Hydrogen wouldn't be stored as a compressed gas, it would be absorbed by some metal-based stuff and released as and when needed. Bulk storage and transport might even be as liquid ammonia or similar, which is already safely moved around on a vast scale. Chemistry, not physics .

Big technical and infrastructure challenges, of course. And electricity might still be needed to produce the hydrogen from water. But the big reward compared to batteries is storing a lot more energy in the same volume, with less weight. Also, the storage kit might last over 20 years, which a battery won't. So good for heavy vehicles (lorries, buses) and people who do lots of miles on long journeys. Possibly less so for family cars because of the average journey length. But there's a lot of development still to come for both hydrogen and electric vehicles, time will tell which wins out in the end - or whether it's a mix of the two. And like most things, it will probably be decided by cost.

Steve

30 years ago I used to understand hydrogen detonation. Canada did some good research on it. So did Russia - on a vast scale. Never experienced one 'in the flesh' but have seen some very impressive videos.

No need to worry about explosions with hydrogen powered cars - unless vapour cloud explosion with a petrol car concerns you.

I must confess to abandoning experimental chemistry as soon as possible. Got into theory. Much safer!! But I do like a good bonfire...

Steve

I'm waiting for hydrogen - it's the chemist in me .

Steve

So a friend from the next town visits you and says 'I'm low on charge, is it OK to plug in?'. Difficult to say no. Do you charge them for it? They wouldn't dream of asking you to pay for petrol, but electricity ... ?

And then, of course, there are the relatives from 300 miles away who turn up with almost nothing in the battery.

Steve

So not going electric...?

Steve

It's self-isolating. Not allowed out while there's a possibility it might spread warmth and dryness.

Steve

Thanks for your thoughts, folks. Keep 'em coming!

A bit of background. The tree is on sloping ground, the path runs along the contour uphill of the tree. You can move uphill away from the tree or downhill towards the tree, but that changes your height relative to the tree. So if you're shooting horizontally to keep a length of trunk in focus, moving toward or away from the tree changes the bit of trunk in front of the lens. Or you can keep the same bit in front of the lens by changing the angle but some is then out of focus. An interesting challenge...

Steve

There's a tree on the dog walk that's been intriguing me for months. It looks like it's a candidate for a photo or two, but nothing had worked. I don't know why, perhaps it's the lie of the land making it difficult to get a good angle on it. But yesterday I turned the Sigma 105mm macro on it and saw a new, minimalist angle. And here's the result. Not so much a tree, more a matter of an abstract based on a tree. Two versions, first with trunks the right way up, then rotated through 90 degrees. Focus might seem a bit odd because the two trunks are at different distances and I was going for the edges of the distant trunk. Perhaps there are other possibilities to be explored.

So... what do you think? Worth exploring further? Vertical or horizontal? Wider slit between trunks? Slit to one side (as now) or down the middle? Focus on near points of trunks rather than edge? Give up on minimalism and try for the tree itself?

Over to you!

1. Vertical



2. Horizontal



Steve

Fine examples of edible pictures!

Strangely, although the fruits definitely say 'summer', the overall impression of the pictures to me is 'winter by the fireside'. Perhaps it's something to do with the evergreen branches/needles which normally come into their own when summer is gone.

Steve

Just using a new 12V battery charger for the first time. It's got Bluetooth... . Had to download an app to the phone and connect to the charger so I could see voltage, current and charging mode. Slightly more interesting than watching paint dry.

Steve