How far are we from a Hydrogen fueld world?

[TheDruid]

Well don?t ask me, i don?t know

But this article i found on slashdot, featured a company that has found a safe way to store Hydrogen in a concentration that?s greater in volume then liquid hydrogen. A technology that has the potential to store 10x more energy per volume then our current most powerful batteries.

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10066-new-type-of-hydrogen-fuel-cell-powers-up.html

Safely storing hydrogen has been one of the hugest huddles in making hydrogen a viable fuel source, that and mass creating hydrogen in a way that does not involve burning fossil fuels

[Lazybones]

Very interesting. A system like that could power a car with a much less weight than current battery or hybrid systems. Question is, how difficult is it to produce the borohydride solution?

The storage problem is truly half the problem.. Now we need the means for production, which is an equal or greater problem.

[Mr. Analog]

I think we're a long way from Hydrogen as a primary fuel source for two reasons: 1) Petrolium is cheap 2) Petrolium is plentiful.

Gas right now is "high", but it's still around a dollar a litre right? What else can you buy for under a dollar a litre?

[Darren Dirt]

You know, with the right technological gadgetry, I could power my car with my own urine. Hydrogen=H ; H2O = H+H+O.

URINE: Twice the Hydrogen of HO!

[Lazybones]

Gas right now is "high", but it's still around a dollar a litre right? What else can you buy for under a dollar a litre?

Actually in the last few weeks the prices all fell back down around 87.4 to 90.1c / litre.

[Mr. Analog]

You know, with the right technological gadgetry, I could power my car with my own urine. Hydrogen=H ; H2O = H+H+O.

URINE: Twice the Hydrogen of HO!

How would you handle the extraction of the sodium?

[Adams]

Technically you would just need something to filter the particles by size... anything small would be hydrogen. Well in my perfect world it would work.

[Shayne]

No other fuel in the world shoots out of the ground simply by drilling a hole.  Thats why oil will be the major fuel for a great many years to come.

[Darren Dirt]

Hmm...
http://www.dhlovelife.com/archive/index1.html

[Tom]

The main problem with using hydrogen is that it takes more energy to get hydrogen than it gives back (compared to petroleum). (at best, its a 1:1 ratio with hydrogen, for petroleum its about 1:50, put 1 liter in, get 50 out )

[TheDruid]

The main problem with using hydrogen is that it takes more energy to get hydrogen than it gives back (compared to petroleum). (at best, its a 1:1 ratio with hydrogen, for petroleum its about 1:50, put 1 liter in, get 50 out )

True, but in this case its about packaging energy in a way that can be used in portable applications, concentrating power into small spaces without the need of complicated expensive devices to extract that energy. When’s the last time you saw a nuclear powered car, or wind powered cell phone

I guess the energy loss in conversion is acceptable here. Remember, fossil fuel is energy that’s been conveniently converted for us by the passage of time. Where as current sources of hydrogen require energy to make this energy.

Really, the only true input of energy to our earth is from the sun. All other sources of fuel is locked up past energy from the sun converted into some other form.

[Mr. Analog]

What about thermal and fission? I think that Thermal energy is quite intrigueing.

[TheDruid]

What about thermal and fission? I think that Thermal energy is quite intrigueing.

Left over enery from the formation of our solar system... which was created by the "star stuff" of a supernova from another star

[TheDruid]

According to the big bang theory the only real element introduced into our universe was Hydrogen. All other elements were created over time by the fusion process that goes on in the heart of stars... then those stars explode spreading their elements into the universe to form other stars and planets. So in the end, all our energy comes from stars... or a mass injection of hydrogen to be precise. Ironic since the most plentiful element in this universe is what were looking at to solve our energy needs, and yet we cant just "drill a hole" and get some.