Although GE has only built a prototype in their lab, Bourgeois believes that demonstrations can come as soon as the end of next year, and commercialization will follow that. The goal of the project, according to Bourgeois, is to bring down equipment costs enough to take the cost of hydrogen from $8 per kilogram to $3 per kilogram—comparable in energy and price to a gallon of gasoline.
Currently, Hydrogen production is also limited to industrial refineries and agricultural areas, where the gas is produced on-site using methane, says Bourgeois. GE’s system—which, at approximately 10’ x 20’, can fit in a small trailer—could be marketed to smaller-scale industries. And one day, Bourgeois sees a future when drivers fill their hydrogen-fuel-cell powered cars from pumps with built-in electrolyzers. If electricity needed to produce the hydrogen is wind- or solar-generated, the entire process is, essentially, emissions-free.
The more fuel options that we has a country have, the better. When we make one fuel source feasable, we reduce our dependance on all the other types of fuel. I'm not thrilled because "hydrogen will save mother Gaia, and stuff!". I'm happy because once we find a way to make alternative fuels actually work, rather than the ethenol hocus-pokus bullshit we have to deal with now, we can tell a large part of the Middle East to go fuck off.
The only reason the Mad Mullahs of Tehran have any power is because they control a big chunk of the world's oil supply. I'd love to see what happens when we tell them "You know what? We don't need you anymore."
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