I had a co-worker who insisted that GW should simply sign a proclamation that all cars should immediately run on hydrogen – in order to save the planet. She proclaimed that we had the technology to implement 100% hydrogen powered cars literally overnight.

“Where will we get the hydrogen?” I foolishly asked.

“It’s literally everywhere.”, she smugly replied, “It’s in the water and the air.”

“How are you going to process it, compress it and distribute it?” I asked.

“We have the technology today.”, she replied, “We (our employer) already separate and compress hydrogen right here at the plant.”

“How are you going to get enough for all those millions of cars and trucks and get it to where it is needed all over the country.”, was the reply.

“Okay, and how will you convert cars to both store and run on hydrogen overnight?”

“Again, we have the technology to do it today.”

It was obvious that she had no understanding of the massive quantities of hydrogen that would be needed, the tremendous buildup of logistics and distribution needed to get hydrogen to consumers, the costly modifications and time needed to convert cars, or practically anything else required for the change. She had no idea of the limitations and even dangers of hydrogen distribution and use. She only knew that someone had told her it should be done and she ran with very limited facts.