Fan in San Diego Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 like what?I'm a chemical engineering PhD student that almost went in the direction of alternative energy source development (specifically hydrogen fuel cells for me)...I decided not to choose that path partially because I was more interested in biomedical engineering applications, but also because most of the work I'd be doing in alternative energy would be theoretical rather than developmental since the end is still far out of sight GM is in rochester with a big hydrogen fuel cell development facility...i have friend doing his PhD work jointly with them and the university of rochester...they currently have a 10 year plan to make a viable and efficient fuel cell...if they could finish it faster, you don't think they would? toyota is kicking GM's ass up and down with the hybrid technology (which really isn't that great)...since GM needs to pay toyota to use the hybrid tech, the conspiracy theory that big oil is holding down other solutions is pretty bunk another example of alternative energy not being used is wind energy...i'm not entirely sure of its efficiency, but I do remember reading that it has been shot down repeatedly in many communities because it was deemed too unsightly 46762[/snapback] San Diego just has a hydrogen car race in downtown San Diego.
sweet baboo Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 i mentioned in my post that an efficient and viable fuel cell has yet to be created...the ones currently available are too large and too heavy for mass production...not to mention way too expensive another problem is getting a significant quantity of hydrogen...it's not a problem to obtain a small but very expensive amount of hydrogen for a small race, but for mass transportation? it's still not feasible...current methods of processing hydrogen are actually more polluting to the environment than gasoline...so while hydrogen use results in a clean final product, the processing of it isn't i can't explain the process too well, but my friend at GM told me that size is a huge issue as they are currently unable to make a smaller fuel cell that is efficient due to thermodynamic constraints maybe this article can explain it better http://www.culturechange.org/hydrogen.htm
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