Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. Lithium ION batteries are extremely popular right now, but Lithium is limited and the energy density of Lithium ION batteries is nowhere near the energy density of hydrogen. Hydrogen is not something that people should be afraid of. As an energy carrier, hydrogen is ideal. The chemical reaction that produces water can produce an electric current with the use of an appropriate proton exchange membrane or PEM fuel cell. |
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Critics say that fuel cells are fool cells and they claim that it takes too much energy to liberate hydrogen. Fuel cells are more efficient than internal combustion engines making up for some of the energy that is lost to acquire the hydrogen where refining oil to produce gasoline and diesel happens to be energy intensive also. Solar to hydrogen technology is progressing rapidly, especially when salt water is the source of the hydrogen. The salt acts as a catalyst. The process to strip hydrogen from methane is 80% efficient and releases significatly fewer green house gases than burning gasoline or diesel. Nuclear reactors that thermally crack water are an option. A man who worked on the Apollo missions has suggested that a fleet of nuclear powered ships crack sea water far from population centers and come into port when they are full. There is the possibility of hydrogen from algae which is mentioned at Clean-air.org. Hydrogen can come from biofuels which are carbon neutral. There are a growing number of ways to procure hydrogen, some more efficient than others with most being greenhouse gas emission free. Chemical batteries, Lithium ION currently being the best battery chemistry that there is, are heavy and their energy density is limited. Worse, it takes hours to charge a Lithium ION battery that is big enough to propel a car for 40 miles. If chemical batteries are so efficient, the space they take up, their weight, and the time it takes to charge them are major problems. What do you do with all the batteries when they wear out? Lithium is limited where there will likely be shortages within 10 years time. Fuel cells are already lasting for 50k miles with new ones being more durable. Platinum electrodes are being replaced by less expensive carbon electrodes and other alloy electrodes, nickel iron cobalt for example. Cobalt boride and ammonia borane together can be used to release hydrogen on demand cheaply. Current production hydrogen fuel cell cars with 5k and 10k PSI hydrogen tanks are able to travel 200 to 500+ miles on a single fill. These high pressure tanks scare people, but they are safe. Consider, it takes 300 billion gallons of water to refine all the gasoline that all the light duty vehicles in the U.S. use where it would take 100 billion gallons of water to collect enough hydrogen via electrolysis for those vehicles if they were converted to be fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen is used to remove sulfur from oil that is being refined into gasoline. Hydrogen is also used to produce fertilizer. Hydrogen has been handled safely for at least three centuries. Oil rivaling what is available in the Middle East has been discovered inside the United States, but burning this oil releases GHGs and accelerates the greenhouse effect dangerously. Water shortages, higher seas, draught, and more intense storms are consequences of accelerating the greenhouse effect. Climate change is real and besides this, Oil is valuable for more than just fuel. Many computer/electronic devices/products contain plastic. In short, buring Oil is both wasteful and harmful to the environment. Climate change will be hard to reverse, especially if we don't stop the burning of fossil fuels soon. |