Hydrogen Primer

In response the question "How is a hydrogen powered rocket considered green" I must first state that the post was a little tongue in cheek. My tongue, my cheek.

However, your question got me in the groove to discuss Hydrogen and all it's wondrousness.

First off, the use of hydrogen as you have read about most widely, in use in fuel cells that can power autos, buses, laptops etc, hydrogen is considered an "energy storage medium" and not a fuel. You see, you have to usually create the pure hydrogen usually through a process called electrolysis, capture and store it and then allow it to recombine with, say, oxygen which would release some of the energy that was used to split the hydrogen out in the first place as electricity. Easy as pie, right? Right.

So, insofar as use in transportation, hydrogen powered vehicles are really cars powered by electric motors who in turn get the electricity from hydrogen fuel cells. NASA has been using this technology for decades to create electricity for their craft. Crazy stuff eh?

Some may argue that the energy used to separate the hydrogen for the fuel cell takes more power then you will eventually get out at the end. They are totally correct. Also, currently, most hydrogen production in the United States is petroleum based, where they hydrogen is actually separated from the oil molecule. This sort of makes hydrogen power seem rather ridiculous, doesn't it? How will this break the world's dependency on oil as a major fuel source?

I am glad you asked. You can also get hydrogen rather easily from water. In fact, electrolysis is actually used to purify water! How about that? Here is a technology that can create power independent of oil (our current major shortage) and also purify water (our upcoming major shortage)!

What about all the power needed to make the hydrogen in the first place? Well, some people have used that handy backyard nuclear reactor called the Sun to generate the electricity via a solar panel to separate the hydrogen from a bunch of salt water as in this experiment. Some countries that have the ability utilize geothermal energy such as Iceland. Personally I think as solar technology progresses we are going to see the use of hydrogen cells as a way to locally capture the electricity during peak production times, making the construction and maintenance of our current electrical infrastructure obsolete. Just imagine, while at work away from your intelligently planned and designed home that already uses passive heating and cooling techniques the excess electricity you are creating is converted into a safe and reliable hydrogen fuel cell storing electricity for when you come home and to recharge your awesome ENV: Hydrogen Powered Motorcycle for your next trek into work.

*Ed. note re: ENV - Remember, my birthday is coming up!