>Hydrogen fuel cell cars have gone by the wayside since the previous administrations’ endorsement has faded and focus has has shifted to hybrid cars. However, some companies (and people) are still betting on hydrogen for the future. Jamie Lee Curtis and husband Christopher Guest like them – www.money.cnn.com. Why shouldn’t we? Well, despite emissions from hydrogen cars being pure water vapor, creating the hydrogen to power the cars is energy intensive and is usually made from natural gas, another fossil fuel. Not to mention that the energy used to split the gas into hydrogen likely comes from fossil fuel sources. Plus there is the supply problem. A hydrogen infrastructure would have to be created from scratch. Right now there are only 64 hydrogen refueling stations in the country. Furthermore, the cost of these vehicles is prohibitively expensive, roughly $300,000 a pop. Guest must have threatened the Pit of Despair to lease a Honda Clarity for only $600 per month. Still, several other car companies including Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Daimler are all investing in hydrogen technologies. If hydrogen can be produced through electrolysis using renewable energy, maybe environmentalists would be more supportive. Still the infrastructure is not there and affordable technologies are a long way away. I think it is wise to stick to increasing fuel efficiency using available technologies. Hydrogen is a nice pipe dream. I still like Wanda and Rugen, though.
