Readers of the Broadhsheet may recall a correspondence a couple of years ago about the possible future prospects of hydrogen power , especially to replace the internal combustion engine in cars and other vehicles.
Alas, the “Green” engineers and supporters did not offer us the complete picture : they didn’t tell us about platinum.
Platinum, you ask ? Isn’t that a precious metal ? Yes, it is, but it is also an essential pert of the hydrogen fuel-cell, the sort of battery which would bee needed in every hydrogen-powered vehicle. Each vehicle would require 100 grammes of platinum – yes that is about three and a half ounces, at a cost of about £2,000 or even more as the value of sterling shrinks.

Platinum is rare, too, and only mined in five places world-wide. If hydrogen-powered vehicles became really popular, the amount of platinum needed would very soon outstrip or even exhaust the supply, even if buyers of such vehicles could affords the extra cost in the first place.
Sorry, folks it looks as if it’s back to the drawing-board, yet again Reference: New Scientist, 29th November, 2008, pp40 – 43