HYDROGEN AS FUEL AND THE BENEFITS OF A HYDROGEN ECONOMY
Planet Earth is 4,600 million years old. If we condense this inconceivable time-span into
an understandable concept, we can liken Earth to a person of 46 years of age. Nothing is
know about the first 7 years of this person’s life…only at age 42 did the Earth begin to
flower. Dinosaurs and the great reptiles did not appear until one year ago when the planet
was 45. Mammals arrived 8 months ago and in the middle of last week man-like apes
evolved into ape-like men and at the weekend, the last ice age enveloped the Earth.
Modern man has been around for four hours. During the last hour man took to agriculture.
The Industrial Revolution began one minute ago. During those sixty seconds of biological
time, Modern man has made a rubbish tip of paradise. He has multiplied his numbers to
plague proportions, caused the extinction of thousands of species, ransacked the planet for
fuels and now stands like a brutish infant, gloating over his meteoric ascendancy, on the brink
of a war to end all wars and without regard for this oasis of life in the solar system. (Simpson 274)
This analogy was created by an early environmentalist; it is however, quickly becoming a frightening reality. Greenhouse gas emissions have gone up exponentially since the Industrial Revolution and non-renewable fossil fuels are quickly running out. It can no longer be denied that global warming and noxious emission are reaching critical levels.
There are, however, alternative energy sources. Renewable options including solar power, wind power, geothermal power, and most importantly the growing technology involving hydrogen fuel cells. The possibilities of a hydrogen based economy are constantly increasing and within a few years the shift to a hydrogen economy will not only be possible, but necessary. The capability and efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells cannot be matched by any other fuel. Hydrogen fuel cells are the most effective alternative energy source and should replace fossil fuels for the method of powering cars.
The effectiveness of hydrogen fuel cells lies in several key features that are lacking in current conventional methods of generating electricity or powering automobiles. First of all, fuel cells produce no noxious emissions (Wollensky 1). Water is the only byproduct of a hydrogen fuel cell (Shaw 54). No other waste is created. This is because of the amazing simplicity of a fuel cell. Hydrogen and oxygen are the only two substances required (Cashman and Logue147).
When hydrogen combines with oxygen it generates electricity and creates only water (Cashman and Logue147). Also, since hydrogen is the most abundant element on Earth (Shaw and Nikel-Zueger 53) there would be no hydrogen shortages like the occasional gas shortages that shake the economy.
An example of how effective fuel cells are was provided by Dr. Geoffrey Ballard, named “Hero of the Planet� by Time magazine. He said, “If four percent of California’s automobiles were powered by fuel cells, their electrical generating capacity would exceed that of all the fixed generating plants in that state.� This leads to the next point that fuel cells can provide energy for far more than just cars. They can be used like natural gas and oil to heat homes and power manufacturing plants (Cashman and Logue 146).
The duration of time a fuel cell can be used has also been questioned. To this, Dan Cahan of Princeton University has replied, that a hydrogen fuel cell is “essentially a battery that does not need recharging.� (Shaw and Nikel-Zueger 53) A fuel cell will generate electricity as long as hydrogen and oxygen are supplied (Ashley 66). For example, once a fuel cell runs out of hydrogen it does not mean that that cell is useless. Simply add more hydrogen and it will continue to generate power.
Another plus of fuel cells is that they would decrease national dependency on oil and oil producing nations (Ashley 64). This means the nation would no longer have to import oil from historically unstable parts of the world, like the Middle East. As it is, automobiles account for 54% of oil consumption in the US (Hoffmann 103). Half of that oil is imported from the Middle East (Hoffmann 103). It would also mean that Bush Administration’s absurd scheme to drill for oil in the Alaskan Preserve could be stopped.
The efficiency of hydrogen is further demonstrated by its ability to be obtained using other alternative energy sources. Hydrogen obtaining devices can be powered by wind and solar power (Cashman and Logue 146). Hydrogen fuel cells do have several advantages over wind and solar power, among other alternative fuels too. For example, fuel cells can be operated in any geographic location. Solar power is not effective in regions that receive little sunshine, and likewise, wind power is not an option in areas with little or no wind. Tidal energy and geothermal power can also only be utilized in areas where they are present. Hydrogen, on the other hand, is a universal alternative energy source. The advantages of hydrogen fuel cells are even more evident when one explores their possibilities in powering cars.
