Hydrogen Powered Cars

[Pooeypants]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (mlingley,)
The fuel tank is in the car..<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
Hydrogen gases is much more volatile than petrol, I'm not saying we can't generate our own but there is still safety implications that needs to be addressed before it to happen at home.

[Impenitent]

remember the hindenburg?

[mlingley]

Here is an article that relates to the topic. Looks like a Canadian figured out a way to make hydrogen from old pop cans and water. Seems interesting..

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/19/hydrogen040119

Here is an article about producing hydrogen from ethanol.. another promising development.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-02-...htm?POE=TECISVA

Yet another good way to make hydrogen is by using solar heat.. looks to be cost effective in the near future..

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000916/fob6.asp

[bugsbunny04]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (Samildanach,)
And where do you plan to get all this antimatter? Antimatter as far as I know is the most expensive substance on the planet because its so hard to produce.....Sure it produces a lot of energy but you have to produce it. what ~I want to know is why you are all waffling on about wind generators when you could be talking about wave generators. Three quarters of the planet is water. That water is ALWAYS moving. Find an area of ocean and dump five hundred square miles of wave generators in there and see how much it produces day in day out. If you want free energy thats the way to do it.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>

That is an extremely good idea. WTF did no one else think of that? Seriously, that kicks ass.

[Kyran]

Please understand that I'm not really scientifically-inclined, but I have found this thread absolutely fascinating and have some ideas of my own.

Let's see if I've got this correct. The Hydrogen fuels the vehicle, and we get H-2 from water. Will ocean work??? If it does, maybe we could begin using the engines on ships first. There's plenty of wind, water, and sunshine in the middle of the Atlantic.

I've got this notion that some type of hydrogen vehicle could be better suited to sail than ride on land. Heck, drive it up the coastline; you don't even need a road! No speed limits & no traffic.

Anyone got a good link on the mechanics of these engines? I'd invest in making a self-sufficient vessel/vehicle.

[mlingley]

Here is a good description of how fuel cells work. The animated clip is the easiest to understand.
http://www.nfcrc.uci.edu/fcresources/FCexp..._howItWorks.htm

[gecko]

arent they the ones that blow up really well?

[Impenitent]

even better than pintos?

[tman_ndsu08]

H2 fuel cells have been around for awhile. They are not the main problem. The main problem is waiting for technology to produce a cheap, reliable, and powerful electronic engine.

And yes, there are definately saftey issues that need to be delt with before fuel cells can continue forward.

As far as O2 goes, it aids in combustion but itself alone is not combustible. Otherwise, whenever someone lit a cigarette the entire atmosphere would combust. Think of of it like this...hydrogen is thing that is combusting and oxygen is the thing that is allowing the combustion to continue. In the presense of oxygen and heat, a source will combust. Ok?

Beyond that, so what if something other than H2 is combustable? H2 IS highly combustable, period. That is enough reason to ensure saftey.

[Samildanach]

There are definitely efficency issues with fuel cells as well, up until now they haven't really been viable efficency wise. Now I believe they are just starting to break through the barrier.

[mojo_the_migo]

Hello everyone, first time poster. I love this topic and I think I remember hearing on our government working with hydrogen as a fuel sorce in the military. I can't seem to find the website, but I think they are trying to use it in a new Uber tank/land attack vehicle of some sort. If this is the case, once the military gets a hold of it, it gets MAJOR funding and civilian usage isn't too far behind. Any other Tactical to Practical fans out there???