Physics 162 Third Homework Assignment
Alternative Fuels for Transportation

  1. Research and report on some of the current practical and technical problems associated with the storage of hydrogen as well as ON board storage in the case of vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

  2. Research and report on developments of advanced batteries. What kinds of new materials are being considered and what kind of energy density capacities are being projected as milestones to achieve?. Use energy densities that are reported in Watt Hours per KG of battery baterial.

  3. In relation to question 3 - if an electric vehicle uses 0.5 KWH for every mile of real world driving and you want the battery pack to weigh 250 KG and the free range per charge for the vehicle to be 300 miles, what is the required energy density of the battery material?

  4. The scalability of cellulosic ethanol (switchgrass, etc) is currently a much debated topic. Consult various resources on this subject an report on the range of views about the total yield that is potentially available in this resource. This is one article that will help get you going