Is separating hydrogen from oxygen in water practical as a fuel for cars. Isn’t hydrogen flammable?
I know this is why helium is used in blimps. And if it could be safely used, would big oil ever allow it to be marketed?
5 Responses to “Is separating hydrogen from oxygen in water practical as a fuel for cars. Isn’t hydrogen flammable?”
May 11th at 11:32 am By: ceredurseconds
This is generally how hydrogen is produced anyways and yes it is very flammable. The reason it isn’t a viable option yet is because it actually costs more to produce hydrogen than it does to refine oil into gasoline.
May 11th at 11:44 am By: ChloroPhil
I believe this to be the idea of hydrogen fuels cells where hydrogen and oxygen react against the cell where either H or O can flow through without their electrons. The electrons are then forced around the cell causing electricity which powers the care. The H meets with O and the waste would be water. Dont take this a certain, but its what i thought the process was.
May 11th at 12:10 pm By: dk
Hydrogen could one day be a viable fuel source for cars. One of the main problems for the time being is safety. Hydrogen is extraordinarily volatile, and considering how often accidents happen, a nation full of hydrogen powered vehicles could be rather dangerous.
May 11th at 12:44 pm By: intel_knight
as said above, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen requires electricity, and that has to produced from oil. It does cost more that refining oil into gas, but oil price keeps rising, and producing hydrogen on industrial scale still has lower emission than burning gas in a car.
Hydrogen cars exist and you can buy them, but not many people do b/c of cost and few gas stations that have hydrogen. But this is gonna change when oil hits $100/barrel.
May 11th at 1:32 pm By: seanchasworth
Hydrogen is flammable – that’s why it’s good for fuel!
The problem is that it’s expensive. A hydrogen based car is extremely expensive, and isn’t practical, and won’t be unless gas prices go sky high (my guess would be about $10-$12/gallon).
Big Oil wouldn’t be able to prevent it from being marketed – the rights would simply become too expensive for them to afford. And if they bought the patents, they could build engines and supply hydrogen to make $$$. But then again, this is incentive for them to keep gas prices a bit lower, too…
![p389sml[1]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3119/2665437479_e1a40381b8_t.jpg)
Recent Comments