[DMCForum] What Everyone Should Know about Hydrogen
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[DMCForum] What Everyone Should Know about Hydrogen
- From: "captain_hydrogen" <captainhydrogen@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 01:59:02 -0000
The following should answer some questions that a few of you may have.
Thank you,
Ben Ferguson (Captain Hydrogen)
AZ-D, VIN 10365
What Everyone Should Know about Hydrogen
The American Hydrogen Association www.clean-air.org
Hydrogen can be made from water by using the energy of the sun to
create an electric current which can then be utilized to split
(electrolyze) water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Wind power, tides and falling water (hydro-electric turbines) can
also create electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. When
hydrogen is produced from the sun or other renewable energy sources
it is called "Solar-Hydrogen"
Hydrogen can be produced from water, sewage, garbage, landfill
accumulations, agricultural biomass, paper product wastes and many
other waste streams that contain hydrogen-bearing compounds.
Hydrogen can be used as a clean burning, non-polluting fuel in
virtually every application where other fuels are used today.
Because hydrogen is pollution free, small personal or local power
plants could be designed to utilize much of the energy we now throw
away. Cogeneration with hydrogen could at least double energy
utilization compared to present practices.
These power plants could be mass-produced so that the cost per
kilowatt will be substantially less than that of large conventional
power plants.
All fuels need air (oxygen) for combustion. Hydrogen is the only
common fuel that is not chemically bound to carbon; therefor when
hydrogen burns in air it produces only heat energy, water and
possibly trace amounts of oxides of nitrogen. Water and oxides of
nitrogen are natural in our atmosphere.
When hydrocarbon fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, propane, wood) burn
they may create serious pollutants like carbon monoxide (a poisonous
gas which is produced by incomplete combustion) carbon dioxide (a
greenhouse gas), an extensive list of complex hydrocarbon chemicals
and quantities of particulate matter.
Hydrogen is the only fuel whose production and end use can both
contribute directly to eliminating many of our most insufferable
environmental, economic, and health problems.
As a gas or a liquid, hydrogen can easily be transported, stored and
ultimately it can be used in every application where primary fuels
are used today. This makes hydrogen an ideal, non-polluting energy
carrier.
Unlike electricity, whose production as a secondary energy medium
must be juggled to accommodate peak usage periods, hydrogen can be
transported and stored for industrial and domestic needs and to make
electricity at virtually any time.
It is less expensive to move hydrogen across the continent as a
compressed gas by pipeline than an equal amount of electrical energy.
Liquid hydrogen is the safest and most economical choice for moving
energy across the oceans.
Hydrogen could be cost competitive at 75 cents per gallon equivalent
of gasoline. This estimate is based upon large-scale extraction of
hydrogen from biomass wastes or solar thermal extraction techniques
utilizing large parabolic solar concentrators called Gensets. Solar
Dish Gensets hold the world efficiency record for converting solar
energy to electricity.
Burning hydrogen does not contribute to the Greenhouse Effect, ozone
depletion or acid rain. Transition to a hydrogen energy system could
restore the atmosphere to natural conditions prevailing before these
anomalies became serious problems.
Hydrogen could be stored and supplied through the same pipeline
network that now supplies natural gas. Depleted natural gas fields
and similar geological formations could also be utilized for storing
hydrogen.
Over 400 cities once used hydrogen for illumination, cooking, and
heating before pipelines were established for delivering natural gas
from oil and gas fields. Natural gas was cheaper because it came from
the ground as a pressurized gas that required little or no
preparation for market.
Hydrogen is naturally produced by plants and animals. Hydrogen is not
toxic.
Existing automobiles could be economically converted to burn hydrogen
fuel.
To improve air quality some states have set zero emission standards
for cars. A vehicle converted to operate on hydrogen easily meets
this standard and can actually improve upon it by cleaning the air
through which it travels by reducing atmospheric concentrations of
carbon monoxide, diesel soot, tire particles and unburned
hydrocarbons and converting these pollutants into carbon dioxide and
water. This air cleaning capability provides a Minus Emissions
Vehicle (MEV).
A special class of MEV is one that uses hydrogen made from renewable
resources. It is called Renewable Energy Vehicle - Minus Emissions
or "REV-ME."
MEV engines using hydrogen will last much longer and start faster in
any weather.
The lubricating oil in a MEV engine will remain clean for extended
periods of time. There are no sulfur or carbon compounds to degrade
the oil.
