quote:

Originally posted by YoungWorld:
I see what you're saying...The cars that run on hydrogen from which I was talking about used liquid hydrogen to power the cars...As a matter of fact I saw a program on this last night on the History Channel(Modern Marvels I think).

We have the means of creating new technology for our cars, the problem is how do we utilize them to accomidate the everyday aspects of life.

Agreed. BTW I was also reffering to liquid hydrogen.

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by YoungWorld:
I haven't heard of anything on this, but I have heard that there are some cars today that run off of Hydrogen.

There are...but there are some serious problems with using it in an everyday scenario. Firstly just to get it to the service stations, you'd need roughly 20 times the current amount of trucks. That's a logistical problem. Scientifically though the problem is storage. There isn't enough space inside an average car to really make sense. You'd need to stop for more often than now.

I see what you're saying...The cars that run on hydrogen from which I was talking about used liquid hydrogen to power the cars...As a matter of fact I saw a program on this last night on the History Channel(Modern Marvels I think).

We have the means of creating new technology for our cars, the problem is how do we utilize them to accomidate the everyday aspects of life.

quote:

Originally posted by benje309:
I don't see any thing like this spreading to a national level. Cars would need to be reworked along with gas stations...lots of $$ would be needed to put in...also I like to eat my corn!

Well something does need to be done eventually. You're correct in that it would require alot of money and investment. However what needs to be done needs to be done.

quote:

Originally posted by YoungWorld:
I haven't heard of anything on this, but I have heard that there are some cars today that run off of Hydrogen.

There are...but there are some serious problems with using it in an everyday scenario. Firstly just to get it to the service stations, you'd need roughly 20 times the current amount of trucks. That's a logistical problem. Scientifically though the problem is storage. There isn't enough space inside an average car to really make sense. You'd need to stop for more often than now.

Yes biodiesel has lower pollution technically. Of course there is pollution involved with harvesting the crops and transporting them but for arguments sake we will forget that. The problem is that it is not cheap by any means. It is more expensive than regular diesel. It does improve engine performance though. The problem occurs in that apart from commercial vehicles most cars are not built for diesel. So it would require a massive undertaking for the car companies. And of course, then the price of wheat and corn would skyrocket. So you're left with expensive fuel again.

I think it's called biodiesel, and normal cars can be fitted with a device that can allow them to run on vegetable oil (most people who do this use used oil from restaurants). Yes, the oil can be corn oil, but it also can be soybean, canola, coconut or peanut oil.
People who have cars that run on biodiesel say that the exhaust smells like french fries.

I think it's pretty cool.

Here are some links on it:
http://www.biodiesel.org/
http://www.biodieselnow.com/
http://www.biodieselamerica.org/
http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2002/08/22/better/index.html
http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2004/05/25/that/index.html
http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2002/10/10/umbra-biodiesel/index.html
http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2005/03/17/umbra-svoschool/index.html

I haven't heard of anything on this, but I have heard that there are some cars today that run off of Hydrogen.

quote:

...also I like to eat my corn!

Especially with a little butter.

It makes cars much less efficient. Being right next to Iowa, where ost of this reformulated gas comes from, I live in a reformulated gas area. Its not by any means cheaper and it gums up your cylinders causing less efficiency.

It's a lost cause. The amount of corn we'd need is so much that we'd have to cut down insane amounts of forests, which would increase global warming, production would cost a lot so the feul would be more expensive and it isn't emission free.

I don't see any thing like this spreading to a national level. Cars would need to be reworked along with gas stations...lots of $$ would be needed to put in...also I like to eat my corn!