BMW H7 - the Hydrogen Alternative
As we saw with the GM Hy-Wire, hydrogen is the best alternative fuel. The big problem with it is its bad press - thanks to the Hindenberg and other airship disasters, it has an aura of danger about it and people imagine giant fireballs where once there was a car. The fact that hydrogen is less flammable than gasoline stands little chance against such images unless a public re-education program is instituted.
That is exactly what BMW intends with its introduction of the hybrid H7, a normal-looking saloon that runs on both gasoline and hydrogen. The company intends to import 25 H7s this year for loan to people who can advance the cause of hydrogen as a fuel.
For more than fifty years there have been cars that run on hydrogen - but early ones depended upon containing the gas within a pressurized fuel tank, thus allowing us to fear leaks and explosions (although neither has ever happened, as far as I know). BMW have chosen to cool the gas to a liquid, making it easier to handle and allaying our fears.
Hydrogen has so many obvious advantages as an alternative fuel that we cannot afford to ignore it. It has almost the same power to volume ratio as gasoline and the product of burning it is as innocuous as water. In fact, it is water. Rather than considering turning our farms over to ethanol-producing corn and starving ourselves in the process, we should be getting used to the idea of hydrogen as a fuel.
One warning, however: if you want to build an airship, use helium, not hydrogen…
You fail to mention the problem with Hydrogen; we still have to produce it which means somewhere we’re burning fossil fuels to provide the energy… :p
By Mad on March 19th, 2007 at 8:51 am
See my post on the GM Hy-Wire, Mad…
By Clive on March 19th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Yeah I’ve read that, still doesn’t answer my problem.
By Mad on March 19th, 2007 at 11:38 am
But it does, Mad. Sea water in one end, water out the other. No power stations involved.
By Clive on March 19th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Hahahaha and how do you turn the water into Hydrogen? You need electricity…
By Mad on March 19th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Just how they did that isn’t clear from the Top Gear video although there was some mention of batteries, I think. But it is definitely self-contained - the guy said that you don’t need to plug it in overnight.
Don’t nitpick - be a believer like me!
By Clive on March 19th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Sorry Dad, it just ain’t that easy. You have to split the water to make Hydrogen somehow and that involves power from somewhere. If we could break down water in some simple process we’d all be driving hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and thumbing our noses at the Middle East.
By Mad on March 19th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I think that’s my point, Mad. You’re right, it isn’t easy to break water down to oxygen and hydrogen - but, judging from the video, GM have managed to do it without using outside power. I think it’s to do with using salt water rather than just water; the salt water powers a battery that produces the electricity for the electrolysis process. The programme was a bit vague on that front, I admit.
But, if it’s true, we will indeed be thumbing our noses at the Middle East in a few years time!
By Clive on March 19th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Splitting hydrogen atoms from oxygen atoms requires only a relatively low voltage and can be generated from electrolysis of water using solar cells. (think high school science class experiment)
In anticipation of Mad’s next point, yes, we don’t have the numbers or efficiencies (yet) using solar panels to produce the amount of electricity necessary to further produce the necessary levels of H2. No one is claiming that we do
In spite of this valid point, everyone who talks about this acknowledges that the tech and the science necessary for practically using liquid hydrogen as a fuel already exists (or will be solved in the next 5-7 years).
The biggest problem at this point is infrastructure. Oil based infrastructure is dominant (and cheapest). However, failing to plan and beginning to implement alternatives against the day that oil reserves run out is idiotic.
By Deegs on March 30th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Agreed, Deegs. The problem of infrastructure is a thorny one as it will take time to build a network that can take over from oil. That is what is so appealing about the Hy-Wire, in that it needs no external source of hydrogen. Admittedly, there is still the problem of regular topping up with salt water but that is much easier to solve.
Since writing the article, I have heard that GM have given up on the Hy-Wire as they ran into difficulties with various aspects of its design. But I still maintain that it demonstrates what is possible now - in the future and when fuel cells become less expensive through mass manufacture, this looks like the way to go.
By Clive on March 31st, 2007 at 6:16 am