Roadmap to a Hydrogen Economy
A friend of mine sent me an invitation to a webinar called the “Roadmap to a Hydrogen Economy and Review of Alternative Energy Technologies.” I hope he doesn’t regard my response as indelicate or ungracious:
Thanks! I’ll try to check this out, even though I’m in complete disagreement with the thesis, for two reasons:
1) The idea that “The planetary fossil fuel system will be replaced by a transition to a hydrogen based system” is false. We’re going to retrofit our 3.5 million square miles (of the continental U.S.) with a delivery system for hydrogen? Not in a million years.
2) That the idea is impractical is only part of the problem; it doesn’t make any sense. It’s like saying “we’re replacing gasoline with steam or compressed air.” OK, there is chemical energy in gasoline that can be released, but there isn’t in water or air. Where’s the energy going to come from to evaporate the water or compress the air? If you want hydrogen, where’s the energy going to come from to, e.g., electrolyze water?
You can probably guess my answer. Nuclear energy if it were more widely accepted could convert our fuel dependence to hydrogen but it still has problems. Not as bad is the hydrogen fuel cell.
But the possibilities of affordable clean liquid fuels because of process heat from nuclear plants are quite good.
Well, lets look at it this way.
One, the US, even with a “smart grid” isn’t likely to get more than 16 hours of effective solar power in a day simply because CONUS only spans 4 time zones.
Two, it is practically impossible to run a large successful manufacturing industry in only 16 hours, they are going to run 24 hours a day and therefore, going to need 24 hours worth of power a day. Not to mention the home used power for the idiot box, the stereo, the fridge and the heater when it gets cold that the average American will insist on.
Say what you want, the wind isn’t consistent enough to provide adequate power for the entire night. So, what if we used hydrogen gas to power the stand alone power stations that we will inevitably need?
Waiting on a breakthrough for hydrogen creation. Nothing yet, but its similar to fusion, in that it would be a game changer if it can be done. Artificial photosynthesis is the most promising avenue thus far. Still notta.
Cheap nuclear could create cheap hydrogen for the applications that need a liquid fuel. Cheap renewables of course have the same potential. The long slow curve of renewables achieving a commodity status continues. I’m sure we’ll get there, but I’m also sure it will be past the point we’ve melted the big ice sheets.