ezrider55

http://www.wired.com/news/technology...tml?tw=rss.TOP

Microdot

May I be the first to say

"Great scott! 1.21 Gigawatts! How could I have been so careless?"

I would prefer the Mr. Fusion solution, but I'd settle for this.

truemagellen

3 years?

how about now it is already being sold in Japan

Raptor2k

Ahhh!!! Attack of the smilies!

Already in Japan? I wonder what's the hydrogen rx8's quarter mile.

Yeah...random.

9-K Rever

I talked to the project lead for the Hydrogen RE at the Tokyo Motor Show this year.

He said they will not mass produce the car due to the lack of Hydrogen Gas stations. They will only sell it on a case to case basis to specific clients.

He wasn't able to say anymore than that.


9-K Rever

truemagellen

Tim Benton

I thought the Hp output of the hydrogen based rotary was around 160 to 170 in the last article concerning the white test model.

Tim

Japan8

Yep yep... what he said. Lucky bastard. nice pic too! Too bad you didn't get to take it for a drive.

And yes... the hp on hydrogen is only something like 170.

9-K Rever

Yeah, I asked the lead how much PSI the turbo was pushing on the Hydrogen RE..and he was like.. Uhm...there is no turbo, it's NA. There was one early test version that had a small tubine that kicked in when switching over to Hydrogen but they nixed it for the so called "Production" model..

9-K Rever

yiksing

Not gonna happen. Theoritically very promising considering zero pollution but then manufacturing the fuel itself is more polluting than what our cars are doing now.

9-K Rever

Theoreticly if the turbo kicked in only when it was on Hydrogen only..there wouldn't be any issues with emissions it would still be clean water.

9-K Rever

Photic

That's if you extract it from petroleum. You can get hydrogen cleanly from Green Algae by starving it of sulfur, the articles I've read about it say that the algae will produce for about 8 days before it dies. If you reintroduce sulfur to the algae it will regenerate itself. Although nobody I have heard of yet is trying it as a mass production in that way. Which doesn't make sense because from what I can tell the numbers are very promising on how much hydrogen is generated with the space used. *shrug*

9-K Rever

The project manager for the Hydrogen RE showed me an overhead map of the Hiroshima Mazda facilities and they do have a onsite hydrogen gas station that looks like it's capable of consumer use.

But, that is one facility, on a makers corporate facility. I think if any country will make the jump to mass produced Hydrogen cars, it will be Japan first. This country is too dependant on forien oil. (Thats all I am going to say on that)

I THINK (PURE OPINION) that they will market it to "GREEN" focused companies and large organizations as a "GREEN HALO CAR" which from a marketing perspective would justify demand for a low production high cost vehical.

The amazeing thing is, MAZDA built the car on EXSISTING MACHINERY, they didn't change any of the production facilities for the HYDROGEN RE. So, this means, if they ever did mass produce it, they are ready to go.

9-K Rever

Y&Y

Well the problem with that is. Well we are starting to have a problem with red algae and that it is spreading across our oceans eating up all the oxygen in water. Thus killing all living things...and that F's up the ecosystem...so on and so forth. So I think they are afraid the green would do something similar.

Microdot

And then PETA would step in and claim cruelty to algae.

Charles Cope

Don't know about timing, but there are a few big companies that are dedicated to hydrogen distribution. If you would have bought some Praxair stock a couple years ago, you'd be smiling today! Here's an article about California's first H2 refueling station

http://www.praxair.com/praxair.nsf/A...7?OpenDocument

mikeb

cool i guess

zoom44

steam shifting.

changing world technologies.


google them both

silverx8

Hydrogen is most cheaply produced from natural gas, which has rapidly gone up in price.

Hydrogen is made everyday in large volumes-to make gasoline. They use it to sweeten the gas. It is more expensive than gas. Transportation is hard. Pipes leak like seives when the stuff goes though it, unlike the heavier natural gas. Hydrogen enters metal and makes it brittle, what a bitch.

By all of these measures, Hydrogen is no environmental saviour.

The great hope is for Hydrogen generation through high temperature nuclear reactors. However given the regulatory and public attitude, this is unlikely, and expensive.

Bush seems to be favoring the nuclear strategy, but how it all plays out is anybodies guess. Many other nations have higher gas prices, more extensive nuclear utilization, and ambitious reactor programs, yet no nuclear Hydrogen generation.

Any ideas?

yiksing

Umm, i didn't bother researching on it, its what I saw on either Discovery Channel or National Geographic, that episode was "Green Car" or something. They were comparing all these different cars from different manufacturers then conclude that although hydrogen is totally clean, mass production of the fuel itself produce more pollution than what our cars are doing now.

silverx8

Hydrogen is the sweet stuff. Advocating using it in a gas crisis is like saying "let them eat cake" about the starving who have run out of bread.

Charles Cope

They had some interesting worries about electricity when it was at the stage hydrogen fuel is, today.

Hydrogen may not become the fuel of choice, but it sure has potential. Processes can and will be improved. Don't make snap judgements, everything takes longer than you expect!

Back to our shared frame of reference..

I interviewed a guy from the EPA back in Nov. 2003 about fuel economy testing. He was a retired GM engineer with a second "career" at the EPA. He said GM had equipment to build rotary engines, back in the 70’s. They dropped the program based on problems with seal durability, oil burning and emissions problems. It is rumored that all the equipment was sold off.. by the pound!

So would you have betted on some tiny Japanese company taking this floundering technology to the point of the Renesis? All the problems GM had, have been solved (note fuel economy is not on the list!).

Hey, and it burns Hydrogen!