Hydrogen is the best way to power future fuel cell electric
automobiles or existing vehicles that have internal combustion
engines.
Hydrogen fuel cells utilize the energy of a reaction between hydrogen
and oxygen which is converted directly and continuously into
electrical energy for electric vehicle propulsion.
Another advantage of fuel cells is that the device also produces
clean, potable water which is currently used on manned spacecraft and
could also be useful in solving critical drinking water problems
wherever potable water shortages exist.
One pound of hydrogen when combined with oxygen will make nine pounds
of water. Therefore a hydrogen power plant could make valuable
quantities of high quality water in addition to producing electricity.
The estimated petroleum reserves in the earth's crust is about one
trillion barrels. Oil consumption is at 25 billion barrels per year
and increasing at 1-1/2% per year. At current rates of consumption,
measured against known reserves, there is only a 30 year supply of
oil in the Earth's crust. Even if the reserve estimate were doubled
it is a moral imperative that we take immediate action to develop a
sustainable Solar Hydrogen economy.
Our current energy system is seriously inadequate in terms of its
ability to meet increasing demand far into the future.
A transition to a hydrogen energy system will be the most
significant, ongoing job creation opportunity ever conceived for both
blue and white collar workers.
Hydrogen is the safest of all fuels. Gaseous hydrogen is 14-times
lighter than air, therefore it rapidly disperses into the atmosphere
in the event of an accidental release. This is not true of other
fuels. Other fuels have a much greater "dangerous time" until they
are dispersed from the location of accidental release.
Hydrogen is already used to produce countless products and to enhance
many industrial processes.
The U.S. produces 100 billion cubic feet per year of hydrogen for
industry and for the space program.
The largest user of hydrogen is the petroleum industry for converting
crude oil into gasoline and hundreds of chemicals.
No one sustained hydrogen burns in the 1937 Hindenburg accident.
Seven million cubic feet of hydrogen, equal in volume to a structure
three football fields in size and 49 ft. in height, burned in less
than one minute. However, diesel fuel for the propulsion engines fell
to the ground and continued to burn for many hours.
If liquid hydrogen is spilled it will very rapidly evaporate, leaving
no pollution or toxic residue.
Hydrogen can be stored at room temperatures as a hydride (hydrogen
chemically combined with a metallic element) under little or no
pressure and in a volume that is less than if it were a super-cold
liquid.
Carbon is a valuable by-product of separating hydrogen from
hydrocarbon compounds. Over $5.00 worth of carbon products can be
extracted from a gallon of gasoline. The hydrogen left over could be
used in cars that clean the air of pollution caused by those vehicles
using hydrocarbon fuels. In the process; pollution, carbon monoxide
and hydrocarbons are transformed into carbon dioxide and water.
Carbon is the most versatile of all elements. With it we can make
materials to replace wood and steel.
About 74% of our landfills are hydrocarbons that can be converted
into non-polluting hydrogen fuel and superior building materials.
It is not rational to burn petrocarbons and deny future generations
their right of access to fossil hydrocarbon reserves to make
plastics, synthetic fabrics, lubricants, solvents, carbon-fiber
products that are stronger than steel and countless other new
products that are even now being developed.
Hydrogen packs more chemical energy in a pound for pound comparison
than with any other fuel. Two pounds of hydrogen provides as much
energy as a gallon of gasoline. About 2.2 gallons of water will
supply enough hydrogen to replace one gallon of gasoline.
Hydrogen is more fuel efficient than gasoline or other fossil fuels.
A Solar-Hydrogen powered heat pump could cool your house in summer
and heat it in winter.
In many ways Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada and Japan are
already ahead of the United States in research and development of
hydrogen fuel and its applications. Mercedes and BMW have
experimental fleets of hydrogen-powered automobiles. Japanese
automakers are testing hydrogen-powered cars. The United States lags
behind.
Using a small portion of our total land area, we can manufacture
enough Solar-Hydrogen to supply the entire energy requirement of the
United States.
The United States could make a significant transition to hydrogen
fuel by the year 2010.
Solar hydrogen could make the United States fuel-independent and
pollution free for as far into the future as the sun will shine.
Development of hydrogen energy systems would protect us from a
possible national security disaster precipitated by a geopolitical
upheaval beyond our control.
Hydrogen could represent a lucrative cash crop for farmers in areas
where there is abundant wind and/or solar radiation. Many farmers
could profit financially by converting biomass and animal wastes into
hydrogen through a process of bio-remediation (utilizing micro-
organisms to break down unwanted or excess materials).
