I wish what you say could be true - that those issues will ever be resolved. But I seriously doubt it.
Of course, producing hydrogen from solar or hydro is feasable. The energy produced will be below the energy taken by the process, that's physics, in I don't remember which law of thermodynamics : every conversion of energy represents an energy loss.
But the real problem is not only the loss. It's the sheer quantity of energy needed. In order to refit the car industry, the energy industry, and the refueling infrastructure, we need trillions of dollar's worth of energy. Then, we need everyone to buy a new car or to have their car refitted. And then, we need solar and wind power to create hydrogen for 700 million vehicules, and that's without planning for any significant augmentation in the number of vehicules in the following years. WITHOUT the significant energy loss, we'd need over 220,000 square kilometers of solar panels. That's covering the state of ohio with solar panels.
Just to give you an approximation, according to David Goodstein, author of "Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil", all the solar panels ever produced would cover about 10 square kilometers. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4287300/)
Wind power? Alone, it would never be enough, and combined with solar, you just cut by a certain percentage the figures above.
According to Paul Driessen, author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power ยท Black Death, it would take all of California's 13,000 wind turbines to generate as much electricity as a single 555-megawatt natural gas fired power plant. (http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/driessen012905.htm)
We're better to think of something else fast... :)
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Of course, producing hydrogen from solar or hydro is feasable. The energy produced will be below the energy taken by the process, that's physics, in I don't remember which law of thermodynamics : every conversion of energy represents an energy loss.
But the real problem is not only the loss. It's the sheer quantity of energy needed. In order to refit the car industry, the energy industry, and the refueling infrastructure, we need trillions of dollar's worth of energy. Then, we need everyone to buy a new car or to have their car refitted. And then, we need solar and wind power to create hydrogen for 700 million vehicules, and that's without planning for any significant augmentation in the number of vehicules in the following years. WITHOUT the significant energy loss, we'd need over 220,000 square kilometers of solar panels. That's covering the state of ohio with solar panels.
Just to give you an approximation, according to David Goodstein, author of "Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil", all the solar panels ever produced would cover about 10 square kilometers.
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4287300/)
Wind power? Alone, it would never be enough, and combined with solar, you just cut by a certain percentage the figures above.
According to Paul Driessen, author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power ยท Black Death, it would take all of
California's 13,000 wind turbines to generate as much electricity as a single 555-megawatt natural gas fired power plant.
(http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/driessen012905.htm)
We're better to think of something else fast... :)