From NY1:Shell, General Motors and the Port Authority opened the city's first hydrogen fueling station Tuesday at JFK Airport.
Officials say it's a way to show customers how real and user-friendly the technology is. They also say the fuel is unique because it has zero emissions and hydrogen fuel prices are competitive with gas prices.
A handful of people were selected Tuesday to test drive GM's new line of vehicles that run on hydrogen.
7 comments:
Oh the humanity!
;>)
Near an airport seems to be a very scary place for a hydrogen fueling station. What happens if terrorists blow it up or a plane flies into it?
ridiculous. The amount of money spent on converting the US auto fleet to hydrogen would be astronomical, and would be better spent on building and promoting more efficient and ultimately more sustainable forms of transportation -- mass transit, walking and biking. Hydrogen cars ain't the future folks, just window dressing.
We need lighter cars,with smaller motors.Why must a Nissan murano weigh 4000lbs. Whatever happened to the c.a.f.e regulation?
This actually is a great thing. First it is not as dangerous as most people think. As already alluded to by previous posters, the Hindenberg tragedy is what everyone thinks of when you say "hydrogen" While it is certainly flammable, what really turned the Hindenberg into such an inferno was the chemical sealant painted on the fabric of the balloon. The Jet fuel stored at the airport is actually more dangerous. Secondly, it is not a matter of converting the vehicle fleet. It would be a transition over time. New vehicles only [unless you wanted to spend your own money for a conversion] would be converted. Thus the cost would not be exorbitant and would reduce as more vehicles and more fueling stations became available. Stations like the one at JFK are the start of developing the infrastructure [a hated word around here] needed to make hydrogen powered vehicles a feasible alternative. So that's great.
When I studied Chemistry we had to leave the windows open when we were releasing even a small amount of hydrogen into the air because it is among the most explosive substances on earth.
Hydrogen, the first element in the period table, violently combines with just about every other element except the inert gases.
come on folks, hydrogen is not so freaky. Lithium from batteries is much much more reactive if it gets loose. hydrogen is a very safe fuel with zero emissions when consumed in a fuel cell. H2 is non-toxic to humans, air, water, etc. you can breath it without ill effects except asphyxiation like any gas other air or oxygen
fine quartz glass fabrications have made using torches running on oxygen and hydrogen. no, the worker are not wearing nomex suits and special spark resistant ground straps.. they are just normal workers.. .
as for cars, the bottom line will be how much energy does it take to make a car.. and a car factory .. this total live cycle cost totally favors electric drive vehicles..
and fuel cell vehicles are just battery electric vehicles with a H2 fuel cell range extender.
oh yes, and both the volumetric and gravimetric density of H2 on-board storage plus the fuel cell is much better than any known battery system.
as for the H2 fuel, yes it requires energy to make hydrogen. but if 10 normal cubic meters of natural gas might drive your Honda civic 15 miles the same amount of hydrogen when used in a fuel cell car will drive you 30 miles.
so why not forgo the tailpipe emissions and go with the lower total life cycle cost?
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