Do you believe the 'Hydrogen economy' will be a good solution for the worldwide (upcoming) energyproblem?

Question

The energysources are shrinking and shrinking. In a few years we are going to have a real energyproblem. A lot of people are investigating for clean and/or alternative energysources.
Do you think the usage of hydrogen is a good step to a cleaner and powerfull future?

Answer 1

The problem with Hydrogen is that the technology isnt full developed yet. The problem with renewable/sustainable resources is that people have to accept them and be willing to use them. Right now that is not the case with many people.

Answer 2

No, not as long as we have to produce the hydrogen that will work in automobiles. The problem is money. The giants that run the oil industry will continue to work against any real solution as long as it does not put money in their pockets. If there were a simple solution that would make solar cars conceivable, the technology would be buried because there is no profit after the solar cells are purchased. That is why they are trying to sell hydrogen. They can make it appear to be clean, but the oil is burned and the cost is ballooned on the front end, while it is being made. As long as money is the driving force of humans instead of the betterment of mankind, there will not be a solution, unless it is forced upon them. I still think solar power would be the best solution, because it is free. If you can run your house with solar cells to the point that they are self sufficiant and actually sell their extra energy to electric companies, imagine what you could do with a small car if the technology was perfected. I always thought a combination of solar and wind power would be a good fit. You use the solar to get going which creates wind that could turn small turbines to create extra energy once you reach the speed you want. I'm no engineer, but it seems like they would work well together. The turbines could be hidden behind the grill, much like the radiator fan is now. And if you are asking, what about on cloudy days? The last time I checked, my solar calculator still works when it is cloudy. And energy could be stored in batteries throughout the day, so it shouldn't be an issue at night either. It's just a thought.

Answer 3

We are not likely to develop a hydrogen economy for a number of reasons including: hydrogen is too expensive to produce, hydrogen itself is very dangerous (hydrogen was the gas that filled the Hindenberg and the Hindenburg exploded), and one of the most common sources of hydrogen is natural gas (a fossil fuel). Hydrogen cannot be mined like coal or drilled for like oil. It must be made. Two common ways are: electrolysis (making hydrogen by running electricity through water) and stripping hydrogen from natural gas using steam. The first method, hydrolysis, requires large amounts of cheap electricity. The electricity would need to come from a nuclear reactor for it to be "clean" and non-fossil. Even so, the electricity required to make hydrogen is 30% more than the energy of the hydrogen that is produced. That is simply the second law of thermodynamics. As to extracting hydrogen from natural gas, that is just a way of cleaning up natural gas, not exactly a new, non-fossil energy source. Hydrogen and hydrogen driven fuel cells may have applications, but they are a small part of the overall solution to our need for new energy sources.

Answer 4

The investigation of hydrogen is a step, even if hydrogen is not. People need to realize there are alternatives and that we really NEED one.
Hydrogen power has a long way to go before it is feasible. Some other source of energy may end up being our best bet.

Answer 5

Along with solar it's the most practical/clean at this time. If better batteries can be developed I would say electric. But that applies primarily to automotive applications. More than half the oil we use today is for industrial applications (i.e. plastics). Even if we stop using it in our cars we'll need to find replacements for these other applications once our petroleum resources are depleted. There is also wind/geothermal/water/tidal power generators and hopefully power beamed from satellites. Don't discount nuclear. It'll continue to be used irrespective of the drawbacks. What's more likely to happen is that we will use oil until it's gone. Just think Mad Max.

Answer 6

Hydrogen is not in itself a solution to the energy problem. It's simply a way of producing a portable energy source we can use in vehicles, maybe elsewhere. But it takes energy to make hydrogen.

Solving the energy problem will involve developing alternatives that produce energy. Like nuclear, solar, wind, and biofuels.

This is a big problem. We'll need all the tools to solve it. There is no one thing that is the most important.

Answer 7

It might be part of a good solution but it wouldn't do well standing alone. If we used solar/wind/geothermal/ect to make hydrogen then maybe it would be good. I personally like biodiel myself as we already have the technology for that. Hydrgogen fuel cells are very effecient, unfortunatly it's finding the hydrgen that's more difficult. but once you have hydrogen it's great.

Answer 8

NO If u burn hydrogen with normal air u will produce NO2 which u think is a bad pollutant. The fire is too hot. Hydrogen is very explosive and will leak through anything. I have worked with helium and it was always leaking off. Hydrogen should be much worse.

Answer 9

Absolutely not! It will be very expensive to set up the systems needed to distribute H2 and even more expensive to produce it. See the movie, "Who Killed the Electric Car." It will explain the problems with hydrogen.

Answer 10

Hydrogen economy / Hydrogen Age sounds so 21st century doesn't it?

Unfortunately the technology isn't here and won't be.
The 21st century will be the " Corn Oil Age" marked by a switch to vegetable-based products.