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  • The Hydrogen Revolution

    The hydrogen revolution

    Quieter, cleaner and greener. The petrol-driven car as we know it, is on borrowed time. Rod Myer reports.

    There is a quiet revolution taking place in the car industry that will fundamentally change the way we live. Imagine cities without smog. Without oil tankers. With less noise. And all because the new vehicles will be powered on the most common element of all - hydrogen, a constituent part of water.

    The world's car manufacturers are spending millions on prototypes of hydrogen cars that they expect to start replacing the petrol car with sometime in the next decade. And they promise it will be cleaner and greener. Supplies of crude oil are expected to begin running down this decade and - with increasing concerns about pollution and global warming - scientists are scrambling to improve the new technology and break the world's dependence on oil.

    Australia is part of an enormous body of worldwide research. In the middle of this year, Perth commuters will find themselves using buses powered by hydrogen instead of diesel as part of an international trial that also involves 10 European cities.

    Car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler is supplying the buses and funding is coming from a variety of sources, including BP, which is providing the hydrogen. The Federal Government has contributed funds and the Western Australian Government has pledged $10 million.

    The three buses will have fewer seats than other buses, and travellers might notice how quiet they are. And, instead of toxic fumes, the vehicles exhaust pipes will emit water vapour, or steam.

    For the past 144 years, since former railroad conductor Edwin L. Drake struck oil at his well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, the world has relied on petrol to turn its wheels. But within 20 years, many predict that hydrogen fuel cells will have overtaken the internal combustion engine. Your hot water service and even your mobile phone may be running on hydrogen long before that.

    The move is fast gaining momentum. In his State of the Union address of January 28, last year, US President George W. Bush stated that children born on that day could have the choice of a hydrogen-powered car by the time they were 17. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has even promised to build hydrogen fuelling stations every 32 kilometres along major Californian highways.

    Iceland has gone further and committed to becoming the world's first hydrogen-based economy within 20 years, planning to convert cars, buses and fishing trawlers to run on the fuel.

    In Australia, Resources Minister Ian MacFarlane has thrown his weight behind the development of hydrogen-based technology following a conference in Broome last year. A recent Federal Government report has predicted that 20 per cent of cars and 50 per cent of mobile phones will run on hydrogen by 2028.

    As for the oil companies, they are being practical. "We are looking to the long term," says Colin Gomm, BP's director of environmental issues.

    "Hydrogen is potentially another fuel source and we look at it with a 20-year time horizon."

    Hydrogen research is also taking place in Melbourne. Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd hopes to have a product on the market in 2005 that will provide hot water and electricity for residential users.

    Proponents of hydrogen power see its potential as unlimited. They see hydrogen not just as an alternative energy source, but as the foundation of a whole new non-polluting economy. While hydrogen has had some bad publicity over the years - linked as it has been to the H-bomb and the ill-fated airship Hindenburg that crashed and burned in New Jersey in 1937 - researchers say such concerns are misplaced, and endorse the gas as clean, safe and readily available.

    So, how would it all work?

    Renewable energy sources such as wind and thermal power would be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen would be run through fuel cells to create electricity that could power cars, homes, factories and transport systems. (A fuel cell is simply a battery in reverse; where a battery stores power, a fuel cell creates it through a chemical reaction producing electricity - hydrogen is fed in, power comes out.)

    Exhaust fumes would be limited to water vapour, eliminating some of our greenhouse problems.

    But there is, of course, a catch. In fact, several. Hydrogen may be the most abundant element in the universe, but you can't go out into Bass Strait and drill a hydrogen well: hydrogen always combines with other elements when left to its own devices.

    So you have to manufacture it by breaking down the substances - such as water, coal or gas - where it is stored. The problem is that this process generally uses as much energy as the hydrogen it produces gives out.

    It is perhaps unsurprising then that the first moves to commercially produce hydrogen are coming out of the fossil fuel industry - and involve the use of fossil fuels. BP will manufacture hydrogen from natural gas at its Kwinnana refinery for the Perth bus trial and have it refined at the nearby BOC (formerly British Oxygen Company). That process releases carbon into the atmosphere and is therefore not seen as the way forward by environmentalists.

    Even more controversial (because it is more polluting) are plans to produce hydrogen from coal. David Brockway a long-time coal researcher who is now chief of the CSIRO's energy technology division, says the transition to the hydrogen economy will be a step by step affair and initially, at least, fossil fuels will play a part.

    "Hydrogen will be the preferred energy carrier of the future, but the question is will it be in 20 or 50 years?" Brockway says. "In the short term, producing hydrogen from fossil fuels will be cheaper, either using gas or coal."

