Even with long haul transport fossil fuels are only not replaceable in aircraft for the foreseeable future. Trucks, trains, and ships could conceivably go to fuel cells with just a bit more improvement in the tech. Trains, of course, could all be electrified.
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Peak Oil: Can The World Stave Off the Worst Effects?
- Thread starter The Imp
- Start date
Cheetah
Deity
But fuel cells are still much more expensive and takes more energy to create than conventional gas, diesel or bunker fuel.
And more expensive energy is not good for the poorer peoples and countries on this planet.
The way to lower their cost is through using them enough so the techs attract more investment and gain economies of scale. I know it's not yet a 'now' tech. But it is in the foreseeable future if it's needed badly enough. The rapid fluctuations in the price of oil. Could well make it impractical for a lot of the poor long before it is in really short supply.
Merkinball
Deity
How are you going to reduce to the cost of platinum by using more of it? The cost of platinum has doubled over the last decade specifically because of fuel cell research. Fuel cells are not practical for shipping due to their weight. Molten Carbonate fuel cells are the only ones that could be applied to trains, and they're too fragile. The only application that fuel cells are good for is PEM technology in high torque low power applications. Read: Buses and garbage trucks. It's also worth noting that all Fuel Cell vehicles are hybrids anyway, and still require fossil fuels. The fuel cell vehicles you see advertised right now are hybrids. Solid Oxide fuel cells may have a place in the future of semis, but it will only be used for auxiliary power.
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