Tom Walker wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:



-> I saw something on tv in the past few weeks that was talking about 
-> fuel cells, and hydrogen.  But I was of the impression that they 
-> could use all sorts of "fuel".  Maybe that was earlier on,  or 
-> something?

TW>  They can use an assortment of fuels, Methane, Propane, Alcohol, 
TW> Gasoline, but need an additional process called a Reformer to 
TW> convert the Fuel used to Hydrogen gas. This additional process ads
TW> to the cost and reduces the reliability.

Hm.  I wasn't aware of the use of other fuels complicating things like that.

TW> Another point is that All those Fuels are form NON renewable 
TW> recources.

Not all of them -- alcohol in particular can be considered a renewable resource.

TW> Incideltly presently most of the Hydrogen produced i nthe world 
TW> today is also made form NON renewal processes.

From what I've observed,  that's more a matter of economics than anything
else.  It's simply cheaper to do it that way than it would be to,  say, 
electrolyze water.

TW> Adn since there is NO such thing as Perpetual Motion(IT takes MORE 
TW> powewr to Produce the Hydrogen form Water then the Power it 
TW> proviced you still have a BTU deficit to be made up. So the problem 
TW> becomes WHERE does the Energy come From??

Oh,  sure,  no energy source is 100% efficient.  But there's no getting
around that,  no matter what you do.

TW> And as a side note there was a study dome on hte Evfect of Free 
TW> Hydrogen i nthe Upper atmosphere and it was determined that it 
TW> Cound be as Damaging to the Ozone Layer as thwe Freon we have 
TW> Banned.

Eh?  I'd have to see that to believe it.

TW> Interesting corner we are possabibly painting ourselves into if we 
TW> put too many eggs in hte Fuel Cell basket.

Oh,  I don't think that we oughta be putting *all* of our attention on ANY
one solution to things.  Right now this whole country is geared toward only
two fuels for motor transportation,  and that's it.  I wouldn't mind seeing
there be more choices,  if it were possible.

-> -> TW> For the outdoor types there are special Solar Cell arrays also
-> -> TW> avaiable. But when the sun goes down you need to wind up
yuor work.
-> -> TW> :-) :-)

-> I read about something recently (saw it mentioned in a book I was reading)
-> where they mentioned a dashboard-top panel that would keep a 
-> vehicle's battery topped off when it was sitting for a while,  and 
-> not being driven.  Have you ever heard of this?

TW> I concider them a SCAM and a Ripoff. Typicaly they are capable in 
TW> FULL Direct sun of putting out 250 to 500 MA.

That's not too bad.  For what kind of price,  though?

TW> That may or may not even keep up with the Internal Self Discharge 
TW> of a Lead Acid Battery.

It should delay things a bit,  I'd think.

TW> I believe that 1 Amp is concidered the minium for keeping the 
TW> Typical Auto/RV battery in storage(Or infrequently used) tooped
TW> off.

I haven't actually seen a figure on this anywhere.

TW> I have a little 1 Amp fully automatic unit designed for that 
TW> purpose I have connected to me Group 31 emergency battery for my
TW> Laptop/Ham Gear.

Most of the 1 amp units I've seen are only "automatic" in the
sense that they just don't have that much push to them,  compared to bigger
chargers.  They just taper off automatically as a battery gets a bit more
charge in it.

TW> You can sloe ise a regular Automobile battery charger if it is 
TW> Full Automatic and has a 2 to 5 amp charging rate.

Yeah,  probably.  I have an assortment of different chargers around,  but
am not real sure what I need to use on some of these gels I have around
here.  At 33AH ratings,  some of them are going to take a nontrivial amount
of charge without getting too upset about it,  but I'd rather not push them
too hard,  if I can avoid it.

---