Hydrogen Kills Dino-fuel?

Fathom wrote: »

Toyota Mirai hydrogen-powered car selling in US. White whale or future of cars? Fuel delivery infrastructure problem. Tank stores 11 lbs hydrogen at 10,000 psi. Battery only used for ignition and acceleration. 300 mile range.

Ref: How It Works: The Toyota Mirai, Popular Science, April 2015.

Hydrogen car with electric ignition ?
François Isaac de Rivaz built one in 1808 :P

Not only is there a lack of Fuel delivery infrastructure , energy has to be sought and then put into the fuel.

Biofouling is the big problem with membranes and untreated water.

It's what killed off osmotic power. "it's like creating an artificial waterfall of 120 meters"

anyway right now we can generate methane from waste.

termite bacteria can make hydrogen but long way away.


The easiest way to store hydrogen for internal combustion engines is in hydrocarbons or alcohols or similar.



If using it for fuel cells then Aluminium is a much easier way to store the fuel. You can reprocess the oxide. Places like Iceland turn hydro electricity into metal.
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/151801-aluminium-air-battery-can-power-electric-vehicles-for-1000-miles-will-come-to-production-cars-in-2017

Fathom wrote: »

Boyle noted energy from waste. Could waste produced energy be used to separate oxygen from hydrogen in water? Not as cheaply produced as oil or gas. If oil field reserves decline or dry up in 100 years. Or hydrogen production tech break through.

The big problem with electrolysing water is that a lot of the energy ends up in the Oxygen. And we already have lots of it in the air.

Compare the electrolysis of urea 0.37 Volts compared to 1.23V for water.
https://www.ohio.edu/engineering/ceer/research/urea.cfm

In the past people used to pay extra for Bishops urine because of their richer diet. Back when they used it to make gunpowder, it was an indirect process.



We have passed peak oil. Or as it should be called Peak CHEAP Oil. At present we are only extracting something like a third of what's in a well. As technology improves more can be taken out of existing wells. So we won't run out any time soon, especially as oil can be made from coal and tar sands too.

A rough figure is that with today's technology we can make hydrocarbons from hydrogen and other feedstocks for about four times the cost of fossil fuel.



You can make methanol from hydrogen. It's a lot easier to handle and store. Has been used by IndyCar Series since the 1960s'. And you can use it in fuel cells.

Don't get caught up in the Hydrogen economy. Even if you had free hydrogen it's still probably best to convert into a liquid for ease of use.