Interesting reading, but who do you think is going to pay for a hydrogen infastructure? If you think Ethanol has heavy subsidies, just wait for hydrogen...
There is a reason that the only real application of Hydrogen has been the space program. It takes a tremendous ammount of money to apply it and only a large government can afford to foot the bill. I am way more optimistic about bio than hydrogen.
It is going to cost us one way or another. I don't really consider Ethanol a viable bio-fuel due to it's low BTU density and the large ammount of energy required to create it(in those regards it is a lot like hydrogen). The only place I think it will work is where you have a large surplus of another energy such as Brazil who has an abundance of electrical power to fuel the converson process. Hence the need for heavy subsidies to even keep some companies producing it in this country.
A far more viable biofuel in my opinion is biodiesel. It is easy to produce with a good energy density. The crops with the highest yield for oils are food crops(soy, sunflower, rape ect), but not those typically in high demand overseas(corn wheat ect). Now if money is involved, this could cause some corn and wheat producers to shift crops which will reduce supply of those and drive up the price. But what I envision is the adding of additional crops for fuel. Most farms can produce far more than they do. It is not always financially sound for them to do so as it floods the marks and lowers the price. There is also a lot of land that dosn't produce anything for this same reason, as a flooded market is not a profitable one and it is not worth the time/fuel/equipment/water/fertilizer/pesticide to grow on it for the lower market price. They also need to rotate production. A more robust market for oil seed crops would make it more profitable for them to produce more and perhaps even stabilize their income on years when they would normally be forced to rotate in a less profitable crop. If there is a market for it, farmers will grow it.
If I need another vehicle to be compatible with the available fuel source, I would much prefer a less expensive diesel with technology I can work on at home, than a VERY expensive hydrogen vehicle that I won't be able to maintain.
