One of the most feasible current solutions would require that 790 new nuclear-powered hydrogen plants be built in clusters positioned about 80 miles apart across the entire United States. 90,000 miles of large hydrogen transmission pipelines would be required to interconnect them, and 725,000 miles of smaller distribution pipes would lead to service stations. The entire country would resemble a giant refinery, coast to coast.

There are lots of other problems, including storage - hydrogen's energy density is only about half of gasoline's even if stored at high pressure - like 5,000 PSI. Imagine hooking up a 7,000 PSI hose to your car to refuel.

Uhrig points out there are some easy things we can do right now that require considerably less draconian measures:

The successful introduction of hybrid vehicles recently (albeit at subsidized prices) has effectively doubled the gas mileage over comparably sized vehicles without seriously compromising the performance of the vehicles or convenience and safety of the drivers and passengers.

Widespread acceptance of such vehicles could significantly reduce petroleum consumption. Crude calculations indicate that if one third of the current automotive and utility vehicles could double their gas mileage, the U.S. could save about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day. This is equivalent to the amount of oil imported from Saudi Arabia.

I'm ready. You can't get a Toyota Prius hybrid in California for love or money at the moment. But Honda has a hybrid Civic, and Ford and Lexus will ship larger models in the next couple of months...
Comments 8:52:41 AM    

Chris Gulker's view from Silicon Valley - in words and pictures