Originally Posted by Boston Commuter
I appreciate your thoughtful response. My understanding is that it takes more energy to produce the hydrogen than is generated when it is used to "fuel" a vehicle, and that the main feedstock for hydrogen productions is methane, ie, natural gas, which (like oil) is also peaking.
Hydrogen is not a new fuel, rather it is a way to store energy derived from less portable sources (electricity, natural gas) and use it to power vehicles. Any pollution is produced at the power plant rather than at the exhaust pipe. Now if we had wind power, this might enable us to run vehicles on some of it ...
Absolutely right! This is a serious global problem. I myself am rather worried about the heating issue, as both oil and natural gas supplies are in decline.
We could certainly buy ourselves some time to work on sustainable alternatives if we (as a nation) trimmed our driving habits and used fuel-efficient vehicles -- something like 40% of our national oil consumption goes into passenger cars and other noncommercial vehicles (if someone here has an exact figure handy, please correct me). And we will almost certainly have to adjust our living standards and building patterns -- alternative energy sources aren't likely to be as cheap and plentiful as the fossil fuels have been.
Cycling is not the answer to everything for everyone. But I think it is part of the solution, and I try to do what I can ... as they say, think globally, act locally.
Thank you very much! It's very refreshing to meet someone willing to discuss and debate rather than back into a corner take the "I'm right and you're wrong" attitude.
The distance to my job wouldn't pose a problem as far as the ride itself. Like I said, it's 14 miles, mostly on divided 4 lane. My problem is that I simply don't have the nerve to ride that far with that many cars, 18 wheelers, and dump trucks zipping by at 70+ mph! I see too many of them bobble off the road every day on the way in everyday. Might as well paint a bullseye on my back.
Anyway, getting back on the gas price thing, it took another jump today to 2.37 here. I'd love to ride and not use the fuel, but as I mentioned before, after that ride, I'd need a place to clean up and change. If everyone that just worked in the office areas at my job rode in, we'd need facilities for around 200 to clean up and change. Lots of the folks that have posted here and in the other threads often list a complaint that they have no place to store the bike indoors (security, weather, etc). If your office can't accomodate 1 bike, what are you going to do with a couple hundred of them? Then if you add the production folks in the mix, you've got 500 bikes to park. And before someone gets started, when it comes to parking bikes, a bike is a bike. Just because yours is some fancy high dollar brand doesn't get you any more consideration than the guy that rides a department store bike. Just like in the car parking lot, the Cadillac parks next to the Pinto.
Now I agree, it would take far less real estate to park 500 bikes than it does 500 cars. (Oh, there's another use for oil....asphalt!) But it my car sits in the parking lot and gets covered in sleet, I can start it and in a few minutes, it's warm and driveable. A bike coated with an inch or so of ice is going to be difficult to do anything with.