[pp.int.general] [Energy Policy] Hydrogen based fuel-economy by using only the sun

[Richard Stallman]

    First is the need for massive amounts of water to break apart into the
    hydrogen (and oxygen) - something that would be a bit problematic in the
    Sahara for sure.  Furthermore, the water has to be very pure for the system
    to be able to function at the efficiency they describe.  Purifying and
    transporting that much water would most probably require much more energy
    than would be harvested by the system.

I have now had a chance to receive and read the article.
Indeed the need for very pure water might be a serious problem.
On the other hand, in a place with a lot of sunlight you could
use solar heat to distill sea water, with no running cost.

Piping in the water would cost something too, but probably not
as much energy as the hydrogen would supply.

      Deserts may not be the most abundant location for biodiversity, but
    certainly there are still plants and animals that would be destroyed and
    displaced by your implied development of huge tracts of land.

The Sahara is tremendous.  Only a tiny fraction of it would be needed
for this.

People have pointed out that the option is not for now.  The process
is not ready for commercial implementation.  It is just barely running
in the lab.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org  www.gnu.org
Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
  Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call