Cost of Generating Hydrogen Through Electrolysis

I keep reading posts in this group from naysayers who say stuff like,
"hydrogen is too expensive to manufacture using electolysis." It seems
those people are convinced that even using renewable energy, hydrogen
electrolysis would be too expensive. They then go on and on about the
high cost of solar panels, wind turbines, etc., never considering that
those things are not mass produced and thus enjoy no economies of scale.

What is the true cost of electrolyzing hydrogen from water? In dollars
and power consumption?

Does anyone know the kind of energy that we could get from hydrogen, as
compared to gasoline, to power automobiles?

Would electrolysis ever be feasible if the cost of solar panels and other
hardware necessary for renewable electricity generation were to drop
significantly? And by how much would it need to drop to make
electrolysis economical?

I saw a PBS show a while back that featured both hydrogen fuel cell and
hydrogen internal combustion engines. The only barrier to making this a
reality, according to the show, was the lack of hydrogen production and,
mainly, distribution facilities.

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1403/
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1506/
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1506/features/myths.htm
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1403/features/borroni.htm

Seems to me that there is a lot of noise regarding this issue. The pro-
hydrogen people may not be completely honest. The anti-hydrogen
naysayers are probably not completely honest, either.

So, which is it?

Seriously, folks. We have over 1 million prisoners incarcerated that we
can use for labor to manufacture solar panels and wind turbines. We have
plenty of federal land to use for wind turbines, solar paneles, etc. We
can dam rivers, use geo-thermal energy, and find other ways to generate
electricity for FREE that we can use to create hydrogen from water.
What's the hold up? Seriously, I want to know! Edify me, please.

.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Cost of Generating Hydrogen Through Electrolysis
    ... > electrolysis would be too expensive. ... They are mass produced and do enjoy economies of scale. ... > What is the true cost of electrolyzing hydrogen from water? ... > Would electrolysis ever be feasible if the cost of solar panels and other ...
    (sci.energy.hydrogen)
  • Re: Cost of Generating Hydrogen Through Electrolysis
    ... >> electrolysis would be too expensive. ... >> those things are not mass produced and thus enjoy no economies of scale. ... >> Does anyone know the kind of energy that we could get from hydrogen, ... >> naysayers are probably not completely honest, ...
    (sci.energy.hydrogen)
  • Re: Cost of Generating Hydrogen Through Electrolysis
    ... >> electrolysis would be too expensive. ... >> those things are not mass produced and thus enjoy no economies of scale. ... >> Does anyone know the kind of energy that we could get from hydrogen, ... >> naysayers are probably not completely honest, ...
    (sci.energy.hydrogen)