Do you think that hydrogen is the fuel of the future?

Hydrogen

Hydrogen production is nothing new; chemical companies already produce and transport it. It can be created by the electrolysis of water, for example using wind power. It could then be piped like natural gas or shipped as a liquid.

The main advantages of using hydrogen as a fuel are that it does not produce carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, and that hydrogen is plentifully available.

The problems with using hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles are solving how to store it safely on board and how to dispense it. Unlike petrol (gasoline) and diesel, it is a gas. It would have to be cooled to -253 °C to become liquid. Another way would be to create it in the vehicle by processing a hydrogen-rich fuel such as methanol, but this would produce carbon dioxide. It also is possible to store hydrogen under pressure in alloys called metal hydrides, and release it by reducing pressure and heating. Currently storing hydrogen on a vehicle at 200 atmospheres pressure is the most effective way. There is also some concern that using hydrogen fuel might also have an effect on the climate - it produces water which is a greenhouse gas, but that water can also produce clouds which keep the earth beneath them cooler during the day. The additional hydrogen in the atmosphere (hydrogen is very light, so it rises) may also adversely effect the ozone layer.

Fuel cells are devices that can produce electricity directly from hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen fuel cell was invented in 1830 by Sir William Robert Grove.

Progress is being made. Fuel cell buses have already been on trial in London and GM has rolled out the world's first fuel-cell truck.

Recent news stories involving hydrogen include:

• Zoo May Use Animal Waste As Energy Source April 29 2005
• Microbial Fuel Cell April 25 2005
• Bush: U.S. Needs Smarter Ways to Meet Energy Needs April 16 2005
• Bush Prods Congress on Energy Legislation April 16 2005
• Energy, Farms, Water Seen Aided by Nanotechnology April 12 2005
• Honda Focus on R&D to Keep Creative Edge April 03 2005
• Company Sees Fuel in Citrus Peel April 01 2005

Midwest Research Projects Look to Hydrogen

States in the Midwest are researching ways to use hydrogen as a fuel, as it does not give out the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide or air pollution, and would save oil imports. At South Dakota State University they want to make hydrogen from manure, the University of North Dakota (UND) and the University of Minnesota from wind power and from ethanol. The West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris, Minn. want to use hydrogen to generate electricity when the wind isn't blowing, to even out the electricity supply. The ethanol researchers want to set up 11 refueling stations between Madison, Wis., and Sioux Falls to Manitoba. Do you think that hydrogen will ever be worth the energy it takes to produce it?

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