ncbill
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Don't expect electric planes, it's not the technology for clean flight. Think something more like hydrogen power.
In electrical terms, the energy density of hydrogen is equal to 33.6 kWh of usable energy per kg, versus diesel which only holds about 12–14 kWh per kg. What this really means is that 1 kg of hydrogen, used in a fuel cell to power an electric motor, contains approximately the same energy as a gallon of diesel.
Hydrogen blasted the space shuttle into orbit!
The problem is that to make a hydrogen-burning, fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) with roughly the same range as a gasoline fueled vehicle (~400 miles) requires a special, high-pressure (~10,000 psi) carbon-fiber-reinforced tank that last I checked by itself costs nearly as much as a compact car.
You can use a cheaper metal tank at much lower pressure, but then the range drops to the point that you might as well just put a compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinder (~2,500 psi) in the trunk of an ICE-powered vehicle as the fuel instead of gasoline.
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