Even though I'm a car guy, I won't even get into how stupid this rig is. I do, however, have a bone to pick with the line "...a $100 million initiative to build hydrogen refueling stations can’t be a bad thing."

No it can't be a bad thing, but it CAN be a total waste of money.

First of all, practical, afforadable fuel cell cars are decades away. Direct hydrogen combustion is certainly do-able (as it's done here) but still expensive and inefficient.

The important question is: "Where does the hydrogen come from?" Most industrial grade hydrogen is cracked from natural gas through the process of steam reforming. The whole hype on hydrogen was kicked off by the Bush Administration's clever "bait n' switch." They'll have you think they're progressive and advocates for alternative fuels, when it's just the same oil and gas (and soon coal) companies creating the hydrogen. The energy conversions are also extremely inefficient and wasteful.

A much better solution is to continue pushing hybrid-electric technology, displacement on demand, etc. for cars. And most importantly, to invest in, and promote real alternative energy like solar and wind power. While a perfect world might envision such technologies creating the hydrogen, which they can do, it's simply not efficient enough right now. Too many conversions, too much entropy. Every megawatt of energy added to the electric grid via renewables, displaces the need for an equal amount of dirty generation somewhere else.

Sorry for the rant.

Another significant problem with the hummer design as a non-commercial/consumer vehicle is it's tendency to ride up when involved in a collision. From what I know the vehicle is designed to thrust upward when it crashes, this is to avoid getting stuck in unruly terrain, but it translates to death on a public street. Most cars and trucks will be decapitated by a hummer in an accident and I don't care how many air-bags you have, 6,400lbs of metal are no match.

On a sub-note the weight of the vehicle is so high that it qualifies for a tax write-off for your business if you own one. The exemption is meant for farmers with tractors, but it is misused and encouraged as a selling point by the sales staff at most Hummer dealers.

Go to the source to get the full story.
http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/governator.html
You'll get a more in-depth understanding of what's really going on here...

We can convert any car to use hydrogen for fuel. We rocomend using clean hudrogen, extracted from water. Please visit our websie at INTERGALACTICHYDROGEN.com

The conversion to Hydrogen fuel is a slow and difficult task. As much as I dislike the Hummer, money towards creating a hydrogen infracstructure is smart. As of now less than 5% of North America's power comes from renewable resources. I know the hydrogen is coming from petrochemicals now, but it is a start to something better. Eventually we will be able to get hydrogen from water more efficiently. That or we will return to horse and buggy when we run out of petro.

Ahh-nuld has never stayed overnight in the Governor's Mansion - not ever. 3+ years and running. Arnold flies home to Hollywood on his personal jet every night, flies back every morning.

This is interesting in a guy trying to make a name as a truly green Republican - the guy whose 8 Hummers run on H2.

Google is so grand. You can learn all kinds of stuff…
Arnold's jet is a Gulfstream III - aka G III.
G III's full fuel capacity is 28,300 pounds of fuel (that's 4224 gallons)
Its range is 4100 nautical miles
Calculated fuel consumption at cruise = 4224/4100 = a bit over gallon per nautical mile at optimum minimum consumption cruise. But during taxiing and climb to altitude, fuel consumption is higher to a staggering degree.

From Sacramento to Van Nuys is 300 nautical miles straight line. 600 round trip.
If Arnold had pure magic to get his G III to cruise altitude, flew straight line, killed the engine and made a dead stick landing, he'd still burn 600 gallons per round trip.
Throw in ground taxiing and climb to altitude and ordinary aviation maneuvers and…
900 gallons of Jet A gas every day on his work commute. Zowie!

A Honda Accord can go all the way around the world on 900 gallons of gas.
The Governator can only get to the office.
No matter how many Hummers Arnold has that run on H2, he ain't green.

mac

"On the other hand, a $100 million initiative to build hydrogen refueling stations can’t be a bad thing"

I think it can be a very bad thing. The focus is shifted away from BEVs that are on the market and can really make a huge difference in oil consumption and energy use. I'm building my own conversion because there is almost nothing to chose from on the market.

How many hydrogen vehicles are on the market?

My conversion can be charged off ~5 ft sq of solar panels, and no need to worry about explosive hydrogen.

http://visforvoltage.net/forum-topic/motorcycles-and-large-scooters/587-my-kz750-electric-motorcycle-project

I agree that it can be a bad thing. Not as bad as investing that money in more oil and coal, but there is still an opportunity cost.

where would that money be better used? Probably in EV technology and plug-in hybrids, IMO.

The Hydrogen Hummer is a great thing. It shows consumers that it's possible to have clean energy in a cool vehicle. That they don't have to drive some dumb looking prius. Sure this thing may only go 50 miles and will have to use a lot of hydrogen but even still, isn't that better than a normal Hummer you treehuggers always whine about? Sorry but some people want bigger badder vehicles, you can't possibly fault them for being different than you in that way. They have every right to their large comfortable vehicles as you do to your small light green cars.

This is why going green is so slow. Nothing the industry does is ever good enough, instead of a 'good job' you find something else to be mad about. Back off Arnold cause he's about the only person helping the green movement that can actually make an impact.

As for actually needing a big vehicle. Guess what, you don't NEED the internet however you do use it cause it makes life more convenient and enjoyable. I'll bet every one of you has crap you don't need. Everyone is different which makes the world such a great place. Get used to it. If you don't like something, come up with a solution rather than complain about it and do something useful with your life.

First of all, everyone is forgetting the basics. Global warming, supposedly caused by all these horrible manmade machines that needlessly burn fossil fuels, is not founded upon real science, it's pure theory, nothing more than speculation. Why is everybody ignoring the fact that the other planets appear to be sharing earth's climate shift pattern? Has our horrible pollution reached them as well?

Now let's think about what we really "need" in life. All we NEED is food & clothing. Outside of that, everything is vanity. Owning a car, "green" or not, is far outside the realm of "need", it's a matter of convenience. What about clothing? Is it really necessary to have a blue shirt? Is it really necessary to own more than a single pair of shoes? One pair will serve your needs just fine, all else is vanity and a waste of mother earth's natural resources, correct? Not to mention the amount of power it takes to run the internet, I promise it takes a massive amount of energy not derived from "green" approved methods.

With a greater perspective on true need, I find it ironic how circumstantial, convenient, and hypocritical your petty battle to make mankind "green" have become. How about you step outside your vein existence and fight for something truly worth while? How about you focus on the things that really matter in life, the people your life affects, and the people who could benefit from your excessive vanities. While you have two or even ten pairs of shoes, there are people in the world that have no shoes, much less food. What sort of monster tries to save a tree when there are people literally dying around the world because their basic NEEDS are not met?

I understand everyones point about the H2 But what about the Tahos Escalades all get just about the same fuel Mileage and are actually more expensive depending of course where you buy from. Also what about all the people driving older Brocos or cameros and corvets. I had an older bronco it got 10 mile to the gallon. The older cameros and corvets get between 9 and 15. So why is there no talk of these other vehicals?? The other day some lady driving around this old beater blowing black smoke was fliping some guy off driving an hummer. Hmmm who is worse??? I guess my point is there are alot of vehicles and other devices that are destroying are earth not just the H2

Have you heard that GM produced a hybrid Hummer? It runs on gasoline and testosterone.