Good news everybody! Even though California can’t solve its $50 billion budget deficit, they found enough money to launch a new hydrogen ferryboat.

Photo above - George Jetson, your hydrogen powered ferryboat has arrived.

The government is bragging about the Sea Change, "the world's first hydrogen powered ship". Except it's not. That would be the Energy Observer, which just completed a 7 year around the world demonstration voyage. And it made all its own hydrogen from sea water.

The moment I saw “world's first” in the headline, I knew this had to be BS. And as usual, our tax dollars are paying for it. (see link below).

When you hear the word “hydrogen”, the image that unfortunately comes to mind is the explosion of the Hindenburg. Airships have ALL used helium since then. Or if you insist on more recent hydrogen detonation examples, google “NASA launch explosion”. Those rockets all use liquid oxygen and hydrogen. So, the exploding hydrogen problem isn’t exactly a thing of the past. The Falcon 9 rockets were all grounded this week, until further notice, because of a recent launch failure.

Back to that cute ferry boat. It’s intended to be a San Francisco tourist attraction. It doesn't take people to their jobs or deliver merchandise. But it IS free to ride. Before someone starts ranting at me and screaming “she hates hydrogen!!!” let me assure you that I do not. I simply hate building “first of its kind” hydrogen pleasure boats while there’s a $46 billion state budget deficit. And while California has 120,000 homeless people sleeping on sidewalks and in tents. Do any of them have bay views, so they can watch the “Sea Change” putter back and forth between the ferry terminal and Pier 41?. Pier 41 is about 1/10th the size of its famous next door neighbor Pier 39 - the one with all the great shops and restaurants. Pier 41 is not completely devoid of charm, however. It boasts a “snack bar” and “Ben and Jerry’s” ice cream shop.

The MSN link doesn’t say how much the ferry cost to build, but Google knows: $14 million. How much hydrogen does the Sea Change burn in one trip? Nobody’s saying, but it costs about $1 per kilogram. Don’t even try to figure this one out. Keep in mind the city of San Francisco probably had to build a dedicated waterfront hydrogen refueling station, safely away from residential areas. And the hydrogen needs to be trucked in.

How many affordable housing units could California build for $14 million? A LOT! And they could charge rent for occupant's, instead of giving them away for free. Like those ferryboat rides to nowhere. Those apartments could be powered by clean, safe, electricity, instead of the element "H", the single most explosive material in the universe. Hydrogen is what's driving that 15-million-degree furnace at the center of the sun.

But I am NOT predicting a 15-million-degree fireball in San Francisco. Unless terrorists start shooting at the storage tanks with sniper rifles. Like somebody is already doing with California's high voltage electric transformers. That probably won't happen.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

~World's first hydrogen, pollution-free ferry now sailing SF Bay (msn.com)~