It’s quite impressive really.

That’s a shitty situation, but it’s cool that you can do something enjoyable for her in the time she has left. There will probably be a lot of sensible suggestions, but how about this:

Yep - it’s really not good at all there right now. It's as bad if not worse than pre-referendum Ireland.

And this is your annual reminder to stay the hell away from A potential BLEVE:

Poland is probably not one you should include in that group, given the entire governing party seems to be rabidly anti-abortion and extremely conservative in general.

Continental, VDO, Kienzle and Bosch all make units that probably do what you want Blaupunkt too, but they're more expensive. Look for retro head units or truck ones.

The Dacia Dokker panelvan would be up there too - very utilitarian, really cheap.

Buy it, ship it to Australia, paint it black and get a bit-part in the new Mad Max.

I mean, I don't like to boast, but...

Yes, it was front-wheel-drive, but it was also one of the best-handling front-drivers ever made.

It is insane - the hydrogen just boiled off as it heated up. There was no mechanism for keeping it cool. It definitely seems like a technological dead-end given the inefficiency.

That’s because they think the only way you can be active and confrontational is through violence. It would never even enter their heads to protest peacefully.

If the batteries are sodium-organic batteries, mining impacts are minimal (the materials can be sourced from seawater and crops). The Sabatier process which is used to convert CO2 and H2 into CH4 uses a nickel catalyst, so you would have to mine a lot of nickel to develop sufficient production capacity to fuel…

That’s a good question.

A surplus would be necessary, true. But once that surplus is created, production and consumption would be balanced - we wouldn’t want an ever-increasing stockpile of CH4 because it wouldn’t be necessary. That would happen in the relatively short term, so it’s not a net-negative process.

It’s not a net negative carbon impact. As soon as you burn the fuel it turns straight back into CO2+H20 again, so it’s zero-sum at best (notwithstanding local particulate and NOX emissions).

You can get it running, for a time. Hydrogen embrittlement will do a real number on the internals though.

Unfortunately I’ve only ever had the tasteless, mealy ones from the shops. We’ve got a few trees (Fuji, Pink Lady though I’m not sure which cultivar, and Granny Smith), and you’re right that they can be quite different when freshly picked. Fujis can get so full of sugar that they almost go glassy.

That’s fair. I’ve never encountered a Lodi (I don’t think they’ve made it this far south yet).