Article

2005-03-20 Science

World's First Fuel Cell Motorcycle Unveiled

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Posted by Anonymoose 2005-03-20 10:18:19 PM|| || Front Page|| [11132 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 0-50 mph in 12.1s (80kph)

More like moped. It would be death to attempt to ride something that slow in any major city in the US.

Posted by AzCat 2005-03-20 10:26:44 PM|| 2005-03-20 10:26:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Where's it get the hydrogen? How much does it cost, and how much energy does it take to produce? How does that compare to an equivalent gasoline engine?

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-20 10:33:37 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-20 10:33:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Good points Robert. Assuming the hydrogen is available its production will have consumed more fossil fuels than would the production and use of the amount of gasoline required by a similar gasoline-powered moped. Hydrogen is a fantasy until we construct a few hundred new nuclear power plants.

Posted by AzCat 2005-03-20 10:39:55 PM|| 2005-03-20 10:39:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Hydrogen Storage - High pressure carbon composite cylinder (Luxfer L65)

What I want to know, is where is this cylinder located? I'd prefer not have a very flammable gas being stored right under my gonads.

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-20 10:56:01 PM|| 2005-03-20 10:56:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 BaR you think they stored it anyplace else?

Posted by Sock Puppet Oâ Doom 2005-03-20 11:19:50 PM|| [http://www.slhess.com] 2005-03-20 11:19:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 This thing is horribly energy inefficient as it requires at least 3 and probably 4 energy conversions. 1. To generate the electricty, 2. To produce the hydrogen, 3. To consume the hydrogen to create electricty. 4. To store and then utilize in a conventional battery?? otherwise why does the thing have batteries.

Posted by phil_b 2005-03-20 11:27:02 PM|| 2005-03-20 11:27:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 AzCat: This is a new technology, and one that we hopefully will be seeing a lot more of soon. It does not require centralized hydrogen production. Fuel cells split fuels like ethanol to very efficiently get energy from them, far more so than could any combustion engine. Already, very small fuel cells are powering cell phones, and they should have one capable of powering a laptop soon. And unlike a battery, you just squirt an ounce of alcohol into the cell, and it should give you all the energy your laptop needs for a couple of hours or more. Similar membrane splitting technology can split water into hydrogen and oxygen gas, then use them as fuel or recombine them into purer-than-distilled water. This technology really has OPEC shaking in its boots, and is one of the reasons the middle east is economically trying to horizontally expand beyond petrochemicals, mostly into tourism and transportation.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-03-20 11:27:48 PM|| 2005-03-20 11:27:48 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Robert and AzCat - even the slightly-left-of-center Scientific American crowd agrees - the only practical, cost-effective way to go to a hydrogen economy is with nuclear power. Dass OK by me.

Posted by Bobby 2005-03-20 11:57:35 PM|| 2005-03-20 11:57:35 PM|| Front Page Top

03:45 stickyour democracyinyourarses
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23:32 Anonymoose
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22:56 Bomb-a-rama
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22:46 .com
22:39 AzCat
22:35 Robert Crawford
22:33 Robert Crawford
22:33 Pappy
22:26 AzCat
22:17 Bomb-a-rama
22:14 Bomb-a-rama
21:35 Barbara Skolaut
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