A Friend looks at (mostly) the environment: “Let all nations hear the sound by word or writing. Spare not place, spare not tongue, nor pen…This is the word of the Lord God to you all, a charge to you all in the presence of the living God; be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your life and conduct may preach among all sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one…Spare no deceit.” George Fox
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 9:56 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Though, I should point out that few of our modern technologies are truly environmentally benign – the production of the semiconducting materials in our solar photovoltaic cells and LEDs are quite toxic materials, too.
I believe that hydrogen will be important as an energy storage medium that can easily be produced from electricity – it has an energy density in excess of essentially any other chemical fuel, and certainly far in excess of electrochemical batteries or fuel cells.
I do not believe that a tank of hydrogen driving your car is any more dangerous than the tanks of highly flammable gasoline, or propane, that our vehicles already use.
(sorry, small technical correction)
Hydrogen has the highest energy density by mass, not volume. Volumetric energy density is the critical measurement when it comes to fuel – it determines how large and strong our containers need to be. The weight of a fuel is far less important than its volume. Liquid hydrogen has an energy density of 10.1 MJ/L, compared to gasoline’s 34.6. Compressed hydrogen is only 4.7 (at 700 bar). But you’re right – it does beat batteries.
Anyone out there have info on how well BMW’s fleet of hydrogen powered cars is performing? This bridge technology allows the driver to change from burning hydrogen to gasoline by the flip of a switch. Supposedly the 45 lb tank of liquified hydrogen on board has a range of about 200 miles. If the driver can’t find a hydrogen filling station (not many of them around yet are there) he/she flips the switch to begining burning gasoline in the engine. A neat idea only those ingenious Germans would come up with.
A good letter indeed, worth reading.
I hope people like Bonnie Raitt take heed of it.
Though, I should point out that few of our modern technologies are truly environmentally benign – the production of the semiconducting materials in our solar photovoltaic cells and LEDs are quite toxic materials, too.
I believe that hydrogen will be important as an energy storage medium that can easily be produced from electricity – it has an energy density in excess of essentially any other chemical fuel, and certainly far in excess of electrochemical batteries or fuel cells.
I do not believe that a tank of hydrogen driving your car is any more dangerous than the tanks of highly flammable gasoline, or propane, that our vehicles already use.
(sorry, small technical correction)
Hydrogen has the highest energy density by mass, not volume. Volumetric energy density is the critical measurement when it comes to fuel – it determines how large and strong our containers need to be. The weight of a fuel is far less important than its volume. Liquid hydrogen has an energy density of 10.1 MJ/L, compared to gasoline’s 34.6. Compressed hydrogen is only 4.7 (at 700 bar). But you’re right – it does beat batteries.
Anyone out there have info on how well BMW’s fleet of hydrogen powered cars is performing? This bridge technology allows the driver to change from burning hydrogen to gasoline by the flip of a switch. Supposedly the 45 lb tank of liquified hydrogen on board has a range of about 200 miles. If the driver can’t find a hydrogen filling station (not many of them around yet are there) he/she flips the switch to begining burning gasoline in the engine. A neat idea only those ingenious Germans would come up with.