Honda to sell new gas-electric hybrid next year

Interesting article; it seems like Honda is really making some fundemental changes to their product line and to their business plan. It strikes me as a real testiment to what Toyota is doing. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's a bit of a stretch to call offering a hybrid only hatchback and expanding the hybrid line into other cars a coincidence.

However, what bugs me about this article is this:

Honda said it's also pushing its fuel-cell technology to ease environmental concerns.
A fuel cell vehicle has no emissions because it runs on the power created when hydrogen, stored as fuel in the vehicle, combines with oxygen in the air to emit water.

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I just can't see how this is sort of statement still works. While the car itself has zero emmissions, why do these articles continue to try and lead the reader down the path that this makes the technology the greenest thing around? Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd have thought that most people were already awake and smelling the coffee on this one.

The only way that hydrogen technology makes sense is if you've got alot of energy to dump into the process of making molecular hydrogen, and that you didn't get said energy by burning anything. If we ever got renewable electricity generation pinned down, sure this inefficient process might be a good alternative to burning gasoline or other hydrocarbons. Until then, it probably is important to continue development, but I just don't see that this development effort does anything to "environmental concerns."