[LAD] OT: alternative fuel for cars [was: Re: Car engine sound emulation for future electic cars. ideas ?]

[Pieter Palmers]

Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-08-05 at 23:23 +1200, Pete Black wrote:
>> If you want a hydrogen car, you can visit tokyo and lease one from Mazda 
>> whenever you like.
>>
>> http://gas2.org/2008/06/20/mazdas-new-premacy-hydrogen-hybrid-rotary-engine-car-takes-to-the-road/
>>
> 
> Interesting link. There is another company in Japan that is releasing a
> purely hydrogen run car with no gasoline requirements. The fuel is
> water, which is then converted to hydrogen gas via electrolysis and
> burnt piped into the engine...

You mention repeatedly mention that water is an efficient transportation 
form of hydrogen. While you are right, it is rather irrelevant. You 
don't want to transport water or hydrogen, you want to transport 
people/goods/... . You need energy to do this transport. Hence you have 
to carry along energy, whatever from it may have.

The problem is that water is a very low-energetic form of hydrogen. In 
order to convert it into the high-energetic H2 form you have to provide 
at least the energy difference between the two forms. So what I don't 
understand in this story is where that energy comes from? Since 
electrolysis uses electricity, it probably means carrying along batteries.

Which leads me to the next surprise... why one would bother to carry 
along a battery to provide power for the electrolysis to then use the 
resulting gasses to drive an inferior combustion engine. If you carry 
along electrical energy anyway, why not use it to drive an electrical 
engine? They are far more efficient than a combustion engine.

Some thoughts for the masses,

Pieter