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Hydrogen is . . . dieing . . . . . dieing . . . .

4K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  jonas1022 
#1 ·
DEAD???

Even the Government is starting to get it now:
U.S. Drops Research Into Fuel Cells for Cars

By MATTHEW L. WALD
The New York Times

Published: May 7, 2009
WASHINGTON - Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells will not be practical over the next 10 to 20 years, the energy secretary said Thursday, and the government will cut off funds for the vehicles' development.

Developing those cells and coming up with a way to transport the hydrogen is a big challenge, Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Dr. Chu said the government preferred to focus on projects that would bear fruit more quickly.

The retreat from cars powered by fuel cells counters Mr. Bush's prediction in 2003 that "the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/science/earth/08energy.html?_r=2&hpw
 
#2 ·
Prowler... run the spell-check. (It's "dying").

And don't entirely count out hydrogen (though I, too, have never been fully convinced of it's promise; when I put in a pre-order for the Escape Hybrid in July 2004 my brother-in-law told me I was crazy as hydrogen fuelled vehicles were only a year away...)

Still, while the DOE is pulling back the funding, there are others putting the bucks into that possibility, and some big nameplates are still running test vehicles (including Ford) to keep the option open.

The future is still to be determined.
 
#3 ·
HybridArchitect said:
Prowler... run the spell-check. (It's "dying").
Having worked many years in the carpet industry, to me "dying" refers to applying color, whether to cloth, wood, etc.:

(picture of dying follows)


According to dictionary.com, the following are all perfectly acceptable:

dieing
dieing down
dieing off
dieing out

Unless you're referring to dead cloth, I'll stick with "dieing". (BTW, MY spell-check here in the US of A said it was fine).

 
#4 ·
HybridArchitect said:
And don't entirely count out hydrogen
Oh, there was a real comment there as well.
Without getting into foreign oil, terrorism (and just the plain old nastiness of liquid fuels), we have an immediate energy crisis that needs to be solved in years, not in decades. The situation is no different now than in the 70's where "we had to go solar and eliminate the need for foreign oil". That was 30-plus years ago, we're no further ahead now, and hydrogen will not be the solution 30 years from now (too much infrastructure required). 50 or 100 years from now, maybe, but not short term.

Basic research should continue - for future commercialization. That's what MIT and such are good at - develop the pure science, license it to the commercial world, and let them produce it for a profit. The Government spending $$$BILLIONS now (or, these days, $$$TRILLIONS) to commercialize hydrogen just won't work in the short-term.

Compare this to battery technology: It works today, but it's too expensive. What happens when you put 6,831 laptop batteries into a car that you or I could buy for $10 each? It works, but there's no economy of scale. Government funding to scale this up, both per unit (maybe 60 or 600 batteries) and quantity (right now, there is NO economy of scale for cars) is a way that government money can be beneficial IN THE SHORT TERM.

Within 3 years (maybe even 1), the Government loans to build plants to manufacture LITHIUM-ION CAR BATTERIES will produce tremendous dividends.

Yes, in 50-100 years we will realize mankind's dream to "power your vehicle from the air" (hydrogen), but that is not going to help any within my lifetime, or even probably my children's.

 
#5 ·
'Dying' is the progressive form of the word 'die', as in death. 'Dyeing' is the form of the word 'dye', as in dyeing carpet or hair. 'Dieing' is also a word, but it means to cut an object with a die.

'Dieing off/down/out' all refer to the act of cutting.
 
#7 ·
"I am dieing down my block of steel." = "I am cutting down my block of steel with a die."

"I am dieing off excess material."

"I am dieing out a perfect sphere."

And my Canadian English spell-checker finds 'dieing' perfectly acceptable, as well. :D
 
#9 ·
I have never claimed that dinosaurs were 'dieing off' and I never will. They did not possess the skills to cut anything with a die.

By the way, do you want me to add your Tesla image to your signature so that you don't have to paste in the link for every post?
 
#13 ·
i love diesel.

and the spelling is aweosme.

but does it mean

diesel: as in to sell death.
diesel: to sell a machined piece of steel.

HAHA

:beer:

and bring on the hydrogen!!!!!
 
#14 ·
CrashNburn said:
and bring on the hydrogen!!!!!
In some parts of the world hydrogen is definitely still on the radar.

The Norwegians have just opened their own "hydrogen highway" with 12 refuelling stations located along a 580 kilometre route from Oslo on the east coast to Stavanger on the west coast.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/05/14/first-hydrogen-highway-opened-in-norway/

Now they are pursuing an extension of the network into Sweden, Denmark, and eventually Germany. Of course, this is the same country that has been considering banning the sale of any new vehicles that burn fossil fuels by 2015.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/0...ring-a-ban-on-all-cars-powered-by-fossil-fue/
 
#15 ·
HybridArchitect said:
CrashNburn said:
and bring on the hydrogen!!!!!
In some parts of the world hydrogen is definitely still on the radar.

The Norwegians have just opened their own "hydrogen highway" with 12 refuelling stations located along a 580 kilometre route from Oslo on the east coast to Stavanger on the west coast.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/05/14/first-hydrogen-highway-opened-in-norway/

Now they are pursuing an extension of the network into Sweden, Denmark, and eventually Germany. Of course, this is the same country that has been considering banning the sale of any new vehicles that burn fossil fuels by 2015.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/0...ring-a-ban-on-all-cars-powered-by-fossil-fue/
"It's deja-vu all over again"
Yogi Berra
 
#16 ·
Yesterday on the tube I saw an article, for lack of better term. Of how NASA has gone green at the Cape. They got some (17?) used Ford Think "cars" surplus from another agency. That required some batteries and tires to return them to service. They have also bought several dozen cars that are electric, and several dozen Econoline vans that are alternate fuel. Plus they have ordered a big batch (I forget how many) of the hydrogen power source cars. They have also contracted with a company to build hydrogen power stations on the Cape, plus supply the stuff. They already have stations with the alternative fuel pumps for the cars and vans that use that, plus they have installed power stations for recharging the electrics. If I find the source, I'll post that up. I think it was a Discovery Channel program, but I have no recollection of it's title, other than NASA is mentioned. :doh: :shrug:
 
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