Using solar thermal electricity to make hydrogen is 30 times more
efficient than the best green plants' photosynthesis process. Earth's
human population of 5.6 billion cannot wait for another "dinosaur
age" to replenish fossil fuels.
Introducing small amounts of hydrogen (2%-5%) into internal
combustion engines, that are currently using fossil fuels like
gasoline, diesel, or natural gas, increases the efficiency of
combustion, improves mileage and reduces pollutants to a remarkable
degree.
A substantial part of the expense in building and operating a fossil
fuel power plant is devoted to disposing of heat from wasted energy.
A conventional nuclear or fossil-fueled central power plant can
deliver only about one-third of the energy in the fuel in the form of
electricity. The remaining energy is wasted by heating the
environment. A hydrogen-fuel plant can deliver 70% or more of the
energy as a combination of "cogenerated" heat and electricity
products in a pollution free application.
Implementation of a worldwide solar hydrogen energy system will be
tantamount to a Second, Clean Industrial Revolution or the Renewable
Resources Revolution.
Did you know that any of the following states could eventually be
richer than Saudi Arabia by making and selling Solar-Hydrogen?
California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, North
Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, or Texas could provide endless supplies of
Solar-Hydrogen for the U.S. and other countries.
Hydrogen is the simplest, lightest and most abundant chemical element
in the universe.
On our planet hydrogen is abundant but it is usually combined with
other elements. When combined with oxygen it is called water; when
combined with carbon it is called a hydrocarbon.
Hydrogen is colorless, odorless, tasteless and non-toxic.
Hydrogen is the only truly clean chemical fuel.
To make hydrogen available for use as a fuel, energy is required to
separate it from other elements. solar energy is the most abundant
available source of energy on earth. Solar energy reaches the Earth
at a rate that is 18,000 times the energy consumed by human
activities and is an ideal source for separating hydrogen from other
elements.
Solar hydrogen fuel can be produced to supply a clean sustainable
supply of fuel for all human energy needs, FOREVER.
Forest lands, decimated for heating and cooking purposes by people in
developing nations, can be preserved by utilizing hydrogen as fuel.
Many developing nations are endowed with wind, water or sun power
that can be used to make hydrogen on a small scale for villages and
where appropriate on a large scale for urban areas.
Strip mining coal, that defaces and environmentally destroys huge
areas, could be eliminated by using Solar Hydrogen.
Vast quanities of hydrocarbon seepage from tank farms, pipelines and
200,000 gasoline service station tanks that now pollute our soil and
aquifers would be virtually eliminated by a transition to hydrogen
fuel.
Proven technologies are available to make, store, and use solar
hydrogen.
Hydrogen produced by bioremediation in China is chemically and
physically the same as hydrogen produced by wind power on a Nebraska
farm. Hydrogen can therefore be used as a universal medium of energy
exchange.
Pollutants from reliance on finite fossil fuels and nuclear energy
are ultimately carried by the atmosphere and river systems to the
oceans where they affect phytoplankton (that produce 80% of the
earth's oxygen), flora and fauna of all kinds, particularly those
marine species that comprise the ocean fisheries upon which all
populations rely for a basic food source.
Energy providers could reduce their costs of operation by a very
substantial margin through elimination of most exploration, drilling,
mining, milling, refining and other cost intensive practices. These
firms could reap even larger profits than they do now by actively
participating in the transition to hydrogen energy systems.
Burning any fossil fuel creates pollutants that cause millions of
people to suffer from lung, respiratory, and allergic types of
illness. Burning hydrogen will eliminate much suffering and
productivity losses and would substantially reduce health care costs.
If done to optimize economies of scale, many methods of producing
hydrogen will be cost competitive with fossil fuels or nuclear energy.
Importing crude oil costs the United States one billion dollars every
5 1/2 days. Using hydrogen in place of oil could reduce our trade
deficiet by 60 billion dollars. Even larger savings are available by
eliminating the large military expenditures required to provide
deliveries of foreign oil to the U.S.
The socially relevant costs of bringing any fuel to market must also
include such factors as pollution and other short and long-term
environmental costs as well as direct and indirect health costs. When
these factors are taken into consideration, together with its initial
cost competitiveness, hydrogen is surely the most logical choice for
a worldwide energy medium.
The Great Law of the Iroquois Nation says "In our every deliberation,
we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven
generations."
The American Hydrogen Association www.clean-air.org
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