We've touched on a few energy topics here lately, so I thought I'd pitch in with this web site. It's the most succinct rebuttal I've seen yet to the whole issue of using hydrogen as an energy "source." He misses a few small points (e.g. the hydrogen storage issue might be made much easier with some nano-matrix technology coming down the pike), but the biggest points are spot on. Widescale use of H2 makes no sense from technological, environmental, or economic perspectives.
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/15/zubrin.htm
Te same author (link below) makes a pretty good case for methanol as the future automotive fuel. Step 1 is to mandate flex-fuel vehicles (costs about $200 extra per new car) which will create the demand for gasoline alternatives. Methanol is less expensive than ethanol (especialy after considering the ethanol subsidies) and less expensive than gasoline (methanol sells for $.80 per gallon today. Since it has about 1/2 the energy content of gaslone, the equivalent cost is $1.60 per gallon). You don't need to grow special crops to make methanol--it can be made from biomass, urban trash, or wood waste. So, using methanol doesn't drive up the price of food.
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/13/zubrin.htm
The less oil we import, the better. Let the Chinese wrangle with the wackos in the Middle East for oil.
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/15/zubrin.htm
Te same author (link below) makes a pretty good case for methanol as the future automotive fuel. Step 1 is to mandate flex-fuel vehicles (costs about $200 extra per new car) which will create the demand for gasoline alternatives. Methanol is less expensive than ethanol (especialy after considering the ethanol subsidies) and less expensive than gasoline (methanol sells for $.80 per gallon today. Since it has about 1/2 the energy content of gaslone, the equivalent cost is $1.60 per gallon). You don't need to grow special crops to make methanol--it can be made from biomass, urban trash, or wood waste. So, using methanol doesn't drive up the price of food.
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/13/zubrin.htm
The less oil we import, the better. Let the Chinese wrangle with the wackos in the Middle East for oil.