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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (51507)	9/23/2006 12:53:43 PM
From: Ken Adams	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 90947

I have been hearing a little about the following, and I just picked this up from Wikipedia.... Fears that sources of hydrocarbon fuels will run out and concerns over global warming due to carbon dioxide (CO2) tailpipe emissions have given rise to a search for an alternative fuel to hydrocarbon fossils which does not have these problems. Some believe that fuel cells, using hydrogen as a fuel, will be able to replace most internal combustion engines and will be able to solve most grid load balancing needs in the future. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It also has an excellent energy density by weight, which leads to it being used for spaceships like the space shuttle. Emissions of a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell, in theory, consist of pure water. The fuel cell is also more efficient than an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine is said to be 20-30% efficient, while the fuel cell is 75-80% efficient (not accounting for losses in the actual production of hydrogen) and together with the electric motor and controller the drivetrain overall efficiency approaches 40% with low idling losses. On the radio the other day, Paul Harvey predicted we would be driving automobiles powered this way in about 5 years. I'd say, "don't bet on it". BWDIK?