Am I not getting this? I follow this news track often because I am very interested in this country’s future energy needs.
What I keep seeing is a concerted (and in my opinion, a highly misguided and uninformed) focus on alternative energy vehicles that still require energy from dirty energy sources. Let me explain:
Gasoline – This is a no brainer. Don’t even add what’s happening in the Gulf right now. Our attention to gasoline puts this country at risk by forcing us to do business with unstable countries. This should stop.
Hybrids - Great idea, but it still uses gasoline. And if you ever drove one, the pickup is not quite what you’d expect. And at the end of the day, the mileage is still equal (or surpassed) to a VW Polo Diesel (check it out). Also – just wait when you need to replace your batteries – there will be a lot of angry people out there.
Electric Cars – All I read today focuses on the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt. Where will the electricity come from? The air? No – it will come from Oil, Coal, and Nuclear – all three are very dirty. And you have to plug them in everywhere since they only get 100 miles per charge.
So where do we go from here? I have three words: Honda FCX Clarity – the most important car since the car was invented.
Check out this video:
No Oil. No Gasoline. No Electricity. It runs on Hydrogen – the most abundant element in the universe and it spits out water vapor. How do we do it?
This should be Our Five Year Plan:
Step 1: Government subsidies (Manhattan Project) to help automakers retool to produce hydrogen cars. Begin to incrementally tax gasoline to painfully move the public to hydrogen. Trucks can still use diesel (or natural gas) – we can focus on them in the second round.
Step 2: All gas stations are refitted not to dispense gasoline, but to dispense liquid hydrogen.
Step 3: State rebates to help owners purchase and own new hydrogen cars (you can probably throw in federal too).
Step 4: Convert all refining stations that turn petroleum into gasoline into refining stations that turn water/seawater into hydrogen. Same energy expended – different results.
Step 5: Leverage the existing distribution system for gasoline to now carry hydrogen.
Step 6: Slowly wean the American public off gasoline – still have it around – just for antique cars – and keep it really expensive.
It’s that easy – or am I missing something in my logic?
I know it will be a hard 5 years – but no harder than the trillions we have spent on wars to keep the oil flowing.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Stop subsidizing the oil companies, and stop giving them limited liability for spills and such and the price of gas will go up. Then let the market decide what technology is best. Personally, I'm still leaning more toward straight electric cars because they are a blast to drive and new battery technology has the chance to shell out hundreds of miles per charge. I'm guessing they got the 4hr charge time by doing calculations on a normal household 120 volt outlet. Most charge times aren't nearly that long on larger outlets that aren't too difficult or expensive to have put into your garage.
PJ – I like your thinking! I agree – if they can improve the system, it might work. I just feel that we have enough load on the electric grid already . . . if we all start powering cars – there will be brown-outs o'plenty year-round. Thanks for your comments! Come back soon!
I think you mostly have it but there are a few things you are missing. I agree with most of your steps but I strenuously object to “begin to incrementally tax gasoline to painfully move the public to hydrogen.” The stick approach does not work very well. I think that the carrot approach – cost of hydrogen less than cost of gasoline – works much better. Who will be hurt more by increased taxes on gasoline, the rich or the poor? Also, I need to be convinced that the safeguards for hydrogen work as well, or better, than gasoline. Remember that the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen.