Hydrogen Economy in the Near Future - 1/20/08

Many may think Hydrogen power is a fantasy that may never come in our lifetime or its going to take 30 or 40 years.  Think again, there are more than 500 hydrogen powered vehicles on the road today.  Ford, Mazda, Honda and GM are developing hydrogen powered engines.  GM just announced a road ready prototype called the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell SUV. 

Honda has developed small stationary units that power zero emission vehicles with hydrogen extracted from water.  These units can be kept in your garage. 

With rapid advancements in hydrogen production and fuel cell technology we could be in the early stages of the hydrogen economy.  Instead of 30 years, we could be looking at 5 years.  To achieve this hydrogen must be made a national and international priority equal to the effort in putting a man on the moon.

Many perceive hydrogen production as very low, but really hydrogen is made on a large scale producing 50 million metric tons a year.  The industry is growing at 6% a year without the incentives the ethanol industry is receiving from the government.  The industry could expand quickly providing enough hydrogen fuel for cars in the future.

Some say hydrogen is too dangerous to be used in cars.  Remember the hydrogen filled Hindenburg which blew up in 1937.  Recently NASA scientist Addison Bain found that it was not the hydrogen that originally combusted, but the outer skin of the dirigible that was highly flammable.  During the last 30 years liquefied hydrogen shipments have traveled 33 billion miles with no losses and no fire being reported.  Hydrogen is flammable, but produces one tenth of the heat of a hydrocarbon fire. 

Many see problems with the distribution of hydrogen using existing pipelines.  We can use pipelines already in existence and others can be easily modified. 

Passenger vehicles were running on hydrogen as early as 1966 in the GM Electrovan.  Fuel cell vehicles are being tested by the military for use on land and sea.  Submarines have used them for years.  UPS and Federal Express plan to introduce fuel cell trucks this year. 

People believe hydrogen is too expensive, but small hydrogen generators could be installed at service stations, producing hydrogen using natural gas at $2.50 per kilogram.  One kilogram of hydrogen has the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline, making hydrogen currently cheaper than gasoline!

Internationally Germany, Japan, Iceland and Canada have major hydrogen programs started.  Leaders of these nations see the importance of becoming independent from oil. In the US, California has been developing a hydrogen highway with stations strategically located on its highway system. 

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