With all this good feeling about the Volt and plug-in hybrids remember that
the *recharging electricity* probably comes from a untility burning gas,
oil, or uranium. Hydro and wind power can help, but that is a *fraction* of
the energy demand. The existing electric utilities like it because nighttime
charging uses existing *generation capacity* but still *burns fuel*. Whether
the utility can burn the fuel more efficiently than your plug-in car needs
evaluation of the transmission losses from the utility plant to your house.
The way out of this is the work of BlackLight Power, now preparing to build
a utility scale reactor using hydrogen from water as fuel. Not deployable
yet, the process does not generate greenhouse gases. A byproduct is hydrogen
in the 'hydrino' state, which may be a basis for a hyper-battery that will
make an all-electric car a reality.
Mike Carrell
