OP
wasabi
Platinum Member
I've only been researching fuel cells for a bit over a year now (for investment potential), so I by no means claim to be conversant in all aspects. At the risk of raising TBN ire for 1) being a bit off topic and 2) discussing a quaisi-political topic, here is my .02 summary version take on it all:
I too have been skeptical about the H production aspects, but have come away from my research convinced that there are myriad viable means to do so...electrolysis, salts, ammonia, hydro-driven and yes, hydrocarbon extraction are all out there. Remember that hydrogen is literally the most ubiquitous element on earth.
The real bottleneck problem (aside from the HUGE global political challenges) is, IMHO, infrastructure related. It will take years to change consumer patterns and provide for safe storage and transportation. (Significant strides kind of akin to computer code compression are being made in this area)
If (a huge IF) the political/economic climate were to become more favorable toward shifting to a hydrogen based economy, I'm convinced the solutions are now there or very close. The problems are primarily functions of scale and demand.
I'm tracking a couple dozen amazing little companies that are after various aspects of this. Great work is happening all over the globe in this area....ALL the major car and oil companies are frantically chasing after this puck with significant investments in R&D. Check out a little company in Vancouver called Stuart that owns most of the electrolysis patents and makes small hydrogen generating appliances (stationary or portable) the size of an air conditioner (yes, electricity is an ancillary cost) that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
In the next few years we'll see a slew of new "green" autos and scooters ranging from fuel cell only to hybrids, some with on-board conversion technologies that transform gasoline to hydrogen with some actual efficiency gains, innovative storage approaches and such...together with attendant hype, misinformation and confusion on these related topics.
I don't believe for a second there is any question of "if" fuel cells become accepted....more simply a matter of when....but unless more consumers embrace the concepts it could be lifetimes before REAL significant shifts occurs.
Imagine what a full court press toward such innovative independence from foreign oil could do to stimulate our economy....that said, I doubt there is a politician on the planet that would risk taking arrows or falling on their sword for such a cause in this day and age....
Ok, sorry for the excessive pontificating....I'll step off the soap box now.....A good read on the topic is Tomorrows Energy by Peter Hoffmann.
I too have been skeptical about the H production aspects, but have come away from my research convinced that there are myriad viable means to do so...electrolysis, salts, ammonia, hydro-driven and yes, hydrocarbon extraction are all out there. Remember that hydrogen is literally the most ubiquitous element on earth.
The real bottleneck problem (aside from the HUGE global political challenges) is, IMHO, infrastructure related. It will take years to change consumer patterns and provide for safe storage and transportation. (Significant strides kind of akin to computer code compression are being made in this area)
If (a huge IF) the political/economic climate were to become more favorable toward shifting to a hydrogen based economy, I'm convinced the solutions are now there or very close. The problems are primarily functions of scale and demand.
I'm tracking a couple dozen amazing little companies that are after various aspects of this. Great work is happening all over the globe in this area....ALL the major car and oil companies are frantically chasing after this puck with significant investments in R&D. Check out a little company in Vancouver called Stuart that owns most of the electrolysis patents and makes small hydrogen generating appliances (stationary or portable) the size of an air conditioner (yes, electricity is an ancillary cost) that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
In the next few years we'll see a slew of new "green" autos and scooters ranging from fuel cell only to hybrids, some with on-board conversion technologies that transform gasoline to hydrogen with some actual efficiency gains, innovative storage approaches and such...together with attendant hype, misinformation and confusion on these related topics.
I don't believe for a second there is any question of "if" fuel cells become accepted....more simply a matter of when....but unless more consumers embrace the concepts it could be lifetimes before REAL significant shifts occurs.
Imagine what a full court press toward such innovative independence from foreign oil could do to stimulate our economy....that said, I doubt there is a politician on the planet that would risk taking arrows or falling on their sword for such a cause in this day and age....
Ok, sorry for the excessive pontificating....I'll step off the soap box now.....A good read on the topic is Tomorrows Energy by Peter Hoffmann.
