Currently reading: Car expert blasts hydrogen
‘Hydrogen isn’t the answer’ writes Richard Parry-Jones in his latest Autocar article

Leading auto engineer Richard Parry-Jones has criticised hydrogen as a fuel for cars, in his latest article for Autocar magazine.

The car industry veteran, who was previously chief technical officer at Ford, weighed up the cases for hydrogen, biofuel and electricity as potential replacements for petrol and diesel in today's Autocar.

Parry-Jones's views on hydrogen, hailed by many as the ultimate long-term automotive fuel because of its tailpipe emissions, are plain.

“A car that emits only water has superficial soundbite appeal," he said. "But hydrogen comes with big associated challenges."

Parry-Jones’s concern over the fuel are specific to its generation, distribution and storage.

“Even when compressed to 700bar it’s 10 times less energy-dense than petrol,” he explained. "And once you’ve compressed it, transported it and stored it at the point of sale, you’ve used 75 per cent of its energy content.”

So what will power the super-low-emission car of the future? Find out in the 22 October issue of Autocar.

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Dan McNeil v2 23 June 2010

Re: Car expert blasts hydrogen

Car expert blasts hydrogen?

I would very much hope not. You don't want to be blasting hydrogen. Criticize it very gently would be more preferable.
HydroGit 23 June 2010

Re: Car expert blasts hydrogen

Hydrogen opens up the fuel market.

Hydrogen itself acts like a battery, it takes energy to create. However if clean energy is used to create the hydrogen, then where's the problem.

I think many so-called experts miss the long term answer with hydrogen - anybody, any company, any co-op, any person will be able to create their own hydrogen. Home based systems and co-ops are the answer.

We need to reject the current status-quo - hydrogen is the future, we just need to claim it.

As to those wanting an electric future - Do you have any idea as to what problems we are going to face down the line? - Batteries are toxic, they require rare metals, they degarde and die. Who will manufacture these batteries. hydrogen is a clean battery, why not figure out the best way to use it.

noluddite 24 October 2008

Re: Car expert blasts hydrogen

I totally agree. Transporting energy in the form of liquid Hydrogen is extremely inefficient, and dangerous. The only benefit seems to be for the carmakers, who can continue to benefit from their 100 year investment in the development of the internal combustion engine and (more recently) the fuel cell, thereby protecting their competitive position. Transporting energy along cables, i.e. as electricity, is a far better solution. However, as we see with manufacturers such as Tesla (and behind the scenes the battery manufacturers), this form of energy transfer opens the market to new players.