Toyota is giving away Hydrogen-Fuel cells patents in order to jump-start commercial production of hy - Polidicks

[QUOTE=NeverGoWest;46869927]Hmm. Hydrogen. They should do some crash tests to make sure the car won't go boom if it crashes the right way. I mean, if they don't do this right, the future will be a Michael Bay movie.[/QUOTE] Not sure how viable it is a large scale, but we've been able to store hydrogen in a form that's not explosive for quite some time now. When entering and exiting the container it's transferred between the gas and being deposited on a metal plate, and if the container is smashed, cut, or burned the metal is just smashed, cut, or burned and the only thing that can explode is the hydrogen in the tubes at the time of said damage.

[QUOTE=VGS_Devs;46867443]The tank thing is just scaremongering. People have been driving LPG cars for years a compressed gas tank usually fares far better than a petrol tank in a crash![/QUOTE] LPG is much much easier to contain than hydrogen.

[QUOTE=OvB;46869279]That statistic is wrong, besides it's neodymium is a bigger limiting factor and that's needed for electric motors for hybrids, hydrogen, diesel electric, and EVs. Lithium can be pulled from seawater if demand is high enough. Not sure how environmentally friendly that will be. Battery technology can change but electric motors need powerful magnets and that means neodymium.[/QUOTE] Considering China currently holds a relatively good portion of the rare-earth mines, its a problem. ([URL="http://www.the-weinberg-foundation.org/2013/01/04/the-rare-earth-swing-china-tightens-exports-again-a-wild-last-quarter-sets-up-a-pivotal-2013/"]As they've been ramping up export costs since they started Thorium reactors[/URL])

[QUOTE=BFG9000;46869031]Aren't fuel cells' power source just hydrogen that's been refined from natural gas? I don't quite understand the advantage of using one form of natural gas over the other?[/QUOTE] because when it burns there aren't any pollutants put into the air

[QUOTE=SIRIUS;46870893]because when it burns there aren't any pollutants put into the air[/QUOTE] But what about the byproducts of the natural gas it was refined from?

[QUOTE=ironman17;46868483]All the more reason to invest in efficient asteroid mining, man. If we wanna avoid a rare earth crisis (among other things), we gotta get to the Belt and have a cost-effective means of mining that shit for all its worth. Hell it'll get our asses of the Earth couch and help make Sol System our home, since its our birthright an' all.[/QUOTE] rare earths are pretty common actually, it's just that most of them are minable in China, other mining processes are too expensive [editline]6th January 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=BFG9000;46870910]But what about the byproducts of the natural gas it was refined from?[/QUOTE] That's why improving the sources is a big task.

[t]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1Tu6nsEVLvk/TJGfuX_g5oI/AAAAAAAAATI/YhMtbl0h2Es/s1600/Halo_Reach_Warthog.png[/t] Soon? [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Shitpost" - SteveUK))[/highlight]

aka clean reactors and solar energy Looks like Africa will have all the ressources AND energy in 100+ years :p

[QUOTE=BFG9000;46870910]But what about the byproducts of the natural gas it was refined from?[/QUOTE] Because that's not the only way you can get hydrogen

[QUOTE=SIRIUS;46871886]Because that's not the only way you can get hydrogen[/QUOTE] Yes you can also use electrolysis with water But where do you get the energy to do that? Power grids still rely mostly on coal in most places, ya know.

[QUOTE=NeverGoWest;46869927]Hmm. Hydrogen. They should do some crash tests to make sure the car won't go boom if it crashes the right way. I mean, if they don't do this right, the future will be a Michael Bay movie.[/QUOTE]Not really, pure gas explosions have a lot of kinetic energy but they're mostly harmless in terms of fire hazard. I'd much rather have 50lbs of compressed hydrogen explode than a 50lb tank of gasoline because the gasoline will burn for a [i]long[/i] time while the hydrogen will mostly rocket out like a blowtorch and then be done. Also I can be covered in gasoline and easily burn to death because my clothes are saturated with a flammable liquid and I can't immediately escape, meanwhile being coated in... a cloud? of hydrogen will probably just singe my hair.

Boring, needs a car that runs on air then we can talk.

the current limitations of a hydrogen fuel system are big yes, but this is why R&D exists. with patents being freed up, things can start to be developed and refined, hopefully making it way more viable

[QUOTE=BFG9000;46871915]Yes you can also use electrolysis with water But where do you get the energy to do that? Power grids still rely mostly on coal in most places, ya know.[/QUOTE] mostly, but its slowly switching over, where as using gas cars is not

The only problem is that their cars are so dull, unlike Tesla's

I assume they're doing this because they've finally decided there's no money to be made in hydrogen cars in the forseeable future. Especially not with sub-$50 oil. I really like the fast refueling that hydrogen offers, but working with it would be a huge pain in the ass. It's bad enough keeping an unpressurized fuel from leaking, let alone highly pressurized hydrogen atoms (aka the smallest fucking atoms in existence). Still, though, when the oil is gone, hydrogen is at the top of my list unless batteries advance dramatically.

[QUOTE=OvB;46869526]With modifications. [editline]6th January 2015[/editline] If you put hydrogen in your gasoline tank you're going to have a bad time. [editline]6th January 2015[/editline] I actually don't even think conversions are possible without spending unholy amounts of money.[/QUOTE] mythbusters put some hydrogen straight into a car with no real mods, hydrogen tank and regulator would still need to be fitted. [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV-OBwXKthY[/url]

[QUOTE=download;46867429]Wow. Those patents all up must be worth billions.[/QUOTE] They arn't really worth billions unless they are used, so them giving permission to use them helps toyota make money in the long run.

[QUOTE=Complifused;46868368]That's great, but what about after 2070?[/QUOTE] Idk, maybe like, mine more and recycle? How about this neat thing called innovation in technology, in 55 years we could have better ways to store energy that don't require the same rare earth minerals. It's not like we've mined literally ALL of the minerals and this is fucking it. You'd think that maybe in 55 years they'd have mined more or are you all just assuming they're done and this is it? Electric powered cars aren't feasible right now in 2015, but neither are mainstream hydrogen cars. I'd wager a combination of both will end up being the best solution, I don't see why we should only have one or the other anyway.

[QUOTE=Spectre1406;46872250]The only problem is that their cars are so dull, unlike Tesla's[/QUOTE] Tesla cars are just as dull, really.

This makes up for all the recalls Toyota.