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Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
The base of electrical infrastructure is already in place expanding that capacity would be much simpler than building an new hydrongen infrastructure from scratch.
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Yes, the base is there already. But theoretically, the base infrastructure for hydrogen fueling stations is there as well. Just convert current gas stations. And no, i am not saying this is cheap or an easy process. But neither is building transmission lines, generation etc needed for electric vehicles either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
My point about hydrogen being a Carrier and not a source is that too may people assume that hydrogen is going to be so much better for the environment than fossil fuels. But where do we get the hydrgen from? It's got to be produced from something, be it from hydrocarbons or from water, but either way we are using fuels and emmiting carbon to do this and all we are doing is adding additional steps and inefficiencies to the process. Using a battery is the same concept, but instead of using electricty to produce hydrogen and then transporting that hydrogen to the car you use that electricty to charge a battery directly in the car without having to physically transport any fuel. You tell me which is more efficient
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Electricity has to be produced from something as well. Yes, electricity -> battery -> mechanical is more efficient that the hydrogen process. And yes, battery / electrical powered vehicles are great for the environment. What they aren't good at, is traveling long distances. Hydrogen isn't good at the long distance thing either, yet. But even if you can't drive longer than 300km on a hydrogen fill, you would be able to re-fuel your hydrogen vehicle in a matter of minutes. Instead of waiting for hours it takes to recharge your battery.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
Yes we could build green methods of producing that hydrogen such as nuclear, but that adds a whole other level of complexity to the infrastructure that we've got to build.
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You would need the same nuclear power plants for the electrical vehicles as well.
Each technology has it's pros and cons. And again, I could see both having a place in our society in the future. Just for long trips, transport vehicles, buses, etc, I still think hydrogen is the better choice.