4 ms·

I don't know about ignorance, but basically, the energy you get from splitting the water molecule (in the form of H2 and O2) is lower than the energy consumed t

I don't know about ignorance, but basically, the energy you get from splitting the water molecule (in the form of H2 and O2) is lower than the energy consumed to make the split. For storage you will also have to deeply freeze the gases unless you want to have huge tanks for storage So what makes a hydrogen exposed freezing tank better suited for transport and storage than a chemical battery?

nardi 12y ago
This is just pessimism. Yes, there are other hurdles to overcome for hydrogen. But this is a major advance in one of the primary pieces necessary for a hydrogen economy. What makes you think advances in other areas are impossible? And to answer your question, much better energy density by mass.
- keenerd 12y ago
  Who cares about mass except NASA? H2 is terrible by volume, a liter of gasoline has more hydrogen in it than a liter of liquid H2 and the gasoline is a lot more safe. Some little PDFs about the hurdles of hydrogen from one of my favorite tech writers: http://www.tinaja.com/glib/resbn88.pdf http://www.tinaja.com/glib/resbn88.pdf http://www.tinaja.com/glib/energfun.pdf http://www.tinaja.com/glib/energfun.pdf A hydrogen economy might be possible one day, but not until we find a natural H2 source that is as "free" as crude oil. Man made hydrogen will not work on a large scale. Electrolysis is one of the worst ways to make hydrogen, though it does have the highest "gee-whiz!" factor. If we did have unlimited hydrogen spewing out of the ground people would seriously consider first cracking the H2 into hydrocarbons to make it easier to transport.
  - waps 12y ago
    And if you blast coal with it ... Guess what comes out ? (Granted you'd also need to make coal out of co2, which is so much harder. but every little bit helps)
cjensen 12y ago
A car which runs on hydrogen can be refueled in a few minutes. Batteries need an hour of charge or a battery swap which costs labor.
- seanflyon 12y ago
  A battery swap only costs labor if you do it manually. I don't see why you would do that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY
digikata 12y ago
It's not, but it might be interesting for electrical storage of excess renewable energy, especially in concert with a less reactive storage material. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage Though many places seem to want to solve the issue for cars, while to me it makes more sense to solve it for buildings before making it portable enough for cars.

nardi 12y ago

This is just pessimism. Yes, there are other hurdles to overcome for hydrogen. But this is a major advance in one of the primary pieces necessary for a hydrogen economy. What makes you think advances in other areas are impossible? And to answer your question, much better energy density by mass.

keenerd 12y ago
Who cares about mass except NASA? H2 is terrible by volume, a liter of gasoline has more hydrogen in it than a liter of liquid H2 and the gasoline is a lot more safe. Some little PDFs about the hurdles of hydrogen from one of my favorite tech writers: http://www.tinaja.com/glib/resbn88.pdf http://www.tinaja.com/glib/resbn88.pdf http://www.tinaja.com/glib/energfun.pdf http://www.tinaja.com/glib/energfun.pdf A hydrogen economy might be possible one day, but not until we find a natural H2 source that is as "free" as crude oil. Man made hydrogen will not work on a large scale. Electrolysis is one of the worst ways to make hydrogen, though it does have the highest "gee-whiz!" factor. If we did have unlimited hydrogen spewing out of the ground people would seriously consider first cracking the H2 into hydrocarbons to make it easier to transport.
- waps 12y ago
  And if you blast coal with it ... Guess what comes out ? (Granted you'd also need to make coal out of co2, which is so much harder. but every little bit helps)

cjensen 12y ago

A car which runs on hydrogen can be refueled in a few minutes. Batteries need an hour of charge or a battery swap which costs labor.

seanflyon 12y ago
A battery swap only costs labor if you do it manually. I don't see why you would do that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY

digikata 12y ago

It's not, but it might be interesting for electrical storage of excess renewable energy, especially in concert with a less reactive storage material. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage Though many places seem to want to solve the issue for cars, while to me it makes more sense to solve it for buildings before making it portable enough for cars.