Honda outlines hydrogen power plans to go green

Fuel cells are powered by hydrogen and are emissions-free.

An important qualification to this is the source of the hydrogen. If its produced using fossil fuels, its not emissions-free. Only if its produced using renewable energy is it "green".

The fact that the article doesn't mention this makes me believe Honda is using hydrogen produced at least in part from the former rather than the latter.

Hydrogen using fossil fuels uses more energy than it can generate.

Yes, taking the fuel cells out of the stock and putting it into the car, that’s indeed a bit greener than with cars having combustion motors. But everything else isn’t green before and afterwards, in contrary.

The main reason for pushing hydrogen is so the oil companies will still have something to sell after fossil fuels are phased out.

If we can advance the nuclear fusion tech together with hydrogen power wouldn't that be totally green? I'm excited for the future of this technology

Hmm, yes, but already now excited? If such a technology is not practicable, everything just remains as not totally green as before. Chances are high we should get used to that.

Waiting for the day some manufacturer tries out Boyle's water powered engine. No steam, just water. He invented it 1887.

Green hydrogen, here we come!!!

This is awesome, I will be able to use my solar water to hydrogen conversion kit I have for my wielder (might need to modify it a bit to make more fuel per day) guess I will be able to full my own car with super flammable hydrogen on the sly and totally avoid fuel companies to boot.

There has been talk about using hydrogen to fuel our vehicles since I was just a kid. So far it has been mostly talk.

Good fro Honda. Even though this process takes energy to make hydrogen I read that there have been some significant strides forward in how efficently it is produced.

No more battles for rare earth mineral batteries for batteries charged by coal/natural gas/nuclear produced electricity. It's always more efficent to produce power where it is used.

Glad to hear GM is involved, glad there will be something produced in the USA for a change. Glad Honda is in charge of it instead of Government Motors.

I still don't understand how people think electric cars are green unless they produce the power through solar/wind/hydro. It makes no sense.

How much fossil fuel has to be burned to produce hydrogen. Will the amount of hydrogen produced yield enough amount of energy that is more than the energy it would take to produce the hydrogen? What about storage waste? Hydrogen is very volatile and even in the most secured environment, the molecules leak through the walls of the retaining container.

Hydrogen or other energy technologies may be the future. EV cars do not look like the future to me because they have a lot of issues. EV cars use a lot of fossil fuels to mine for critical components for the batteries, use fossil fuels for creation of the electricity, environmental impact of all the discarded batteries, and just the logistics of everyone having the ability to charge EV cars especially in dense metropolitan areas has major issues.

If H₂ can be generated using solar power for the household requirements, including the vehicle, this would be a completely green solution. Imagine just having water as the only utility connection to your home and having solar split it into Hydrogen for local house and vehicle use and storage. If 7 days of storage were possible, we'd be self-generating power for any home need (HVAC, cooking, house power and for driving). https://fuelcellsworks.com/news/green-hydrogen-using-solar-energy-for-water-splitting/

Honda had/has the FCX vehicle. It was H₂ powered and had a methane (nat-gas) conversion "wall" that took natural gas from the house feed and created H₂ plus hot water for the house. It was only available in California and only as a lease vehicle.

Because H₂ is so small, containing it isn't easy. It always leaks, even through steel and glass. Those leaks are a major safey concern for indoor vehicles and H₂ tanks, since ignition in air is possible.

But NASA has been using fuel cells since at least the 1970s. The Space Shuttles used fuel cells for APUs on orbit to generate power.

If the price is reasonable and the safety issues (especially venting) are addressed, I'm more likely to get a fuel cell vehicle than an EV.

theFu - If H₂ can be generated using solar power for the household requirements, including the vehicle, this would be a completely green solution. Imagine just having water as the only utility connection to your home and having solar split it into Hydrogen for local house and vehicle use and storage.

The only way that is gonna happen is if the oil companies figure out how to sell you the water and/or the sunlight.

The maritime industry is looking to use hydrogen, ammonia or mixtures of these as their fuel of choice for big oceangoing ships. The Scandinavian nations are taking the lead in producing hydrogen and ammonia from renewable energy sources, solar, wind hydropower. They accept that there will be periods of time without enough energy to sustain production and expect to produce enough to meet demand when the sun shines, wind blows and sufficient water flows. The maritime industry will likely perfect the technologies that flow down to stationary power generation, construction and agricultural equipment engines, long haul trucks and our cars.