The
Times is beating the drum for Hydrogen fuel cells again. In this week's auto section there is a report of the first extended test drive of a new Honda fuel cell vehicle, as well as a big
side bar with Hydrogen vehicle info (this has a teaser headline, like "remember the Hindenburg", but the untested assertion that it's no more dangerous than gasoline, well below the fold.
Also, in another section, the Times reports on Japan's obsession with all things energy efficient. It mentions that the Prime Minister's residence features a promenently placed Hydrogen fuel cell generator.
In all the puffing of this technology you see prominently mentioned that hydrogen is all over (there's a lot of it in every breath we take) and how burning it produces only water vapor. What isn't mentioned is, that like Aluminum, it almost never occurs in pure state and has to be manufactured at vast expense of other forms of energy. Although hydrogen can be made with renewable forms of energy like wind or solar power, it is most likely to be made with dirtier forms of energy like hydrocarbons. What this means in practice is that the excess production capacity of electrical plants will be harnessed to produce hydrogen off peak hours, and a whole lot of those burn coal.
It's almost never stated that Hydrogen is a STORAGE technology. A fuel-cell vehicle is no more zero emission than the power plant that makes the gas. In this respect it is no different than an electric car that runs on batteries, or one, for that matter, that runs on a twisted rubber band. The main difference is that you never hear of a lead-acid battery becoming a fireball.
And yet you see all sorts of unlikely people beating the drum for Hydrogen. On the part of environmentalists this may be wishful thinking. On the part of the administration and outfits like General Motors, make no mistake, they are trying to raise a smoke screen to disguise the fact that they want to take NO substantive action.
The things that we need to do in this country, as regards energy use, are difficult, costly, and will take major changes in the way we live. We need real leadership, not flashy distractions.