Ah-nold's "Hydrogen Highway" - LA Times

[hatrack]

Hydrogen refueling stations would be located every twenty miles and would cost hundreds of millions to implement


"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to speed California drivers to a future in which the most common element in the universe -- hydrogen -- will power their cars instead of petroleum. To wean a gas-guzzling nation from a finite supply of fossil fuels, the governor has thrown his weight behind "Hydrogen Highways," an ambitious but costly plan to build a statewide network of 200 hydrogen filling stations by the end of the decade.

The investment is necessary, proponents say, because without refueling stations, automakers may not produce enough of the alternative cars and consumers will not buy them.

Stations would be located every 20 miles along major highways and interstates. Each station would cost $250,000 to $500,000, and the total expense could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The undertaking would be financed with a combination of public and private money.

EDIT

Because so few fuel cell cars have been built — about 60 are in service in California — they are costly, about $1 million apiece to produce today. Their range is limited to about 200 miles before refueling, much less than the range of a gasoline car. Increasing the range would require more fuel tanks, which would take up too much space in the vehicle, according to the Energy Department. The cars being road-tested in California were provided by the auto industry to universities, cities and public agencies."

EDIT

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=communique&newsid=4856

[DBoon]

1. He should get rid of his Hummer and drive a Prius

n/t

[cprise]

2. Texas should do this

Let's make Texas the guinea pig. It doesn't make sense to foist this on California.

[JohnyCanuck]

3. Maybe Gropenator needs to read this.

Hydrogen - the Bad
The bad news doesn't get the media play, but the list goes something like this.

There are no hydrogen wells
For all practical purposes, hydrogen does not exist in a natural state on Earth. It is highly reactive, so free hydrogen in the atmosphere normally bonds with nitrogen (to produce ammonia) or oxygen (to produce water or hydrogen peroxide). If the hydrogen actually manages to reach the upper atmosphere without reacting, it simply leaves the planetary atmosphere and moves into space. So, if we want to have hydrogen, we have to make it, and then store it and handle it and transport it so that it cannot come in contact with air or any of a large number of other substances so that it will remain sufficiently pure to be used. Given hydrogen's affinity for bonding with other elements, it typically takes a lot of energy to break those bonds to make and capture the hydrogen.

<snip>

The cycle efficiency of hydrogen production is poor
Making hydrogen and using it is a complex and multi-step process - with energy losses at every step. While it is possible to make hydrogen from renewable and sustainable sources, it is simply a bad idea relative to other options such as using the produced energy directly (e.g. as electricity) while powering transportation by other means (human powered vehicles, biofuels, electric vehicles, biofuel-electric hybrids).

The Hydrogen Economy - An Idea Whose Time Hasn't Come