    Where coal is used, he says, the carbon emitted from the process will have to be sequestered, or pumped into underground storages indefinitely.

    In the longer term, the Holy Grail is breaking down water using renewable energy sources, Brockway says. "But it could be decades before these technologies are available."

    There is another problem. Hydrogen is the lightest element, which means the atoms that make it up are a long way from each other. That means you need much larger storages for hydrogen-powered vehicles than for conventional petrol or diesel models, and this has huge implications in design.

    The Perth trial buses will carry 58 passengers, compared with 70 for diesel models because of the large fuel tanks that must be installed. Transporting hydrogen to service stations will also require more tankers than for an equivalent amount of petrol, meaning more cost and more congestion.

    Researchers are working on solutions such as compressing hydrogen into a liquid. BMW is working on a liquid hydrogen fuel tank, but this needs to be kept at minus 270 degrees to prevent the hydrogen vapourising. And the compression of hydrogen increases the energy needed to produce it.

    Mark Deisendorf, a researcher and the director of Sydney's Sustainability Centre, believes that the energy dollar would be better spent on boosting renewable energy sources such as wind and solar rather than hydrogen. Cheaper, more efficient ways of storing energy, such as hot rocks or hot water, are already available, he says. "You lose about 50 per cent of the energy used to create hydrogen."

    Fans of the hydrogen fuel cell counter that the internal combustion engine has been 100 years in development.

    Steve Zorbas, director of the National Hydrogen Association, points to work being done on metal hydrides that can store hydrogen like a sponge stores water. Others argue that Australia spends $9 billion a year subsidising fossil fuels in various ways. Take away these subsidies, they say, and alternative fuels such as hydrogen become more competitive.

    Ian Lowe, honorary professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University, and former head of the Commission for Future, is a hydrogen enthusiast. He says Australia is ideally positioned to follow Iceland's example as a leader in hydrogen technology.

    Lowe cites a report in New Scientist magazine, nominating Iceland as the "obvious country" for a wide-ranging trial.

    "It has a good science and technology base, extensive supplies of renewable energy, and it is an island country so there is no transport interface with other countries. I said at the time ‘It's a pity we didn't have those advantages or we might have been able to do something similar'," says Lowe ironically.

    "The difference is they have politicians looking 20 years ahead who can see that by then oil will be scarce or expensive or both."

    Other than the Perth bus trial, the only Australian application approaching commercialisation is being developed by Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd in Noble Park. CFC chief executive Allen Conduit says he hopes to be selling fuel-cell powered domestic hot water systems - that also produce electricity to power homes or sell back into the grid - by next year. The only catch is it will be in Europe.

    In Australia, Conduit says, "the demand for fuel cells is lagging a bit". Cheap energy prices and the lack of a strong environmental imperative (resulting from the Government's refusal to sign the Kyoto agreement) make fuel cell technology less attractive in the local market, Conduit says.

    Even so, he adds, investors including gas producer Woodside, Queensland electricity retailer Energex, CSIRO and BHP Billiton, have poured more than $110 million into the company in the past 10 years.

    To the purists, says Conduit, CFC is outside the fold because it uses natural gas as its fuel source. But, he argues, gas is the most efficient way to produce hydrogen at the moment, and that using it in a fuel cell is far more efficient and less polluting than other fossil fuel technologies. "We use natural gas so we're not classified as a renewable energy company. But we are part of a transition to the hydrogen economy. I believe we're a world leader in our field."

    The fact that five or six companies internationally are working on similar processes does not concern him. "The market does not exist now but soon it will be so large that I'm not concerned with the prospect of competitors," he says. "They will just help to open the market up."

    http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...838784511.html
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

  • #2
    This article pointed out my main concern about Hydrogen power: where to get the stuff. Currently, we have to burn fossil fuels to generate hydrogen, and this defeats much of the purpose of hydrogen cars.

    The ideal solution is generating enough electrical current using wind or solar energy, and applying the process of electrolysis to seperate hydrogen from oxygen in water.

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    • #3
      Or hope that we can perfect fusion.

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      • #4
        Or hope that we can perfect fusion.
        it always seems to be 40 years away! damn.
        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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        • #5
          Originally posted by ZFBoxcar
          Or hope that we can perfect fusion.
          Yes, fusion would be nice. However, to date no fusion reaction has given off more than 60% of the energy originally invested in the process. We have a long way to go.

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          • #6
            Iceland has enormous geothermal and hydro-electric reserves. They hope to become a major energy exporter when hydrogen takes off.
            In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

            Leibniz

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            • #7
              problem is that right now nothing can effectly & efficiently contain a nuclear fusion. electromagnetic field would use up way to much energy.

