running alternative fuel is really only warm and fuzzy if you live (like I
> do) somewhere with clean power generation.
>
The current 'industrial' way of producing Hydrogen is to break the
carbon off the Methane in Natural Gas. Ignoring the amount of energy
required to do this, the main by-product is copious quantities of CO2.
(The carbon has to go some where :-)
Getting the Hydrogen out of water is even more energy intensive, which
is why the 'industrial' process currently uses natural gas as the input.
Getting your hydrogen from water requires copious quantities of
electricity. And clean water - so you may have to expend even more
energy purifying the water first.
Hydrogen is not a 'fuel' in the sense that carbon fossil fuels are -
it's just a way of storing energy, and a not particularly efficient one
at that. Currently Hydrogen is produced not at a 'fuel' but for various
chemical reasons for industrial processes.
The only advantage that Hydrogen has over a battery is the rapid
'charge' ability (just refill your hydrogen tank from a bigger one), but
the energy efficiency of the 'system' is terrible and the process
currently has no green credentials what so ever.
You are probably far better off just getting a tank of natural gas and
burning it. 'Clean' natural gas burns leaving just water vapour and
CO2. Which is why it's increasingly a popular fuel for urban buses,
that use modified diesel engines that have had spark ignition added (so
are not diesel cycle engines any more, but....). No soot or other
nasties in the exhaust.
The CNG buses near me are actually quite noisy, as the engines are
under-rated, thus under stress all the time. (CNG has a significantly
lower energy density than diesel, so for a given engine size, you take a
power output hit). And they are carrying around a pair of heavy
cylinders on their roofs.
(The 'low floor', CNG powered buses have to be just about the roughest
thing I've ever ridden, poor power to weight, poor suspension (no
travel) and top heavy).
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