the energy shell game

[derien]

A CNN article - 'Hydrogen is the fuel of the future' 

It requires exactly as much energy to create hydrogen as you get out of it; therefore it's not a fuel - it's a battery.  It's just a clever way to hold the power until you want to use it. 

Now, if you use wind and/or solar power to run the separation system for the hydrogen, then you've got an alternative energy system going on.  But that doesn't seem to be at all what they're talking about.  How they're going to create the hydrogen isn't discussed in these little articles. 

Comments

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

You're so right. I'm sick of people hyping up hydrogen. It's not going to help us out in any big way. Neither is biofuel (or whatever they call that plant-based car fuel) for similar reasons - the energy put into growing it economically (and the petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers that would presumably take) makes it counter productive. Sigh.

I live in a country with no nuclear power and I used to be always happy about that. But I'm starting to come around to the idea that it might be the Only Way - backed up by wind/wave/solar of course. Sigh again.

[derien.livejournal.com]

My brother has plans for how to convert an engine to run old cooking oil from the deep-fat fryers of restaurants - now THAT is just about as effective as it gets, I think. They're generally looking for a way to get rid of that stuff. Until we all stop eating deep-fried food because it's so unhealthy. :)