"hydrogen hot air highway" FarceRead and weep longs. Even the radical environmentalists think the hydrogen economy is a farce! They recognize that the H2 comes from non renewable sources.
Note that the remark about global warming at the end by the politician is incorrect. Water and steam are the exhause of a fuel cell and water vapour is a greenhouse gas.
Only the politicians are promoting the hot air highway since it is part of the olympic boondoggle spending...but that is a separate issue...They will eventually cut back on fuel cell pork.
But the tempting hot air highway will tempt Hydrogenics to keep their money losing red ink Greenlight facility in burnaby open for several years for a "presence" when in fact they should close it asap. The test station business is a low margin, commodity business with no entry barriers where long term profits will go to zero.
Feds and province face criticism over hydrogen bus promises
Monday, April 30 - 03:00:00 PM news 1130
John Ackermann
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - It's being called another step towards a 'hydrogen highway'. Ottawa and Victoria promise B-C will have the world's first fleet of hydrogen powered buses in time for the 2010 games.
But critics are wondering, is it a step forward in the fight against climate change, or a case of throwing good money after bad? 89 million of your taxpayer dollars will pay for 40 buses, half of which are to make their debut in time for the Olympics. That also covers filling stations and running the fleet for the first five years.
But Karen Wristen with the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) warns hydrogen isn't quite the clean technology it's cracked up to be. "The hydrogen is being developed from fossil fuels and the only good thing you can say about it is that it's being used in a way that doesn't put carbon in the atmosphere."
She says if someone could find a way to make hydrogen from renewable resources that would be one thing, but right now nobody's doing that as it's way too expensive. Wristen feels the $89 million should have been spent on transit and other alternatives instead.
The initiative is part of Premier Campbell's much hyped effort to build a hydrogen highway from here all the way to Southern California in time for the Olympics. Federal Environment Minister John Baird says Canada looks to B-C for leadership on green issues. "They walk the walk. They deliver positive programs and iniatives, investments in technology and that's one of the reasons why Vancouver and British Columbia have such a growing and green economy."
Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon says critics need to balance the cost with the benefits. "The fact we get a tremendous improvement in the fact there's virtually no emissions and there's no greenhouse gas issues.