Iceland Heads for Hydrocarbon-free Motoring
Published: July 15th, 2007
Share
Someone ought to tell H2daily.com's wonderfully-named O.J. Fagbire that it's not DaimlerChrysler anymore. And then someone can tell us why the hydrogen-powered Mercedes-Benz A-Class F-Cell goes to Iceland for test, rather than some more polluted country. Isn't Iceland an energy independent country with a limitless supply of geothermal and hydropower energy? Why would THEY need a zero-emissions vehicle? Alternatively, why wouldn't they? Who else can power hydrogen fuel cells without burning hyrdrocarbons to do so? "This means that totally environment-friendly motoring is already a reality in Iceland," says Prof. Dr. Herbert Kohler of DaimlerChrysler. Hey, it's a start.
More by Robert Farago
Comments
Join the conversation
Iceland can afford to be smug; no one has found a way to invade them and steal their geothermal energy...
Of course no one has found a way to invade their country and find a way to not make everything so bloody expensive..... I mean, the energy is "free" but don't they have to import most everything else?
Makes sense to me. Electrolysis to break the hydrogen-oxygen bonds in water requires a great deal of energy, more energy than you get out of burning hydrogen. If the power source is not "clean" then you might just as well burn gasoline in the car. In the USA this is a serious problem since less than 2% of our power comes from clean renewable energy. If the USA were to adopt large scale nuclear or other energy sources then perhaps it would be viable here. Until then, Iceland it is.
Actually, it's still DaimlerChrysler.