Hydrogen The Future of Renewable Energy?

[Shrike 0]

Hydrogen and fuel cells have the potential to solve several major challenges facing America today: dependence on petroleum imports, poor air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. The Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program is working with partners to accelerate the development and successful market introduction of these technologies.

Information from eere.energy.gov.
Hydrogen Energy is currently powering many of the worlds most advanced stealth submarines. It is preferred for many reasons, it makes absolutely no noise, no moving parts in a hydrogen cell, and the only waste product is water. The only danger is the hydrogen could explode so the cells are kept on the outside of the submarines and designed to explode outward in case of an emergency.

Could Hydrogen Energy ever be used to power cars? Yes! Hydrogen production is efficient and easy, most of you have probably seperated hydrogen and oxygen in High-School Science. However it would create new problems if ever we became dependent on Hydrogen for our cars. Yes, we are running out of fossil fuels, but hydrogen requires fresh water and although there is alot of it the world does have a shortage - especially if we started using it in automobiles. Already fresh water is harder to get and the process of Desalination (purifying salt water) is expensive. It is a possibility however, but we will still be dependent on oil for a long time to come.

[Arbitrary 0]

True that it takes water to get hydrogen, but I think the real problem isn't the lack of water, as once hydrogen is used as a fuel, it will produce pure water as an exhaust, which means that no water is gained or lost. The problem is that breaking water molecules down into hydrogen and oxygen takes a lot of electricity. So the efficiency of hydrogen powered cars depends a lot on how we break down water molecules. If we use electricity, then it's probably not much different than our current usage of fossil fuels. On the other hand, if we can find some alternative sources of energy -- like wind or solar -- then we might be far better off with hydrogen fuel. Another problem might be the monetary issue--hydrogen isn't the cheapest form of energy, so most businesses would be interested in sticking to oil until they realize that oil prices are so high that its no longer profitable. But usually by then it's rather late to start switching--expenses may just go up. And hydrogen fuel's just the hype. Aren't there other types of fuel like biodiesel and ethanol that could be considered too?EDIT: We probably will be sticking to oil for a long time though. Most people are averse to change, so they're going to wait for as long as they can wait (until oil prices are unforgivably high) before deciding to change. It's just the nature of humans--don't move until it's too late.

Edited July 16, 2006 by Arbitrary (see edit history)

[twitch 0]

Lack of fresh water? Sorry but that is a load of bull. Fresh water can be easily 'made' from any type of water.Water isn't the only place where hydrogen can be found. It occurs in many places, and an abundance of it is in space.'Water cars' have been advertised for well over two years and the concept is extremely old (decades).The problem we really face, which most scientists won't talk about, is the corruption of governments. Oil based products bring in billions of USD to hundreds of countries. Especially in petrol prices. Now, if the government change it to hydrogen based, their profits would hit the floor. No more economic booms based on oil prices.Until the governments of the world get their fingers out of their asses, we're stuck in this hell whole.The human race is set to implode, and only we can stop it.

[Arbitrary 0]

The problem we really face, which most scientists won't talk about, is the corruption of governments. Oil based products bring in billions of USD to hundreds of countries. Especially in petrol prices. Now, if the government change it to hydrogen based, their profits would hit the floor. No more economic booms based on oil prices.
Until the governments of the world get their fingers out of their asses, we're stuck in this hell whole.

Yeah, that's true, but if they stick to oil, the only governments that will benefit are those that have a ton of oil supplies. The rest will be hurt, and will probably switch as soon as oil prices get overboard. Now obviously that's the logical choice, but not what's really happening.

With the U.S. government there's a lot of problems--like how the gas prices aren't taxed like in many European countries, and how the gas giants are still earning money despite the inflation of gas. None of that makes any sense. If they taxed, people would stop trying to use up this already limited resource and move on to something else. And they wouldn't be paying so much tribute to the countries that have oil, who are the only ones benefiting after all.

And of course, the people are at fault too for simply going with the flow of the government and not advocating change.
Edited July 16, 2006 by Arbitrary (see edit history)

[cyborgxxi 0]

It's true there are a lot of the factors in determining why a new fuel source isn't replacing petroleum and maybe the government is the problem. But keep in mind that petroleum is still the most trustworthy source of energy and so people don't really want to risk their "necks" so to speak. I agree with Arbitrary

It's just the nature of humans--don't move until it's too late.

We don't move until it's too late because if we move we might risk something and not moving is safest for the time being. Anyway, we're going to have to change sooner or later and I think sometime in the near future that Petroleum use is going to fall and other fuels are going to take over such as:

Hydrogen fuel cells
Ethanol
Biofuel
Solar Power
This other thing I heard about but don't know a whole lot about (aka the name)

[Quatrux 4]

I agree with most opinions, but the most I agree with twitch, if we really had wanted, we would have already changed to alternative power source, currently it is very hard to do, different suggestions about changing fuel as oil, petrol etc. to something "better" was mentioned even in 1995, but a lot of whom agree, that it would damage our world economy, because oil is really black gold, just imagine how much companies, especially smaller ones would be out of business.. But anyway, if alternative source would appear, it doesn't mean we wouldn't need oil at all.. Airplanes, Shuttles and even Ships would need more power.. Electric cars are in the market, but they have some disadvantages, which don't look good for a customer, even I wouldn't buy an electric car, I would rather get a petrol one, even though I don't like that petrol prizes got so hight during these 3 years..Economics is a very big discussion, until oil brings billions of dollars, even more, it will rule the market, a lot of people as above was said, continues do the stuff until it is to late.. A lot of whom are thinking about now and not the future, they say "after me, they all can die" I agree with the opinion, that oil as main power source will fail after some time.. I remember that coal as main power source would end in 2005 if it would be used as in 1985 year, so I hope things will change.. You know, Fusion power is coming and as I know in 2014 the first fusion plant will appear in France which would bring enough energy, with which we could use Hydrogen fuel cells and etc. Energy would be cheap.

