High Hopes for Hydrogen? [8.1.7]

In almost a decade of test driving hydrogen-powered fuel-cell cars, I began to recognize a familiar pattern. The drive itself was short, usually a round or two around a race track or a closed-road course. I was once flown all the way to Japan to drive a Honda FCX about half a mile through a parking lot. Sitting in the passenger seat was an engineer with a laptop and a clipboard, nervously watching for malfunctions.

Fortunately, those days are gone.

Click here (http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/08/01/high-hopes-for-hydrogen/4664/) to read the entire column

By Jim Motavalli from The Daily Green

Hi,
In the near term, improving fuel economy is the best way to slow the rise in oil use and greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. But even if automakers triple the efficiency of their fleets and governments support mass transit and smart-growth strategies that lessen the public's reliance on cars, the explosive growth in the number of vehicles around the world will severely limit any reductions in oil consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. To make deeper cuts, the transportation sector needs to switch to low-carbon, nonpetroleum fuels. Liquid fuels derived from woody plants or synthesized from tar sands or coal may play important roles. Over the long term, however, the most feasible ways to power vehicles with high efficiency and zero emissions are through connections to the electric grid or the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel.

I see the ultimate car over the long term as being a hydrogen fuel cell plug-in hybrid since this will take advantage of the best of both battery and hydrogen technologies.

Interesting to know about it.Informative posting.Thanks for sharing it and making us aware of it.