And yes. The main roadblock to hydrogen fuel cell cars is, well, the fuel cell. As they're built right now they're very fragile - the membranes can easily break, rip, whatever, just from a hot spot in the process, and then BAM! no car! So they're very much still in the research-stage of industrial processing. They reallly only made the prototypes in California for publicity, and to try and get money. Not saying that they shouldn't have - I think it was a fantastic idea - but it's a little unreal to think we'll have them in the next few years. There's basically no way.
There are other types of fuel cells (solid oxide, methanol, etc) that get less press but are closer to commercialization, I believe. They're probably not as "clean sounding" as the "water vapor car" and so no one knows about them.
This is great. Fuel Cell talk always hits my hot buttons because I worked there for so long. 2 years in academia and 1+ in industry.
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Date: 2008-03-14 03:02 pm (UTC)There are other types of fuel cells (solid oxide, methanol, etc) that get less press but are closer to commercialization, I believe. They're probably not as "clean sounding" as the "water vapor car" and so no one knows about them.
This is great. Fuel Cell talk always hits my hot buttons because I worked there for so long. 2 years in academia and 1+ in industry.