On Wed, 29 Jan 2003, Major Variola (ret) wrote: > Oh come on. Its all economics. (With tech changing the params) > Fuel cells for cars are too expensive today. There is not enough > methanol > production/distrib infrastructure, which costs to create. [insert > Metcalfe's law (aka fax or network effect) blurb here] > And where do you get to strip-mine the coal for the methanol?
Even H. Ford was figuring on using hemp for methanol. The problem is that you need a nuke plant to do the final distillation. That's politics, not economics. > The economics will make battery + capacitor + constant-rate Otto engine > (aka 'hybrid') keep petrol cheaper than alternative > energy carriers and sufficiently clean for a while. You'll see 42 volt > cars (soon) before you see fuel cells in cars. Yup, the ability to run the Otto at fixed speed maximizes it's efficiency. When the price of fuel for the 25% max efficiency runs into the 90%+ efficiency of more expensive motors, we'll see things start changing. Just gotta kill off a few more arabs to extend the time when that happens is all. Patience, persistence, truth, Dr. mike