Hydrogen - the fuel of the future?

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Maxus

Well-known member
I can see sense in solar power in Australia and then producing and exporting hydrogen to places like the UK where solar isn't viable. I really don't know enough to say if batteries are better or not, like with fusion it depends on innovation and advancement that has yet to take place. Certainly it's best not to have all ones eggs in the same basket.
 
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AusDave

Well-known member
Not sure where you are located but here I'd say the big companies have responded pretty quickly to this current fad of the consumer who believes that by rushing out and buying and electric they will save the world....wonder how long it will take folk to realise us mere mortals don't actually have quite as much control of the planet as we think.
I'm in Australia. Like early smartphones, buying an electric car now, especially in Australia where there are no incentives, only taxes, is something the well off can afford. However I know a few who have electric cars plus solar panels on their roofs and their energy costs are small to zero. Also servicing costs are tiny and infrequent so generally they're happy with their decision and will be making a small positive difference to the planet and in the longer run will financially benefit or at least not be more expensive than an internal combustion vehicle.

If you believe you don't have any control over the future of the planet then that will probably be true for you. But others don't believe in powerlessness and do something about it. In my community a solar farm has been constructed in partnership with our local council, local businesses and local investors. See https://www.pv-magazine-australia.c...-serves-as-roadmap-for-others-say-developers/
$500,000 for this project came from local ordinary people in the community who invested their own money to obtain a guaranteed return at a better rate than any other cash investment currently available. Also because it is a local community project the majority of the power produced will go to local businesses.
 
Left hooker

Left hooker

Well-known member
If you live and work rural and not in a sunny place hydrogen is the answer
My house faces east west so can't have panels on the roof so there's no way I would have an electric car at these current electric prices
A rep drove down to see a friend other day in his Tesla he said its fine for running around local to him but on long runs like down here he couldn't just jump in and drive back as had to find a charger and sit there for hour or 2 to do the return run and he said charging from home is costing him more than a fossil fuel car would
 
TiltyShaun

TiltyShaun

Well-known member
I still can't help but think by the time you've developed wind and solar, all the time and energy spent we'd have been better off just cracking on with fusion reactors and planting trees. I also think that fossil fuels companies and governments will most likely have suppressed technologies for political, economic and military advantages.
Still got to deal with the waste. The hidden cost!!
 
Left hooker

Left hooker

Well-known member
Still got to deal with the waste. The hidden cost!!
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Smiffy

Well-known member
Think you'd be surprised. I'd throw the figure at 50/50

It may vary from region to region but I can't see round here the amount of new cars being bought without a lease deal. Driving through town today I think the average age of car must have been about 2017. It was surprising to see much older than 2015. Even drive round the council estates every other driveway has an Evoque parked on it.
And go into the new build estates at the far end of the village it becomes worse. It seems that for a lot of people you have to have a new house and two new cars.
And this mentality is a far bigger problem than diesel engines.
 
Lancs Lad

Lancs Lad

Well-known member
It may vary from region to region but I can't see round here the amount of new cars being bought without a lease deal. Driving through town today I think the average age of car must have been about 2017. It was surprising to see much older than 2015. Even drive round the council estates every other driveway has an Evoque parked on it.
And go into the new build estates at the far end of the village it becomes worse. It seems that for a lot of people you have to have a new house and two new cars.
And this mentality is a far bigger problem than diesel engines.
This☝️
Done fair bit of driving this Christmas...kids been having a competition to find oldest number plate on the road...rare to see anything more than 10 years old.
 
JD450A

JD450A

Feral as Fk 🐾
Personal opinion on turbine blades.... the burial is not the issue... the issue is the micro plastics created when they degrade in use..... But that issue is common across pretty much any material other than wood and metal...... Plastics, Fiberglass, Paint..... not good.

We need to get to grips with the reality that certain things can and should be buried in landfill.... Ash, soils, plastics..... none of them cause issue if put in a sealed cell in a landfill..... On the other hand Food, Greenwaste, and liquid waste causes major problems.
 
V8Druid

V8Druid

do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
Come up my drive and won’t find anything younger than 18 years old
'08 is my youngest .... P38's 25 yr old and the disco is 1990 .... determined to put her back to work this coming year .... 's only done 40k ... one owner, back seats'd never been sat in and had never had a towbar 'til i bought it :giggle:
 
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Smiffy

Well-known member
One of my 2022 projects is a Landrover 200tdi 90..... I hate them, but if I put a galvanised chassis on it it'll outlive me.

This is what I really want to do
A hardtop landy would be the ultimate vehicle in my eyes. Useful compact and infinitely repairable.
Every time I look though I just come up against 1 stumbling block.
It seems nearly impossible to keep hold of them round here.
 
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