Will 50% of the country be driving electric vehicles by 2020

[rov1200]

[rov1200]

Japan has expectations of carbon emissions being reduced by 25% by 2020 on the conditions that other major industrial companies abide by it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8241016.stm

[R1Geezer]

Unlikely, the battery ones are never going to be mainstream but there's a good chance for the hydrogen cell but the problems with that are the infrastructure and the safety concerns.

[jake-the-peg]

There are two main problems with Hydrogen.

Firstly getting the hydrogen - A lot of existinh hydrogen generation comes from stripping hydrogen from hydrocarbons which could just as cleanly be burnt as biofuels - and have the same problem of how do you grow enough of it.

The second problem is transportation. A tanker of hydrogen contains enough to fuel a couple of hundred cars. If you increase that by liquifying it you use a large proprtion of the energy in the hydrogen.

Biofuels and nuclear energy are the best short/medium term options for achieving these sorts of cuts

[New Judge]

Of course not. We'll all be dead due to Global Warming (aka "Climate Change")

...or bird 'flu

...or Mad Cow Disease

...or Swine 'flu

...or [fill in latest disease/catastrophe/natural phenomenon which is forecast to wipe out manking]

[jake-the-peg]

Well we'd better get immigration levels up to replace all these weaklings about to give up the ghost hadn't we ?

[Mr Veritas]

I have personally heard this suggestion being mooted since (1st time) 1950.
Sadly (or not?) it never gets anywhere.
I can only assume the Petrol companies manage to smother it?