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Hydrogen a Viable Prospect for Near-Term

From: http://www.eren.doe.gov/hydrogen/hydnear.htm

Despite the fact that technical and societal factors stand in the way of hydrogen becoming a fuel for the masses, a new analysis conducted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) suggests that there are viable scenarios for making the transition to high-mileage electric vehicles powered by a combination of batteries and hydrogen-fueled power systems.

In the report, "Hydrogen as a Transportation Fuel: Costs and Benefits," analysts look at hydrogen's economic viability for powering a five-passenger vehicle such as a Ford Taurus with a range of about 80 miles per gallon. LLNL concluded that over time there are compelling reasons to try to shift away from conventional gasoline-fueled vehicles.
For example, with a sizable fleet of alternative vehicles operating in the United States by 2030, oil imports could be cut by two billion barrels per year, saving $1.2 trillion at $30 per barrel of oil. But such savings cannot be achieved overnight, LLNL warned.

"The most striking point about oil-use reductions and alternative-fuel vehicles is the very long lead times necessary for large-scale change. Alternative-fuel cars introduced in 2005 do not begin to materially influence aggregate oil use for another decade, and two decades more (2035) are required to replace gasoline vehicles," the report says.
"We have shown that you could put hydrogen-fueled vehicle on the road in the near term," said Robert Schock, associate director for energy at LLNL. "It does not have to be as far off as people have supposed."

Schock added that policymakers have erred in the past by focusing on the total costs of a hydrogen-fueled auto economy and the associated infrastructure requirements. "What DOE needed to do is to look at the transition phase and ask, How do you get there?"
The study points out that hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) can fill the niche for hydrogen vehicles without awaiting the development of cost-effective fuel cells. "HEVs coupled with small-scale hydrogen production and/or storage are among the most promising systems," the LLNL report says.

For copies of the report, contact the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. (ERGY DAILY: 5/8)    (Top)

Benefits of HEVs: http://www.hev.doe.gov/general/ontheroad.html#benefits

HEV Program of the US Department of Energy (DOE):

Auto makers: Fuel cell cars by 2010

Consumers will see attractive, affordable vehicles powered by fuel cells generating electricity from hydrogen without harmful emissions by the end of the decade, representatives from major automakers said Monday.

With a hum instead of a roar, the fuel-cell is here

Hillary and her wizard hydrogen car

...face some harsh detours on the road to reality
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0603/yates.html
June 27, 2003 / 27 Sivan, 5763
Brock Yates

We the People now understand the benefits of hydrogen-powered fuel cells after the Congress of the United States has bestowed its benediction on the system via an enormous subsidy.

A bill co-sponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., mandates the Department of Energy to develop a plan to produce 100,000 fuel-cell cars by 2010 and 2.5 million by 2020.

No doubt this was inspired by the colossal success of California's edict to achieve zero-emissions from 10 percent of its vehicle population by the end of the decade. This idea, you may recall, just hit Sacramento's legislative rocks after sales of electric cars barely edged into the double numbers.

These grand mandates from the feds and the states are to be praised, not ridiculed. After all, if they are successful we can expect harsh laws outlawing cancer, the common cold, automobile crashes, insanity, financial panics, depressions, recessions and even war. Who is to question the wisdom and power of our government in such heady matters?

But of course there are potholes even for the divinities in the seats of power.

For example, while we shout hosannas for the fuel cell and celebrate the impending doom of the internal combustion engine and its filthy petroleum energy source, bad news looms on the horizon.

Contrary to conventional thinking and the constant agitprop issuing from the elite media, fuel cells might not be the perfect solution for the environment. Recall that we have been led to believe the cells only emit is a few drops of water vapor. That is true, but a potential assault on the atmosphere comes from the source of the fuel cell power - hydrogen.

We learn from new research that massive conversion to a hydrogen-powered vehicle network could lead to serious leakage of the volatile gas, which in turn could radically reduce the already threatened ozone layer.

In case you missed high school physics, hydrogen is lighter than air. It is also highly explosive (remember the Hindenburg?).

