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Meet the Experts |
David W. Rogers, Grand Island, New York: In the July/August issue of Sierra Magazine, pages 28 - 39, you reviewed the future power sources after fossil fuels are essentially depleted. Nuclear, solar and wind all will have their place as stationary suppliers of energy. These sources can be transferred to batteries for portable use but serious limits of power, weight, and recharging exist. Hydrogen power is discussed as a good portable source. I want to believe this too, but as an engineer with 40 years in machine design, I can see absolute limits to its use. On page 32 you state "the trick is storing it." You are 100% right. Forget hydrogen in a liquid state. Maintaining its cold temperature except for short periods of time is impractical. And in the high pressured gas state in tanks it doesn't store enough energy to be practical for the millions of vehicles of medium to large size. Sorry to predict, but as we run low on oil, our future will see a major contraction of transport and all its implication on civilization as we know it. Up to Top |
