Originally Posted by
John Lifer
Mike, Your calculation is inaccurate as you stated you didn't need to calculate efficiency in producing electricity, but you did do that to produce the hydrogen. I'm not a proponent for Hydrogen, electric cars are not cost effective by any means.
I was trying to compare the efficiency of a hydrogen system verses a battery system. In either case, for my example, you start with 1,000 energy units of electricity. If that electricity is produced from petroleum or solar power or whatever doesn't matter. Whatever the efficiency of producing the electricity, it does not change the efficiency of the follow-on systems (hydrogen or battery). Let's say that the electricity is produced from natural gas and the efficiency is 30% in converting the energy in natural gas to electrical energy. You'd just multiple each result by 0.30 so the relative comparisons would not change.
To produce hydrogen, you need to first produce electricity. To charge a battery, you first need to produce electricity. Same - same.
Mike
Last edited by Mike Henderson; 10-10-2012 at 11:22 PM.
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