The other day this story was reported on the BBC about how scientists may have found a way of storing hydrogen for use as a fuel in vehicles through extracting it from Methanol. This hydrogen would then be used to create an charge for an electric vehicle. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21618350
Sounds great right?
Well, surely not. The idea of fueling vehicles on alcohol has been about since Henry Ford, so it certainly is not a new idea. What the new idea with this story is is that they are using a flammable liquid to power an electric car. I think you can see where I'm going with this...
Petroleum is around 95 Octane, methanol is around the 115 mark. Hydrogen fuel celled cars on the other hand will have also have to had encorporated complicated computers and the complete redesigning of the infrastructure we have come accustomed to in the modern world.
Now, I'm going to go out on a whim here and say that its probably much more cost effective and easier for the world to sell conventional combustion engines which can run on methanol and kits to convert ordinary petrol vehicles into being able to use it too. There would be very little modifications needed, if any if someone could invent a good enough additive to put in with methanol to stop it corroding seals and aluminium parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8flqK4pRKU0
Methanol has been used to fuel racing cars for years already afterall...
And it can be made from rotting organic matter. I have no objections against using all that unused food that ends up in landfill, (and the by-product of the food we do eat) to make fuel to power our cars. Fuck, anything to bring down the cost of motoring has to be a bonus.
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