[yeh 0]

I remember that coal as main power source would end in 2005 if it would be used as in 1985 year, so I hope things will change..

Well, you don't exactly have to hope, Quattrux. It will change since oil is not a renewable energy. The thing about price is not just supply and demand but also perception. And oil price has been hovering at such high levels for quite some time that I don't think it will ever come down to USD20 per barrel if we do not switch to other types of fuel. Whether we are switching to clean and safe energy or not, that I am not certain but switching from oil due to strategic and economic consideration is fast becoming a certainty in government policies.

[mpinsky 0]

Just like what everyone else is saying, oil and the like for fuel is going to be main source of energy when it comes to transportation, because you can get farther on it than any other fuel source. However, besides hydrogen, ethanol, and solar power, I heard that alcohol can run pretty smoothly as a fuel source as well. Technically, you could put anything in your car, and as long as it is able to burn, your car can run off of it, but like I said before, so far, gasoline and oil are the most practical of the fuel sources because you can go farther on it. So I'm supposing this method is going to be sticking with us for quite a while, guys.

[illini319 0]

cost/effective ratio. that's the bottom line. whether it's hydrogen, ethanol, bio-diesel or whatever. the future will be in whatever is cheap enough to replace gasoline.

[Logan Deathbringer 0]

If everyone put the economic questions aside for a minute and actually looked at the technologies required to switch to alternative fuel sources one would find that the ability to do so is already available. Biodiesel and Ethanol are easily produced and distributed, Hydrogen cars exist and are used in very limited areas, and electric car technology is advancing at a good pace, concidering the limited amount of research put into them respected to other areas of research.I think that most people will be surprised at the roll out of the "new tech boom" when oil suddenly becomes so limited that world governments can't rely on it for their military machines. When it gets to the point that governments like the USA, Russia, and the UK can't keep their war machines rolling due to very limited oil reserves I think we will see a sudden abundunce of alternative fuels hitting the market in a very short period of time.Corrupt governments or not, when they can't have their militaries working and rolling where they want them on oil, these "alternative fuels" will become the main focus of research.

[yeh 0]

That is a very good comment by Logan Deathbringer. There is a phrase, something like necessity is the mother of all invention. Something like that. Let's us just hope that the world superpower realizes the point that oil is running out while consumption is ever growing thus the need to change is NOW.... I don't wanna see a world war becoz there is not enough oil to go around....

[imskaterpunk 0]

i just did a subject on this at Xisto except mine was about using water and converting it to a sufficient fuel source and i thought about this subject alot at the time and i think it was a very good subject to write about i think that if we tried we could try to extract hydrogen from the water it might just work.

[HiddenKenshin 0]

Lack of fresh water? Sorry but that is a load of bull. Fresh water can be easily 'made' from any type of water.
Water isn't the only place where hydrogen can be found. It occurs in many places, and an abundance of it is in space.

'Water cars' have been advertised for well over two years and the concept is extremely old (decades).

The problem we really face, which most scientists won't talk about, is the corruption of governments. Oil based products bring in billions of USD to hundreds of countries. Especially in petrol prices. Now, if the government change it to hydrogen based, their profits would hit the floor. No more economic booms based on oil prices.

Until the governments of the world get their fingers out of their asses, we're stuck in this hell whole.

The human race is set to implode, and only we can stop it.

Most of Europe is dependent of Russia when it comes to oil. So, if a European country, organization or whatnot would find the means to create an efficient, water powered car, who'd care about Russia, or the United Arabian Emigrates or whichever-oil-supplying country?
I do agree that governments should get their fingers out of their asses, but I don't like people shouting at the top of their lungs that governments are to blame for everything. A lot of Belgian farmers-from what I know-are using biofuel (gases created from chemical reactions of certain grown crops), but on a small scale because the production method is simply too expensive, same with solar panels...

The type of energy source that would be the most revolutionary is one where the output > input. (Dune, anyone?) So water is probably fit for this, after all, we live on a blue planet. There are multiple ways to create energy from water, not just from the dynamics of water (water+turbine=power), but merely from the temperature differences in the ocean.
In my humble opinion, it's not just the governments that are holding back on the development, but companies that are making this development so damn expensive. The methods and research are out there, the money ain't.

[HiddenKenshin 0]

That is a very good comment by Logan Deathbringer. There is a phrase, something like necessity is the mother of all invention. Something like that. Let's us just hope that the world superpower realizes the point that oil is running out while consumption is ever growing thus the need to change is NOW.... I don't wanna see a world war becoz there is not enough oil to go around....

That'd be a funny sight for a war, because the backbone of an army on a warpath, are it's resources.Without oil, there'd be no war. Perhaps we'd digress to sticks and stones, hehe.