sw’as

We might laugh at Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (well I do anyway - not necessarily at him, but at the Californian people for electing him) but with goals like the California Hydrogen Highway I have to respect him. Maybe I should be re-thinking my opinion of the people who elected him, because a quick look over his website reveals a few initiatives which look (at least on a cursory glance) very intelligent. It looks as though many of his policies are about addressing some serious social issues and improving the quality of life for Californians.

The thing that sparked my interest was the hydrogen highway initiative which I found via a post on the usually very informative Nerac Blog.

I don’t have the time to research this and make a well written post out of it but I thought it would be worth mentioning. The Hydrogen Car Company^[1], a company specialising in hydrogen internal combustion engines, claim (in their FAQ^[2] that hydrogen fuel costs around US$4-5 for an amount equivalent to a gallon of gasoline. This makes me think that assuming the conversion process for an engine isn’t outrageously expensive, it shouldn’t be long before we are seeing many more hydrogen cars on the roads.

So my next question is why haven’t I heard any talk of this in Australia. California already has 17 hydrogen refuelling stations. Surely Australia could have at least one.

1. It’s worth noting that I’m not particularly impressed with this company’s website, the designer really needs to take some lessons in usability. I mean really, two useless splash screens? I would be the first to question the data and information they provide. I just haven’t had time. [↩]
2. And whoever put it together really needs to take some lessons on how not to talk down to your audience. [↩]