New fuel 'made of grass cuttings'

MrTrilby wrote:

You think safely transporting and storing large quantities of liquid hydrogen is not that big a deal? Hydrogen's in a whole different league when it comes to volatility and explosion/fire risk. And that's assuming that you can produce the stuff in volume economically in the first place.

No its not a big deal. You saying petrol isn't volatile and explosive? It is true that if you mix pure hydrogen with enough oxygen it will spontaneously explode, however that is true of petrol as well. Yes extra care is needed because it will have to be stored under very high pressure to keep it liquid, but far more dangerous chemicals and products are transported every day under more demanding conditions. Even oil is more of a problem to transport... a ship runs aground and you have a major environmental disaster which has long lasting and far reaching effects. A hydrogen ship runs aground and you will have a very big bang in the near vicinity and thats it. Yes it will be a major incident but far less damaging in the long run than an oil spill.

I have read up on Joe Romm as suggested. Yes I see your points that there is a long way to go before hydrogen is feasible. However that is what I am saying about concentrating on hydrogen, which is a long term solution, rather than short term ones. There may be other long term solutions, but none as of yet seem suitable to our lifestyle as we know it. One thing that cannot be argued is that oil is a finite product. It will run out, fact. Yes there may be more undiscovered oil fields, but it is getting harder, both physically and politically to get oil. Instead of focusing on solutions which are just temporary or unsuitable in the long run, the worlds scientists should focus on the use of hydrogen (or another long term solution).