Why is hydrogen such a great fuel?

Question

Seriously, I don't see it. Pure hydrogen doesn't just grow on trees, it takes energy to produce it and this energy usually comes from coal. And then even if you produce the energy some other way, you still have to build the infastructure to distribute the hydrogen. Does anyone know a good reason why governments and industry should invest in hydrogen when their are other options such as ultracapacitors?

Answer 1

there is no good reason. Hydrogen could potentially be electrolyzed out of water using wind power, but it seems to be an excuse for our current administration to improve there "green" credibility.

Good points on infrastrucure, but also remember we can't compress hydrogen enough to give cars equivalent range of gasoline, and it's difficult to store, transport, and fuel up.

Answer 2

Hydrogen fuel is potentially an alternative to gasoline, creating a hydrogen economy. Car manufacturers such as General Motors, BMW, Ford, Honda, Toyota, etc. are researching potential usefulness of hydrogen to power cars. Because hydrogen in its gaseous state takes up a very large volume when compared to other fuels, hydrogen would be more useful as an energy source in its liquid state. One possible solution is to liberate the hydrogen from its associated carbon in a hydrogen reformer and feed the hydrogen into a fuel cell. Alternatively, some fuel cells (DEFC Direct-ethanol fuel cell) can be directly fed by ethanol or methanol.

In early 2004, researchers at the University of Minnesota announced the invention of a simple ethanol reactor that would feed ethanol through a stack of catalysts, and output hydrogen. The device uses a rhodium-cerium catalyst for the initial reaction, which occurs at a temperature of about 700 °C (1300 °F). This initial reaction mixes ethanol, water vapor, and oxygen and produces good quantities of hydrogen. Unfortunately, it also results in the formation of carbon monoxide, a substance that "chokes" most fuel cells and must be passed through another catalyst to be converted into carbon dioxide. (The odorless, colorless, and tasteless carbon monoxide is also a significant toxic hazard if it escapes through the fuel cell into the exhaust, or if the conduits between the catalytic sections leak.) The ultimate products of the simple device are roughly 50% hydrogen gas and 30% nitrogen, with the remaining 20% mostly composed of carbon dioxide. Both the nitrogen and carbon dioxide are fairly inert when the mixture is pumped into an appropriate fuel cell.

Answer 3

It's not a fuel as such. It's a way to power vehicles with alternative energy sources like nuclear, solar, and wind.

You're right that it's only a part of a system - we need the whole deal. Including hydrogen powered cars.

Other solutions may be developed, but right now hydrogen looks pretty good. As the person above says, it's not a complete solution to all the problems of global warming, but it's one important tool.

Answer 4

There is allot of great things about hydrogen all the way down to the Adam's .Read up on it when you get a chance all the potential benefits it offers . But the greatest thing about hydrogen is there is plenty of it .Its all over the place no matter where you go . The oceans are full of it its even out in space . What other fuel do you know of that is so plentiful

Answer 5

It isn't, mostly, your observations are correct. There are other ways to get hydrogen gas other than by electrolysis, but that's the method that most people think of and the other methods also involve using energy from other sources as well.

Even if we were able to just tap into a great store of hydrogen somewhere, there would still be transportation and storage problems that would not be a picnic to overcome.

Answer 6

In the production of hydrogen you can clean up landfills preventing a huge release of methane gas. You can use renewable energy to create and capture the hydrogen for use at a later time. Costs are going to be far below gasoline for a fuel. Existing gaslines can be upgraded or can transport hydrogen. 800,000,000 cars existing today can be converted to burn the stuff for a fraction of the cost of say electrical vehicle conversions. It doesn't rely on a good crop or necessitate the destruction of additional woodlands. And when you burn it you get purified water vapor. Then new vehicles can be designed to use it really well or to power fuel cell (quiet vehicles). It can take people to the moon and planets.

I luv the stuff.

Answer 7

It's not.

the question is how is most of the Hydrogen produced?: Though a machine called a Steam- Methane Reformer, that basically converts Natural gas (and water) to Hydrogen and Co2 (Ch4 + 2H20 = 4H2 + CO2, I think that can balance).

So Hydrogen is made from Natural Gas, and when it is made CO2 is also produced..

Answer 8

It is great for scientist and engineers because the can spend a lot of money developing it. I've heard that it leaks out of all containers very easily because it is such a small molecule. I guess it is the thought of making water as it burns, but just use the electricity or store it in batteries.

Answer 9

People like the idea of hydrogen because the direct byproducts of burning it are minimal. But like you mentioned there is a real cost to producing hydrogen, and distributing it.

I think it's easier to look at the final product than to observe the entire picture, so the media tends to latch onto these things.

It's still an interesting technology but certainly not a magic bullet.

Answer 10

I don't see it either because people have the misconception that its a cleaner fuel but in reality its not. It's just as polluting as fossil fuels (methane/gasoline). The only thing good about it that I can see is that its renewable, cheaper (not by much), and i guess cars get better mileage.