“New Technique [to] Cheap, Abundant Hydrogen”

Author: [Cerebrl] | Category: Enviromental, Technology | 11-29-07
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Snipped from News.Yahoo.com.

It has seemed that for every alternative fuel source came many drawbacks, some negating the whole reason for utilizing them. Hydrogen fuel was one of the alternative fuel sources that had much promise, but in application was not the dream it was said to be. That is, until now.

One of the largest problems with hydrogen was its cost to manufacture it. Plus, what we were manufacturing from was not a renewable resource — natural gas. The amount of energy needed to create it from a renewable resource nearly equaled the amount that it produced as a fuel, canceling out any positive rationale to utilize it.

Recently scientists have found a better more efficient way to produce hydrogen for fuel. This new discovery increasing the production rate by 288%. Now we are talking alternative fuel. Here is a small portion of the article:

US researchers have developed a method of producing hydrogen gas from biodegradable organic material, potentially providing an abundant source of this clean-burning fuel, according to a study released Monday.

The technology offers a way to cheaply and efficiently generate hydrogen gas from readily available and renewable biomass such as cellulose or glucose, and could be used for powering vehicles, making fertilizer and treating drinking water.
Numerous public transportation systems are moving toward hydrogen-powered engines as an alternative to gasoline, but most hydrogen today is generated from nonrenewable fossil fuels such as natural gas.

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  • Yea, I forgot about the storage problem. Not only that, but I was reading about the compression problem as well. Thanks for reminding me.
  • Unfortunately another major downside to hydrogen is storage, hydrogen gas will leak through solid steel, and slowly ruin the steel while its at it. We still don't have a particularly good set up for re-fueling a car. The storage at the pump is a problem, getting it too the pump is a problem, producing it on site probably wouldn't allow this technology to work. Then storing it in the car has its own set of problems. They are all problems that can be fixed, just don't expect them to be fixed anytime soon, at least not without massive government support even then it will take a while.

    This is why we need at least biodiesel (ethanol is arguable, biodiesel is just a good idea)as a bandage until we can find a long term solution. One reason Hydrogen scares me is they often talk of Nukes and hydrogen going together, I realize this technology could eliminate the need for the nukes but we need to be clear the nukes are a problem not a solution. Anything that produces waste which will be hazardous for longer than humans have existed cannot be considered sustainable.
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