Presuming we reach Dame Hillary's goal of 2.5 million fuel-cell miracles on the road by 2020, this would radically increase the amount of hydrogen manufactured, stored and dumped into vehicle tanks on a daily basis. Leakage would inevitably occur somewhere during the cycle - not to mention the occasional explosion. Safe storage of the gas in vehicles remains an unspoken but serious dilemma for vehicle developers.

The entry of unwanted trillions of cubic feet of hydrogen into the earth's atmosphere could radically alter the climate by the gas oxidizing into water when it reaches the stratosphere. This could cause a dangerous depletion of the ozone layer.

Add that little problem to those already present in a hydrogen nirvana such as the massive energy costs in manufacturing the gas (which you don't exactly strain from tap water in your kitchen sink) and safely transporting it through a new network to filling stations.

Suddenly the whole scheme begins to sound like another feel-good bamboozle, like the now-defunct electric car.

Brock Yates is editor-at-large for Car and Driver Magazine (www.caranddriver.com) and a columnist for Tech Central Station (www.techcentralstation.com). Comment by clicking here.

Israelis solve the Storage Problem of Hydrogen

Innovative solar technology that may offer a 'green' solution to the production of hydrogen fuel has been successfully tested on a large scale at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The technology also promises to facilitate the storage and transportation of hydrogen. The chemical process behind the technology was originally developed at Weizmann, and it has been scaled up in collaboration with European scientists. Results of the experiments will be reported in August at the 2005 Solar World Congress of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) in Orlando, Florida.

The solar project is the result of collaboration between scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, Institut de Science et de Genie des Materiaux et Procedes - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France, and the ScanArc Plasma Technologies AB in Sweden. The project is supported by the European Union's FP5 program.

Hydrogen, the most plentiful element in the universe, is an attractive candidate for becoming a pollution-free fuel of the future. However, nearly all hydrogen used today is produced by means of expensive processes that require combustion of polluting fossil fuels. Moreover, storing and transporting hydrogen is extremely difficult and costly.

The new solar technology tackles these problems by creating an easily storable intermediate energy source form from metal ore, such as zinc oxide. With the help of concentrated sunlight, the ore is heated to about 1,200°C in a solar reactor in the presence of wood charcoal. The process splits the ore, releasing oxygen and creating gaseous zinc, which is then condensed to a powder. Zinc powder can later be reacted with water, yielding hydrogen, to be used as fuel, and zinc oxide, which is recycled back to zinc in the solar plant. In recent experiments, the 300-kilowatt installation produced 45 kilograms of zinc powder from zinc oxide in one hour, exceeding projected goals.

The process generates no pollution, and the resultant zinc can be easily stored and transported, and converted to hydrogen on demand. In addition, the zinc can be used directly, for example, in zinc-air batteries, which serve as efficient converters of chemical to electrical energy. Thus, the method offers a way of storing solar energy in chemical form and releasing it as needed.

'After many years of basic research, we are pleased to see the scientific principles developed at the Institute validated by technological development,' said Prof. Jacob Karni, Head of the Center for Energy Research at Weizmann.

'The success of our recent experiments brings the approach closer to industrial use,' says engineer Michael Epstein, project leader at the Weizmann Institute.

The concept of splitting metal ores with the help of sunlight has been under development over the course of several years at the Weizmann Institute's Canadian Institute for the Energies and Applied Research, one of the most sophisticated solar research facilities in the world, which has a solar tower, a field of 64 mirrors and unique beam-down optics.
The process was tested originally on a scale of several kilowatts; it has been scaled up to 300 kilowatt in collaboration with the European researchers.

Weizmann scientists are currently investigating metal ores other than zinc oxide, as well as additional materials that may be used for efficient conversion of sunlight into storable energy.

The research from this press release will be presented at the ISES 2005 Solar World Congress - Bringing Water to the World, scheduled to take place during August 6-12, 2005 in Orlando, Fl US http://www.swc2005.org

Prof. Jacob Karni's research is supported by the Sussman Family Center for the Study of Environmental Sciences; the Solomon R. and Rebecca D. Baker Foundation; the Angel Faivovich Foundation for Ecological Research; Mr. Nathan Minzly, UK; the Abraham and Sonia Rochlin Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Larry Taylor, Los Angeles, CA; Dr. and Mrs. Robert Zaitlin, Los Angeles, CA; and the Arnold Ziff Charitable Foundation.

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