hydrogen powered cars?

[Discussed the pro and con of hydrogen driven cars with Robert Cohen, who asked me to post my opinion here at sci.energy.hydrogen - and told me I'd get some interesting answers.]

So here is my opinion:

Hydrogen can be produced using any power source delivering electricity - that's surely the most important pro in a world that is going to run short of oil. Alternatives are cars running biodiesel, biogas (methan), alcohole or (for some time) fossile energy that will stay longer than oil (natural gas or loiquefied coal).

Main problem of this technology is surely the still missing infrastructure and the fact that production of hydrogen is possible only with a limited degree of efficiency - as long as pertol is the cheapest power source, hydrogen is too expensive.

First hydrogen driven cars I've seen so far were using gas cylinders filled with liquid hydrogen and internal combustion engines, and still this type of car seems to be preferrable if high power density is required. Else fuel cells and hydrogen stored in metal hydride might be the more interesting solution.

Can anybody tell about security of metal hydride in case of a car accident? Obviously gas cylinders are at least as secure as a tank filled with gasoline ...
.

Quantcast