Today's news, via an article in the New York Times, brings the most encouraging news in a long time. Honda is going forward with production of fuel-cell powered cars. No internal combustion. Zero emissions of global-warming gases or other pollution.
You may have seen the commercials of late - I had, and I was wondering if this was a serious product, or just a tease. I suppose it's a little of both, for now. Honda is only producing 200 of the cars, primarily because the lack of refueling infrastructure makes it a novelty product right now. They also cost over $100,000, but that cost is expected to come down significantly, when and if they are mass-produced.
There are numerous questions about the viability of fuel cells and the creation of hydrogen fuel storage and pumping stations. However, if they can be addressed, it seems to me that this may hold more promise than electric cars. At least until we develop widespread alternative energy sources, electric cars suffer from one huge drawback: while they may not pollute, they still require the generation of electricity. If we switched over to electric cars, without developing cleaner energy, we would only be making marginal improvements in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
I'm no scientist, so I'd be interested in getting takes on this from our more science-savvy Kossacks....If Honda thinks fuel cells can be produced at a reasonable cost, with performance comparable to internal combustion power, are we on the cusp of the technology that will begin to reverse global warming in a few years?