[geeks] electric cars

[James Fogg]

> > Speaking of solar, I just saw a news item about a guy who
> solved the
> > solar "storage" problem. I've always wished there was a good way to
> > store solar energy for use overnight and in storms. During
> sunny days
> > he uses the electricity to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water.
> > When the sun isn't available he burns the hydrogen in a variety of
> > ways, including in his hydrogen fuel cell car. As a byproduct, you
> > could also sell the oxygen, since it should be very pure.
>
> This is a good idea, though I wonder if the containment
> systems for hydrogen and oxygen are cheaper than batteries in
> the long run.  The reality is that "storage" is the problem
> in our electrical power system in general.  Our power grid is
> highly inefficient due to the need for transmission.  If we
> could come up with efficient, quiet, and easily maintained
> generation systems that could be decentralized, we'd be
> better off.  But of course, this goes against the status quo
> and will be difficult to market.


The containment system is just a series of pressurized tanks. Nothing
fancy, no liquefaction.

Has anyone heard of any success with storing hydrogen by "nestling" or
"stacking" the atoms? There was a theory that hydrogen atoms could be
forced to basically ignore their electron shells and store
proton-to-proton and take up something like 1/100th the space of a
simple compressed gas.