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Introduction

Hydrogen Energy - How it works

Applications of Hydrogen Energy

Data and Statistics 

Hydrogen Energy - Research Efforts

Hydrogen Energy - Barriers

Introduction

Hydrogen is not a source of energy.

Like electricity, hydrogen is an energy carrier and must be produced from another substance. Though hydrogen is not widely used today, it has great potential as a future energy carrier. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of resources (water, fossil fuels, and biomass) and is a byproduct of other chemical processes. Unlike electricity, large quantities of hydrogen can be easily stored to be used in the future. Hydrogen can also be used in places where it’s hard to use electricity. Hydrogen can store the energy until it’s needed and can be moved to where it’s needed.

Hydrogen has three basic benefits:

1. The use of hydrogen greatly reduces pollution. When hydrogen is combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, energy in the form of electricity is produced. This electricity can be used to power vehicles, as a heat source and for many other uses. The advantage of using hydrogen as an energy carrier is that when it combines with oxygen the only byproducts are water and heat. No greenhouse gasses or other particulates are produced by the use of hydrogen fuel cells.

2. All over the world, hydrogen can be produced locally from numerous sources. Hydrogen can be produced either centrally, and then distributed, or onsite where it will be used. Hydrogen gas can be produced from methane, gasoline, biomass, coal or water.

3. If hydrogen is produced from water using electrolysis, and if the electricity required for electrolysis is powered by renewable sources, we have a sustainable production system.

But before hydrogen can play a bigger energy role and become a widely used alternative to gasoline, many new facilities and systems must be built. Facilities to make hydrogen, store it, and move it will be required. Fuel cells need to become more economical. And consumers will need the technology and the education to safely use it.

Hydrogen Energy - How it works

How Hydrogen Fuels Cells Work

The hydrogen fuel cell operates similar to a battery. It has two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, separated by a membrane. Oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen over the other. 

The hydrogen reacts to a catalyst on the electrode anode that converts the hydrogen gas into negatively charged electrons (e-) and positively charged ions (H+).

The electrons flow out of the cell to be used as electrical energy. The hydrogen ions move through the electrolyte membrane to the cathode electrode where they combine with oxygen and the electrons to produce water. Unlike batteries, fuel cells never run out.

Applications of Hydrogen Energy

Hydrogen energy technologies can be used in both stationary and transport application in developing countries. In stationary applications, hydrogen energy technologies can be used to store excess energy from renewables, helping provide electricity to remote locations using indigenous renewable energy sources. Given appropriate storage space, such systems could store energy even on a seasonal basis. The overall efficiency of such a storage system is of the order of 30%. In transport applications hydrogen could be used in suitably modified tri-wheelers or cars in congested cities in order to help reduce urban pollution. The use of hydrogen in fuel cell powered vehicles would effectively eliminate local emissions altogether. 

Data and Statistics  

Investment in Hydrogen Energy Research

• Global investments in building the hydrogen economy      cost over $1.3 billion in 2006 and are expected to rise to nearly $1.7      billion in 2007 and $5.5 billion in 2012. These figures represent a CAGR      of 27.0% over the next 5 years.
• Technologies for converting hydrogen to energy,      particularly fuel cells but also hydrogen internal combustion engines and      turbines account for the bulk of the investment in research. 

Building the Hydrogen Economy: Projected Global Investments in Hydrogen Plant and Equipment, through 2012 ($ millions)

              Source: BCC Research

              Note: Totals may not appear to add exactly due to rounding 

Hydrogen Energy - Research Efforts 

Status of Hydrogen Energy Research

There is a great divide when it comes to opinions on the importance of hydrogen to our future energy economy.

On the one side of the divide, hydrogen gas is seen as a future energy carrier with phenomenal potential by virtue of the fact that it is renewable, does not emit the "greenhouse gas" CO₂ in combustion, liberates large amounts of energy per unit weight in combustion, and is easily converted to electricity by fuel cells.

On the other side of the divide are those who point out that there are fundamental problems with hydrogen that will ensure that it will forever remain just a great green hope and nothing more than that.

These divided opinions however have not stopped considerable research being conducted to producing and storing hydrogen.

Attempts to produce hydrogen from renewable sources have been going on for over three decades, though it has picked up momentum of late. The oil crisis in 1973, for instance, prompted research into biological hydrogen production, including photosynthetic production, as part of the search for alternative energy technologies.

For instance, several companies are attempting biological hydrogen production. Biological hydrogen production has several advantages over hydrogen production by traditional processes. Biological hydrogen production by photosynthetic microorganisms for example, requires the use of a simple solar reactor such as a transparent closed box, with low energy requirements. If such processes could be made to work on a large-scale, we have a renewable source of hydrogen.

Barriers

Hydrogen storage, the high reactivity of hydrogen, the cost and methods of hydrogen fuel production, consumer demand and the cost of changing the infrastructure to accommodate hydrogen vehicles are key bottlenecks to transition to a hydrogen economy.

• Production

1. Currently, the only way that hydrogen production even approaches practicality is through the use of nuclear plants. Even hydrogen fuel derived from nuclear power would be expensive.
2. Current production of hydrogen takes a lot of energy, and uses fossil fuels as the base. All free hydrogen generated today is derived from natural gas. So right off, we have not managed to escape our dependency on nonrenewable hydrocarbons. If we have to burn fossil fuels to make hydrogen, what have we really gained?

• Storage

1. Hydrogen is extremely reactive, is combustible and flammable. It must be stored at extremely low temperatures and high pressure. A container capable of withstanding these specifications is larger than a standard gas tank.
2. Compressed and liquefied hydrogen present problems of their own. Both techniques require energy and so further reduce the net energy ratio of the hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen is cold enough to freeze air, leading to problems with pressure build-ups due to clogged valves
3. Both compressed and liquefied hydrogen storage are prone to leaks. In fact, all forms of pure hydrogen are difficult to store.

• Distribution

1. Another problem for hydrogen fuel is consumer demand and the cost to change all gasoline filling stations and vehicle production lines into hydrogen. Oil companies will not build filling stations until the hydrogen cars are on the market, and hydrogen cars might not become mainstream unless oil companies build the infrastructure!