[SEL] OT, completely: Hydrogen as a fuel personal autos

[Tony & Jackie]

That was a very good read.  I'm far from a scientist, but it doesn't 
take much research for an intelligent person to find that Hydrogen is 
not the answer to a fuel crisis (for those of you who actually 
believe in this "so called" fuel crisis).  Hydrogen and Ethanol seem 
to be the two biggest alternative fuels that are currently being 
shoved down everyone's throat.  It's also interesting to note that 
they are the two that make the least sense.  Ethanol shares quite a 
bit with hydrogen in the fact that it costs more energy to make it 
than is recovered when it is burned.  It also takes very expensive 
mods to run a car on ethanol that was not originally designed for 
it.  And those that are factory designed for ethanol are more 
expensive than their straight gasoline burning counterparts.  Any way 
you slice it, being "green" in the mainstream way comes at a high 
price.  A price that is nothing more than a fashion statement.

It's a shame the USA got away from diesels after the mid 80's, 
otherwise bio-diesel would be a more viable solution.  It is still 
the best alternative fuel option that I have seen.  Also still a good 
option for the USA considering every semi tractor on the road can use 
the stuff with virtually no modifications.  Not to mention all the 
old Mercedes and Volkswagen diesels still running around.  Places 
like Europe are perfect, where something like 70% of the automobiles 
on the road are powered by a diesel engine.  Bio-diesel can be run in 
ANY diesel engine with nothing more than a fuel line change in some 
of the older cars and trucks that still have natural rubber lines.

I guess bio-diesel is too much of a threat to big oil... otherwise we 
might see more of it.

-Tony