Re: "Let the [Dodge] Spirit move you" --- again

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>
" 
" <snip>
" >there's just one hitch: no infrastructure to obtain and distribute
" >hydrogen to these fuel-cell cars.  [you can't just use the national
" >natural-gas pipelines for two reasons - 1, h2 is much tinier than ch4
" >and can whizz through cracks natural gas doesn't even see, and 2, a
" >phenomenon called hydrogen embrittlement, which affects steel exposed
" >to h2]  this sounds like another excellent way for gm to shelve the
" >pesky question of changing the way they do things for another long
" >stretch of time.  notice he didn't say 'introduce a fuel cell car to
" >compete with the likes of toyota'...
" >
" >i predict they'll develop fuel cell tech, then shelve it, just like
" >they developed and shelved hybrid tech and electric tech before that.
" >remember the ev1, anybody?
" <snip>
" 
" GM is not developing the fuel cell technology by themselves. There is 
" another company (the name of which escapes me) that they are working with 
" along with I think Ford and/or Chrysler and an Asian auto maker or two that 
" didn't want to be named. If you could engineer a process where Hydrogen 
" could be split off from other compounds (such as water) quickly enough to 
" provide enough energy to be meaningful, it would eliminate the entire 
" infrastructure problem.

yeah, except splitting water absorbs as much power as the fuel cell car
generates - it's the reverse process - and that impacts the power grid,
if nothing else.

" This is something that's actively being worked on. 
" Scientists are really trying to understand exactly how photosynthesis works 
" (plants have been splitting water molecules for millions of years) and they 
" have already come up with synthetic molecules that can split Hydrogen of 
" off Hydrogen Peroxide (this is still not a high volume process but it is 
" progress).

yeah - but by 2010?  imho they'll be lucky to have practical tech by
2010, and even if it was on shelf right now they couldn't have more
than token distribution in place by 2010.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought