ncbill12

The Larger Energy Implications of Hydrogen Autos

Renewable energy is too expensive to waste on making hydrogen.

Room-temperature electrolysis is only about 50% efficient, and the PEM fuel cells used for vehicles are not ever going to be better than about 60% efficient (most are about 40% efficient now)

Those are unacceptable losses when the lithium batteries used for EVs are over 90% efficient.

Shoot, even storing electricity in flooded lead-acid cells would be more efficient than converting to hydrogen and then converting that hydrogen back into electricity!

In the future the only practical source of hydrogen for fuel cells will continue to be from natural gas.

Own Gold? Time to Fold

Gold also has some political issues that can't be ignored.

In the early stages of the Depression, businesses in particular hoarded gold (trading their paper currency for coin)

Until they were told in no uncertain terms to trade the gold in for paper, or else.

Shortly thereafter, it became illegal for any U.S. citizen to possess gold bullion for roughly the next 40 years.

The U.S. government today is substantially more ruthless than it was in the 1930s.

If they tell you to hand in your physical gold, at whatever price per ounce they dictate, you d*mn well better do so.

If you are truly worried about hyperinflation, owning a farm is better than owning gold.

As Gary North points out, in the 1920s European hyperinflations, upper middle class households were reduced to trading heirloom jewelry for a few sacks of potatoes (markets break down)

IndyMac Failure - Test of FDIC Insurance

"less people were making sure they were insured. And so let’s be real - most of the ignorant depositors will remain that way regardless of whether they hear this story."

I just helped a relative yesterday move their insurance settlement (well over the $100,000 limit) to a different bank, the latter which participates in cdars.

The cdars program spreads out up to $50 million to different banks so the entire amount is covered under FDIC insurance:

www.cdars.com/why-cdar...

The bank I moved it from (non-cdars) was not pleased.