mail online . Artificial petrol that costs 19p per litre could be on forecourts in as little as three years. British scientists are refining the recipe for a hydrogen-based fuel that will run in existing cars and engines at the fraction of the cost of conventional petrol. With hydrogen at its heart rather than carbon, it will not produce any harmful emissions when burnt, making it better for the environment, as well as easier on the wallet. The first road tests are due next year and, if all goes well, the cut-price ???petrol??
rob_man,
Jan 29, 2:48pm
And how do you produce hydrogen! The most effective method is to separate the hydrogen and oxygen in water. How do you do that! Large amounts of energy is the current method, more than you get back from a fuel cell when you recombine the two. I don't know about running existing cars on it either, there would need to be a fair amount of modification done and the internal combustion engine is notoriously inefficient at converting molecular energy into motion so it may well be that there is far more energy used in making hydrogen than will be recouped at the other end. Unless someone has come up with a more efficient method of separating hydrogen! Edit. the article claims existing vehicles will need no mods.
morrisman1,
Jan 29, 9:23pm
I could almost guarantee that there is a completely viable option for fueling our future and it has been thought of and tested. It wont be until oil becomes low in supply that we will actually see these inventions become something.
Hydrogen currently is not an economical option yet the United States seem to be in love with it. I think electric is a better option than hydrogen fuel cells based on the increased overall efficiency. While oil is plentiful (and it is currently) then we will not see any replacement for it. It will be amazing what gets invented/uncovered in the desperation for energy when oil runs out.
ginga4lyfe,
Jan 29, 10:10pm
I wander if this new fuel method is ok for Carburated vehicles.
ginga4lyfe,
Jan 29, 10:12pm
from the site linked above: "But AA president Edmund King warned: ???The fact the hydrogen is cheaper now doesn??
lovemore_mbigi,
Jan 30, 6:29am
Good article.Hydrogen is the way of the future.That's my bet.
Didn't we have a syntheticpetrolplant at Taranaki as part of the " think big " projects& last I saw it wasall cut up to be sold as scrapbecause it was uneconomic
neville48,
Feb 19, 2:08pm
If you look whats happening in Malaysia currently I would guess that a palm-oil extract is going to be the next fuel. It seems that Palm Oil is going to save the world with all sorts of uses for fuel,coughs ,colds ,sore holes and pimples on the dickie etc,including stock foods which Fonterra are currently the "bad boys" with.
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