The concept of a hydrogen powered car has been around for quite a while. In fact, the first hydrogen powered cars were created in the 1970s by independent scientists (Hoffmann 218). The technology of today though, has greatly increased the number and efficiency of hydrogen powered cars. Because hydrogen is the least dense substance in the universe it is therefore able to be compressed in incredible volumes, with comparatively little space required (Cashman and Logue 152). For example, a 5000 PSI tank, measuring 11� x 46�, would hold enough hydrogen to propel a car for 190 miles (Cashman and Logue 152). Also, a car powered by a fuel cell weighs about 30% less than the same make and model car powered by an internal combustion engine (Hoffmann 115). The work output of a fuel cell is also much greater than that of an internal combustion engine (Ashley 65). Fuel cells are able to convert 55% of available fuel into work output, while internal combustion engines only convert 30% of potential energy in gasoline into usable energy (Ashley 65).
In further comparison, gasoline powered cars account for 76% of CO emissions, 49% of nitrogen oxide emissions, and 33% of CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere (Hoffmann 103). Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells would emit 0% of these noxious emissions. By comparison, hydrogen produced using wind power would be more expensive than the energy equivalent of gas, but because of the greater efficiency of fuel cells, the miles per unit of fuel achieved would be double that of gasoline (Cashman and Logue 149).
Additional skepticism has been directed toward a hydrogen powered car’s ability to operate in colder temperatures. The fear is that because water is produced, the lines leading from the fuel cell to the tail pipe would burst due to freezing. New insulated line casings though can prevent “freezing up� in the lines (Ashley 67).
Although the advantages of fuel cells over internal combustion engines has been discussed above, the task of shifting from an oil economy to a hydrogen economy still exists. Changing the entire national infrastructure may indeed sound like a daunting task, but with the emergence of hybrid cars it could be quite painless. A hybrid car is a car that utilizes both an electric fuel cell and gasoline for power. Hybrid cars are the most important step in converting to a hydrogen economy (Cashman and Logue 150). The jump straight to hydrogen would be expensive, but with hybrids the cost of fuel cells would eventually decrease (Cashman and Logue 150). This would help to stimulate the hydrogen and fuel cell economy and effectively bridge the gap between gasoline and hydrogen (Cashman and Logue 150). The wide scale conversion would take a few years but in the long run the gains would far exceed the costs. Steven Ashley of Scientific America suggested that it would cost between $10-15 billion to create 11,700 hydrogen fueling stations throughout the country (Ashley 68). Although it seems like a lot of money it would be, as Ashley said, “enough so a driver would always be within 2 miles of a hydrogen station in major urban areas and so there would be a station every 25 miles along major highways.� (Ashley 68)
Besides hybrids though, it is also possible to convert an internal combustion car into a fuel cell car (Cashman and Logue 151). It has been suggested that if a company were to convert 100,000 cars a year, from internal combustion to hydrogen fuel cells, the cost to the consumer would only be $2,500 (Cashman and Logue 151). This would also help to boost the hydrogen economy. One major thing that is not being done though is the conversion and replacement of municipal and school vehicles to hydrogen fuel cells or even hybrids. These vehicles, snow plows and school buses for example, all return to the same destination to be refueled and therefore would not have to wait for a wide scale conversion to hydrogen (Cashman and Logue 151).
Imagine a city where there is no longer the reeking stench of car exhaust or clouds of smog hanging over buildings like a deadly blanket. Imagine, a world powered by renewable resources that do not harm the earth. A place where man no longer has to scar the Earth to live out his daily routine. All of this would be possible with hydrogen.
This is a chance to change how the world is powered and it should not be passed up. There are and will continue to be people who oppose hydrogen. These people, though, must think beyond their wallets and toward the greater good. The transition will be difficult, but it must be done and it must begin now. The solution will be met by the cooperation of governments, industry and citizens concerned with the future of this planet.
DHHC