On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:57:07 -0600, "Jon Woellhaf"
wrote:

"Roger" wrote

... for hydrogen
you are limited to the distribution system that has yet to be
implemented except on a small scale. Electricity is easier to
transport and the electric farm you list below is one whale of a good
start. Unfortunately our power grid is only capable of *almost*
meeting peak demands. Cars user far more energy so that would mean
either trucking vast amounts of Hydrogen, increasing the size of our
electric grid several fold over what we have now, or a combination of
both with the latter being the most likely ...

Why transport the hydrogen? Just produce it electrolytically at every gas
station.

And most of the country is going to get the electricity to do this
from where? Certainly not from photovoltaic cells That works on small
scale and in areas where there is lots of sunlight.

it takes a lot of energy to create H2 and you get back less than you
put in. Now, each day, make enough to fill a few thousand cars with
enough to drive a few hundred miles.

If stations had to build photovoltaic cells large enough to do this we
certainly are using very cheap gas at present by comparison. As far
as the electric grid we have no where near the capacity to generate
enough H2 to fuel more than a small percent of the cars on the road.
In that case we'd be better off just building long range electric
cars. It'd be more efficient but then we come to the size, weight,
and number of batteries, not to mention handling the waste and worn
out batteries which could turn out to be an even larger problem than
we have now.

Cars are our largest energy user.
We could *probably* switch over to biofuels far easier than H2.
The only problem I see with Biodeisel is up here in the "cold country"
where the stuff either gels or solidifies. Additives raise the price
as does keeping it warm, but to me it looks like one of the best bets.
But the question does arise as to how much of the stuff we can make
economically.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com