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The National Hydrogen Association met in Long Beach California, stating things should come together in 2020 when four problems are overcome:

Storage
Fuel Cell durability
Affordability
Getting at the fueling stationsMSNBC article (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11875890/from/RS.2/)

In the meantime, I hope people work with existing technologies....

They forgot problem five, which is getting the energy to produce the stuff. If you are not going to get it from a fossil fuel (which is the whole point) then there needs to be a serious upgrade to the energy infrastructure so that the power plants and grid can handle the added load of charging the "hydrogen battery." I would like to see it happen but you have to wonder who will make that investment?

I'm not seeing hydrogen as the next source. Its too radical. And by that I mean it requires too much change too soon. Hybrids are adopted because there is no extra work involved to fuel it. People just use the car and fill it up as ususal. Next I expect Plug ins. Because some people will go the extra mile and plug their cars in at night to save a bit more while still retaining the conveniance of being able to fuel at an existing station. I then see stations or major hotel chains offering charging stations. Eventualy when the infrustructure is in place I see all electric vehicles being sold to the mass market (also since all this will take time I see the range of EVs getting much better than they are now.) I think the country will grow its energy supply to compensate for the increased load over that period of time so the system isn't overloaded at night when all these cars plug in or charge.

Hydrogen is like Accept it or not. No gradual transition. I haven't seen a gas/hydrogen hybrid yet (maybe I missed it) Without that baby step it will not be adopted by the mass market.

Sorry about rambling.

I agree with everyone that hydrogen is not the short-term or even medium-term solution. I'd be tickled to death if the American public improved their driving habits and made their next purchase the most fuel-efficient vehicle for their needs.

I'd like to see expanded use of hybrids, diesels, E85 and conservation today. Hydrogen fuel cells in 2020 is probably optimistic - I hear estimates of 50 years for a mature hydrogen economy. Rather than dismiss it, I'd keep it on the backburner.

I've heard the argument: "where is the energy coming from to generate hydrogen or electricity?". It's an excellent point, as it could the in the worst case coal. It would mean plug-in hybrids and hydrogen-powered vehicles are not really clean. I still see this as progress as the millions of vehicles themselves are clean. Cleaning up or finding alternative energy for thousands of plants would seem less challenging. Those plants could also be away from urban areas and spare them of ozone action days in warm weather.

I'd say keep hydrogen on the backburner for a long-term solution while focusing on present technologies.

Coal plants even as dirty as they are are probably cleaner for the amount of energy they produce than pretty much any car. You have to think in terms how much dirt for how much energy. Most plants have to be pretty clean and the dirty ones have to buy credits from cleaner plants to meet their requirements which means dirty plants pay money and clean plants can make money of their cleanness. It's actualy pretty ingenious. It gives financial insentives for being clean and makes it more costly to be dirty. Money Is a pretty good motivator for change.

That's a very good point about coal power not being quite as terrible as it sounds. You also have to consider that quite a bit of research is going on right now with the aim of reducing emissions and carbon dioxide. One scheme goes as far as to sequester the carbon dioxide and stuff it back underground where it can't leach into the atmosphere. That would be huge considering that coal is by far the most abundant fossil fuel we have. At last count we had enough to run everything for, what, 300 years? I would hope that is enough time to figure out renewables. I tend to believe that some form of fusion will be the next huge thing but I don't know that I will live to see it. The energy is there, we just don't quite have the technology to harness it in a...uhh...controlled fashion.

The fuel station part is easier to tackle. A small electrolyzer running off a wall outlet, a supply of water, and a small pump will do the trick. Should be not much more expensive than Honda's Phill for the Civic GX natural gas powered car.

Here's a semi-related link :)

http://www.switch2hydrogen.com/

I dont see the problem with brittlement being addressed at all. Hydrogen weakens common metals used in ICE construction.

My grandfather worked on this issue for a number of years on one of his patents for a rocket type engine that would run on anything from coal oil to hydrogen. High tech ceramics where the answer to his problem. With no intrest form (us) the family members in futher development in his work we gave the patents to the gov. for the sake of nat. security last year.

Hydrogen isnt what its all cracked up to be,, literaly... :)

A couple of interesting stories of the people that fuel the rockets at Cape Canavaral.

One of them spilled liquid oxygen on a snake and later broke it in pieces with a hammer.

Not so funny, another fueler made the mistake of smoking with his coat still on. He burned to death.