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              • #8
                The world is becoming ever more conscious of the impact of human activities on the environment. From urban air pollution to global warming, concern is expressed about the impact emissions are having on our environment. Yet as the world develops, it is obvious that humanity will need more energy, not less. And as demand for energy increases, so do concerns about security of energy supply.
                What is hydrogen?
                Hydrogen is a chemical element that carries energy. It can be stored in either liquid or gaseous form. Today, hydrogen is not a substance we consciously encounter in everyday life, although it is used extensively in many industries. Hydrogen is 14 times lighter than air, it is normally bound to other substances, it is colourless, odourless, non-toxic and when it burns in air, that reaction produces only water.
                And when hydrogen is combined with the technology of the fuel cell to generate electrical energy, its immense potential to transform our global needs for stationary and motive power in a more environmentally benign way is irresistible.
                Why hydrogen?
                It may seem surprising, but those who know most about fossil fuels (hydrocarbons) have already been proceeding towards a ‘Hydrogen Economy’* - for hydrogen is the last stop on a long road towards cleaner fuels. As the production and use of energy has become more sophisticated, the carbon content of fuels has been in decline. Coal was the foundation fuel of the industrial society, and then oil took on the task. Now we are using much more natural gas.
                Each fuel is less polluting than the last because it contains less impurities and less carbon and, crucially, more hydrogen. So, in the search for a cleaner source of energy, the final culmination may be hydrogen on its own. The technology is now being developed around the world to make this possible.
                *Hydrogen has the potential to be used most applications where other fuels are used today. The term ‘Hydrogen Economy’ refers to a world powered by hydrogen.
                http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarti...tentId=7004951

                And here is a neat little brochure on H2:
                http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_inte...n_brochure.pdf
                "To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."-Sholem Asch

                "I always turn to the sports page first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures."-Earl Warren

                "I didn't intend for this to take on a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs."-Nancy Reagan, when asked a political question at a "Just Say No" rally

                "He no play-a da game, he no make-a da rules."-Earl Butz, on the Pope's attitude toward birth control

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                • #9
                  I think we'll get fusion power to work pretty soon. It seems like the ITER reactor should be successful if the political problems with building it are resolved. Until then fission power is a perfectly good alternative. It would allow us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and generate clean energy that doesn't release greenhouse gasses. People who are against nuclear energy are using an irrational fear that they somehow believe it will be catastrophic.

                  Chernobyl, which was essentially a worst case scenario, will have in the end increased the incidence of lymphoma and leukemia so that statistically 4000 people will have died from effects related to the radiation. This sounds bad, but in reality, most of those people are only going to have moderately reduced life spans. If they actually had access to decent healthcare (which doesn't exist anymore in the Ukraine) they could get good treatment for those cancers. To put the number of deaths in comparison, 400,000 people are killed EVERY YEAR by smoking. And after learning the lessions of TMI and Chernobyl, we will have much better quality control and containment mechanisms on our nuclear plants, which will allow us to achieve a much higher level of safety.

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                  • #10
                    I agree that fission power is useful and causes little pollution. However, nuclear fuel is a scarce resource. I have heard that plutonium and uranium supplies may be exhausted by the end of the current century.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Bulgaroctonus
                      I have heard that plutonium and uranium supplies may be exhausted by the end of the current century.
                      If you're right, that would give us 94 years to figure out fusion. ;)
                      No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                      I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                      even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                      He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

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                      • #12
                        The hydrogen economy actually competes with the battery economy since both are means of storing energy derived from primary sources (where nature has already done the hard work of storing calorific value).

                        Electrolysis of water to generate hydrogen is an energy negative process, although that does not mean it cannot be exploited - it is a question of availability vs efficiency. However, base load plants like nuclear, thermal, NG that act as primary energy sources etc are better utilized to send electricity over the wires as is done now - that removes the need to have hydrogen filling stations or pipelines at high cost (corrosion and loss by diffusion are bottlenecks, iirc).

                        That leaves mobile applications like private vehicles, where research into battery powered vehicles will compete with hydrogen powered ones. The existing infrastructure for "filling up" on electricity and the success of hybrid vehicles (albeit with tax breaks) suggest that the former is a bit ahead in the competition.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Anoop C
                          . However, base load plants like nuclear, thermal, NG that act as primary energy sources etc are better utilized to send electricity over the wires as is done now - that removes the need to have hydrogen filling stations or pipelines at high cost (corrosion and loss by diffusion are bottlenecks, iirc).
                          Agreed except that when the generation plants are not being run at capacity that extra capacity can be used to generate hydrogen as 'storage' especially with hydro and geothermal where using full capacity is efficient.
                          In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                          Leibniz

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