Comments on: Car of the future: plug-in or hydrogen? http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/ The blog & portfolio of Matthew J. Rogers Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:35:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Matthew http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/comment-page-1/#comment-46705 Matthew Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:35:11 +0000 http://rogersmj.com/?p=726#comment-46705 Hewlett: those are really good points. And yes, we're decades from eliminating oil from heavy industry. Hewlett: those are really good points. And yes, we’re decades from eliminating oil from heavy industry.

]]> By: Matthew http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/comment-page-1/#comment-46704 Matthew Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:30:39 +0000 http://rogersmj.com/?p=726#comment-46704 sandy...you're probably referring to the two boxes at the end of the article. Those are YouTube videos, and if you can't see them then you might have a problem with your Flash player. sandy…you’re probably referring to the two boxes at the end of the article. Those are YouTube videos, and if you can’t see them then you might have a problem with your Flash player.

]]> By: sandy cruz http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/comment-page-1/#comment-46562 sandy cruz Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:45:48 +0000 http://rogersmj.com/?p=726#comment-46562 Dear Website Person: Those are some very nice cars! When I grow up, I will probably try and get one of those. You forgot a couple of photos in your website. There are a couple of blank squares. Dear Website Person:
Those are some very nice cars! When I grow up, I will probably try and get one of those. You forgot a couple of photos in your website. There are a couple of blank squares.

]]> By: Hewlett http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/comment-page-1/#comment-45005 Hewlett Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:30:34 +0000 http://rogersmj.com/?p=726#comment-45005 This article I stumbled upon (http://www.efcf.com/reports/E04.pdf) answers questions of efficiency pretty well for the layperson. Why generate electricity to create hydrogen, transport it, then put it through a fuel cell to generate electricity to drive the car? The inefficiencies stack up quickly. An electric car's best efficiency from the power plant to wheels is 60% (w/o regen). The same for a hydrogen vehicle (w/o regen) is 22%. Both alternatives require new power plants to supply the power, whether they are clean power or not. I believe electric vehicles leave more room for innovation; Batteries have more than quadrupled in power density over the last 20 years. Hydrogen generation and fuel cells are restricted by the chemical efficiency of splitting water and recombining hydrogen and oxygen. My vote is for electric range extended passenger cars. Once the electric range is 100 miles, range extending fuels (gas, biofuel, hydrogen or trash dumped into a Mr. Fusion) will be just fine for road trips and vacations. A hydrogen infrastructure may one day be cost practical compared to gasoline, but not to electric. And we're only talking about passenger vehicles; we are a long, long way from removing oil from the shipping and heavy equipment industries. This article I stumbled upon (http://www.efcf.com/reports/E04.pdf) answers questions of efficiency pretty well for the layperson. Why generate electricity to create hydrogen, transport it, then put it through a fuel cell to generate electricity to drive the car? The inefficiencies stack up quickly. An electric car’s best efficiency from the power plant to wheels is 60% (w/o regen). The same for a hydrogen vehicle (w/o regen) is 22%. Both alternatives require new power plants to supply the power, whether they are clean power or not. I believe electric vehicles leave more room for innovation; Batteries have more than quadrupled in power density over the last 20 years. Hydrogen generation and fuel cells are restricted by the chemical efficiency of splitting water and recombining hydrogen and oxygen. My vote is for electric range extended passenger cars. Once the electric range is 100 miles, range extending fuels (gas, biofuel, hydrogen or trash dumped into a Mr. Fusion) will be just fine for road trips and vacations. A hydrogen infrastructure may one day be cost practical compared to gasoline, but not to electric. And we’re only talking about passenger vehicles; we are a long, long way from removing oil from the shipping and heavy equipment industries.

]]> By: Matthew http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/comment-page-1/#comment-44912 Matthew Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:55:36 +0000 http://rogersmj.com/?p=726#comment-44912 @Bill... I think those are very important questions, but I haven't run across any projections of that nature. I agree that at least for large-scale power generation in the near term (read: several decades at least), we need to gear back up on nuclear. It's not perfect, but it's the best we've got right now at that scale. @Laura B...you'd be rich! :) @Bill… I think those are very important questions, but I haven’t run across any projections of that nature. I agree that at least for large-scale power generation in the near term (read: several decades at least), we need to gear back up on nuclear. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got right now at that scale.

@Laura B…you’d be rich! :)

]]> By: Laura B http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/comment-page-1/#comment-44893 Laura B Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:27:54 +0000 http://rogersmj.com/?p=726#comment-44893 our senior design project in ChemE was to design a process that produced hydrogen with minimal waste and energy resources.... now if only i can dig up those files..... our senior design project in ChemE was to design a process that produced hydrogen with minimal waste and energy resources…. now if only i can dig up those files…..

]]> By: Bill in Portland http://rogersmj.com/2009/01/03/car-of-the-future-plug-in-or-hydrogen/comment-page-1/#comment-44729 Bill in Portland Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:14:59 +0000 http://rogersmj.com/?p=726#comment-44729 is there agreement that in order to provide sufficient fuel, either electric or hydrogen, and coal is out because of GHG generation, isnt nuclear the only practical alternative? If nuclear is assumed then is the transmission of electricity to your garage across the gird more or less efficient than hydrogen generation and transport in tank trucks? is there agreement that in order to provide sufficient fuel, either electric or hydrogen, and coal is out because of GHG generation, isnt nuclear the only practical alternative? If nuclear is assumed then is the transmission of electricity to your garage across the gird more or less efficient than hydrogen generation and transport in tank trucks?

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