Hydrogen Special
At the public day of the TH Rijswijk (polytechnical school), November 20, 2004, I saw this ingenious apparatus which in a nutshell explains the components and steps in a hydrogen-centered cycle.
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waterstofcycle
model - place mouse cursor on image to see labels
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Hydrogen is an energy carrier. It does not occur as a free element in the environment. There is an unlimited supply of hydrogen in the world, most of it as component of water (H2O, to atoms of hydrogen bound to one atom of oxygen). Hydrogen is also a component of oil and natural gas (these fossil fuels are called hydrocarbons, for that matter). Reaction of hydrogen with oxygen produces heat and pure water. Applied in a fuel cell, the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen produces electricity.
So far so good. The entire process is super clean, no CO2 is release, the energy source is sunlight (the model was powered by a strong lamp). There is no CO2 emission. For a fully developed hydrogen economy the following is needed:
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lots of energy to produce hydrogen: wind, solar PV, hydro (plenty available on, for example, Iceland). |
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an infrastructure to store, transport and ditribute hydrogen. |
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cars powered by fuel cells. |
Note the conversion efficiencies: electrolysis 50%, fuel cell at best 50% (remaining 50% is dissipated as heat). The compound conversion efficiency is only 25% of the captured solar energy available to power the car. The consequence is that it does not make sense to manufacture hydrogen from hydrocarbons. It is much more efficient to utilize hydrocarbons directly, for instance in a Diesel engine (efficiency 35%) or in an engine burning liquified natural gas. Cars powered directly by solar PV cells do not need the intermediate steps. However, these cars need batteries to make up for moments without sunshine. Mankind must on the near term convert to hydrogen since oil and natural gas reserves are shrinking fast and also because we need to reduce climate effects caused by unrestrained CO2 emissions. Apart from CO2, hydrocarbon fuels emit pollutants like NOx and SOx upon burning
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www-new.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=13736 source: ISES- Refocus Weekly (November 24, 2004)Wind Turbines and Hydrogen at the South Pole! Mawson Base, Antarctica - The Australian Greenhouse Office will fund Aus$ 500,000 to demonstrate the use of hydrogen generated by wind in Antarctica. The demonstration project at the Australian Antarctic Division’s station at Mawson will research the safety and operational aspects of using hydrogen, as well as its viability as an energy carrier. Hydrogen will be produced using electricity from the Mawson wind turbines, and then stored and used in a fuel cell for both space heating and transportation in one of the station vehicles. The test fuel cell and heater will be installed at the field camp on Bechervaise Island, to provide electricity and heat for scientists involved in the penguin monitoring program. By the completion of the project, officials expect to have sufficient information to model the large-scale use of hydrogen to supplement energy requirements. The system will be installed and implemented during the 2005-06 season. “The ultimate aim is to be able to run the station and all the field camps without the use of any fossil fuels,” say officials at the site. “We believe this may be the first attempt to use hydrogen as a major energy source in Antarctica.” Two wind turbines
were commissioned at Mawson in June, following successful field trials
of a 10 kW turbine at Casey. Installation of the 150 kW Enercon turbines
started in 2002. The units must handle winds in excess of 250 km/h. reactions or additions please to the editor: floris256@yahoo.com |
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