18. Can hydrogen compete with gasoline on price?
Hydrogen is not expensive to make. It comes out of the typical steam reformer at slightly elevated temperature and 175 psi (pounds per square inch) pressure. Asemblon’s recycling process can take that stream and couple it directly onto Spent HYDRNOL. This avoids the cost of compressing or liquefying the hydrogen. It also avoids the cost of having to ship the hydrogen in special tankers or store it in expensive storage vessels.
HYDRNOL can be transported in standard tank trucks and petroleum pipelines, unlike its compressed or liquid counterparts. Asemblon expects to be able to deliver a kilogram of hydrogen to a vehicle at a fueling station for $2.28. That price is slightly more than gasoline currently, but much less than diesel fuel. Prices of both gasoline and diesel are expected to increase as the price of crude recovers to $50 per barrel or more — perhaps much more.
As petroleum becomes more and more difficult to find, extract, and refine, petroleum prices are expected to rise above $100/barrel in 10 to 15 years.
You can make a case that if
You can make a case that if one were to internalize all the external effects from burning gasoline — these might be air pollution, health effects, the amount of money that we're spending directly and indirectly on the military to protect world oil lands — one could calculate that the true social cost of oil is not $30 to $40 a barrel, it's at least $100 a barrel. VCP-310
So, if you believe that, the corrective policy is to put a tax on gasoline. If the social cost of oil is $50 a barrel, say, you divide that by 42 gallons in a barrel, 642-812 that's more than a $1 tax per gallon of gasoline. But tell me what politician would be willing to put a tax of a dollar on gasoline? 642-901