EV support

The USA alone produces over 9 million metric tons of hydrogen annually. That's enough to supply ~20 million cars (or ~8% of cars on the road in USA). 95% of all hydrogen produced is by steam reformation. If your linked method was more cost effective/easier, industry would jump on it in a second. But 95% of hydrogen production uses steam reformation for a reason.

 

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Looks like Honda is going to invest millions in building hydrogen stations in California. They want only renewable sources for hydrogen production.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/11/21/honda-sinks-13-8-mil-into-ca-fcev-market/

 

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They will actually use FirstElement, which gets only 1/3 of its hydrogen from renewable sources - and much of that is from methane. (And again, I'd rather just use the renewable methane - but if they want to build the stations, good for them.)

 

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If Honda only wants to use renewable sources I'm sure that's what FirstElement will be developing for them. Also I'm just as interested as you are in supporting all forms of renewable energy for whatever purpose it's to be used for.

 

By far the most advanced alternate energy (but not so glamorous) has 30+ years of use in millions of cars, is sugar cane based alcohol, which has the advantage that common gasoline engines can be converted to use it instead for a few hundred dollars. Unlike EVs it is slightly "CO2 negative" as cabon removed from the air is always in storage tanks (ocean tankers down to car fuel tanks), the growing cane and the roots of recently cut cane.

It gives slightly more power in the standard gasoline IC combustion engine and significantly more in a higher compression engine as the higher "octane rating" can burn there without "knocking." The are many more advantages most important is it creates many low skill jobs for third world people now with none - lets them enter the "cash economy" and buy some from first world producer of products. Until recent fall in oil prices it was cheaper per mile driven than gasoline. The only disadvantage to the this cleaner burning fuel (less and lower repair bills) is a tank full will only take you 70% as far as a tank of gasoline will.

It would take most of a decade to build all the new distillation plants and convert a good part of the world's abandoned pasture into sugar cane production so that all cars requiring liquid fuel could be supplied with ~ 10 RoE alcohol fuel.