NYS Assemblyman Test-Drives Hydrogen Car

Anticipated sticker price of $57,500 or a 3-year lease at $499.00 / month, which includes free fuel for three years.

Rich
 
If it has anything to do with anyone in NY govt, don't just walk away run.

Besides I have yet to see anywhere I could refuel that gimmick where I live.

How about we just make some small turbo diesel cars?
 
Hydrogen is somewhat more explosive than gasoline in an accident, to say nothing of the crash integrity of the high pressure tank it is in.

No thank you . . .
 
Hank S said:
Hydrogen is somewhat more explosive than gasoline in an accident, to say nothing of the crash integrity of the high pressure tank it is in.

No thank you . . .
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Hydrogen tanks have been around on highways for many years, secured in trucks taking H2 to businesses that use hydrogen. It isn't any more of a problem than taking care not to spark near gas fumes.

I've used field instruments powered by hydrogen hundreds of times, and refill them myself using nothing fancier than a non-sparking wrench to handle the fittings. It is no big deal at all.
 
Perfect test subject. He's full of gas anyhow.

Hydrogen is NOT explosive at all by itself. It needs a pretty hefty mixture of oxygen to explode. What is the problem is that a hydrogen leak with even a little bit of oxygen is likely to autoignite as it takes very low amounts of energy to do so, as opposed to gasoline that can run all over the place and takes some vaporization and a good healthy bit of heat to get going.
 
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James331 said:
If it has anything to do with anyone in NY govt, don't just walk away run.

Besides I have yet to see anywhere I could refuel that gimmick where I live.

How about we just make some small turbo diesel cars?
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As far as I know it has nothing to do with New York State government. The car is made by Toyota, and Felix Ortiz is just an amicable sort of guy who's long been known for his willingness to participate in public experiments like this without everything being scripted in advance. It doesn't seem to be political ambition in his case, either: He's been a NYS Assemblyman (the "lower house" of the legislature and a part-time job) for something like 20 years and has never shown any interest at all in seeking higher office.

Rich
 
Problem with Hydrogen is the only place to get it right now is from methane (natural gas). You're really just replacing one fossil fuel with another.

Now, if Lockheed can really make good on a fusion reactor we can get all the H2 we need from seawater. I'll bet hydrogen has more energy density than the next generation batteries or the next generation after that, too.
 
steingar said:
Problem with Hydrogen is the only place to get it right now is from methane (natural gas). You're really just replacing one fossil fuel with another.

Now, if Lockheed can really make good on a fusion reactor we can get all the H2 we need from seawater. I'll bet hydrogen has more energy density than the next generation batteries or the next generation after that, too.
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The fact that the existing hydrogen infrastructure is owned primarily by the fossil fuel industry is the biggest obstacle to its acceptance. Odin forbid that that industry should make a few dollars, even if the resulting technology happens to save the world. Mother Jones actually actually came out said as much in this article.

Another industry that could get into the hydrogen game pretty easily would be the nuclear power industry. Nuclear plants create steam to turn their turbines. That waste steam could be used to produce hydrogen by HTSE during off-peak hours, when there's also waste electricity available. But alas, nuclear is also a hated industry -- regardless of the fact that they're ideally situated to produce a completely zero-carbon motor fuel.

If I were in charge of energy policy (see the subtle pun there?), I'd plant thorium-fueled reactors all over the country, create hydrogen from the waste steam, and license companies collect it, store it, and sell it locally. That avoids the pipeline issue and with it the need to contend with the anti-pipeline lobby.

Rich
 
Car is too limited untill they get more fueling stations set up.
 
Sac Arrow said:
It would be easier to ask what Henning wasn't.
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That's a question without an answer. If someone asked a question about a left displaced abomasum in a cow, Henning would describe how he did the surgery in the barn in between his stints as a veterinarian and a roughneck out in the Gulf of Mexico.
 
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