Hydrogen Economy

Hydrogen Economy

(Some notes on how - we the ordinary people could go about the task of creating a new, greener, more efficient, and more human scale - energy system/economy/society.

On one of the Coast (BBC tv program) shorts I saw perhaps the most encouraging thing I`ve seen in months.

The program was featuring the island of Unst - and the presenter was being driven in a little car by a young chap, who`d developed a hydrogen power system for the car.

The chap was getting the hydrogen by generating electricity via a wind turbine, passing the electricity through water to get hydrogen, collecting that hydrogen and running his car off it.

Superb - simple, efficient, non-polluting -

If I had loads`a`money I`d be asking that chap if he wanted an investment.

Filled me with hope - that`s for sure!

Well done

I know very little about Edgar Cayce - but I do recall that he was once asked what source of energy might be used in the future. And in reply he pointed down at the ocean.

People since have speculated about what mysterious energy sources might lie beneath the oceans and how they might be discovered and utilised -

But Cayce - well maybe he was just pointing at all that H2O?

Less mysterious perhaps - but......

If people could produce and bottle hydrogen - as that chap on Unst has done - then if cars were running on hydrogen.....

Well surely anyone with the oomph and facilities/space - could set-up their own Hydrogen Filling Station?

Now wouldn`t that be neat!?

I was thinking earlier about what effect a change to hydrogen fuelled vehicles might have. A few possibilities came to mind:

In cold places all that water exiting the exhaust might cause a problem due to it iceing up the roads?

Elsewhere (or at warmer times of year) the expelled water might need to be channelled away from the road, though fortunately many roads are convex - so simply a matter of guttering or maybe larger receptacles for the water to go into.

In drier countries, conceivably if there was enough water being expelled as exhaust, this water could be channelled away and used for irrigation or other useful purposes? Heck it might even transform a country if there was enough (vehicles/water)?

In very hot countries the expelled water might simply evaporate into the atmosphere - to be dropped as rain somewhere or other. Again, if a country is dry (& hot) this maybe to some useful advantage?

Sees a fairly positive thing - this hydrogen economy?

And as CO2 levels are so high - plants have got a lot of it to takeup in their growth cycle (as long as water is available)!

Self-organising

In many ways the Internet/Web is an example of a self-organising system.

And because of it many other self-organising systems have been assisted or even born.

With the idea for people producing their own hydrogen to use in their vehicles (like that chap in the Shetlands has done - see prev) -

And if enough started producing a surplus (to their own needs) of hydrogen selling it on to others -

And thus forming a network of refuelling stations - independently of state or mega-corp, then that would be an excellent example of a self-organising system.

(Maybe oneday we`ll see Hydrogen production kits in things like the Whole Earth Catalogue (if they ever did another)* and the Maplin Catalogue? Now that`d be neat :-)

*Far better than Nuclear power Mr Brand!!!