theWatt Podcast 74

If we are going to make a switch in power source and propulsion system we should look at our options and pick the best choice for the long term. Hydrogen can be made to work for personal transportation like cars, SUVs, and pickups but it is still way dirtier than battery electric vehicles, and it will continue to rely on fossil fuels for the very long term. Since most of us will be using natural gas for other things like heating and cooling it makes absoltuely no sense whatsoever to switch our personal vehicle fuel from gasoline to natural gas. I know this is oil baron Pickens' idea of a smart move but then again consider the source.

Most Americans can realize the dream of having solar panels recharge their commuting vehicles without any reliance on utilities, foreign oil, gas stations, or hydrogen fuel refilling stations. Why as consumers would we allow corporations to dictate what products we can or cannot have, and even worse, allow them to force products upon us that still produce CO2 when in fact there is absolutely no technical reason this cannot be avoided. I have to laugh at the ads where it is touted that hydrogen fuel cells simply emit water, they are so clean!

I for one will neve buy a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, its energy source to motor pathway is far less efficient than a pure battery electric vehicle. Hydrogen fuel cells may have their place in other areas of society, but not in passenger vehicles, or light trucks. I will neither support companies who pander hydrogen fuel cell technology for the same type of vehicles. I do not buy gasoline from any Texaco/Chevron station because they bought key battery technology from GM who acquired it to promote battery electric vehicles. I will not buy a GM car for killing the EV-1, selling the battery technology to Texaco/Chevron, and for essentially failing to protect America from oil interests over the past 30 years by their continued fight to prevent more efficient vehicles from coming to market. If GM had embraced the EV-1, the Ford Ranger EV, etc we would not be so oppressed today by oil interests. If GM would simply embrace the battery technology that still powers hundreds of Toyota RAV4 EVs the GM Volt or EV-1 type vehicle could have been available at their dealers months ago. Of course this is just my opinion and those who want to support hydrogen fuel cells can continue to do so, but that support will not be based on science or engineering principles, and it certainly not the KISS principle.

And lastly for anyone who believes or defends that supply is driving up the price of oil and gasoline and that there is no quick solution, I only have one question. Why haven't we as a nation reintroduced the 55 mph maximum highway speed limit? An action that requires no techological advances simply political action? An action that is known to reduce gasoline consumption by 20-30% depending on how fast traffic is traveling today, typically 75 to 85 mph. And why would the political authority to set a national speed limit be delegated to each individual state in light of this administration's tendency to abuse presidential power? For now the 55 mph limit would require every state to pass such legislation.