Techdiplomacy

When hydrogen is in a pure state, it is fairly safe.  However, add air and hydrogen is combustible.  While hydrogen is currently being used in various applications, mainly as a coolant for heat generated by electric power generators. Power plant operators use great care when using hydrogen in this application.  That brings me to the notion that hydrogen is a power source that could supply us with a clean alternative to fossil fuels, or that it should currently be considered as energy the same as wind or solar power.  This will probably be the case 30 years from now, but not currently.  Let me explain.         

Hydrogen Storage Presents Safety Issues

Since hydrogen is combustible when mixed with air, it is a dangerous substance.  The explosive range of hydrogen is broad, concentrations range from 4 percent to 75 percent.  All mixtures in that range are explosive.  Hydrogen can be ignited with very little energy, and has a wide range of flammability.  Hydrogen fire is pale blue and is almost invisible.  To detect hydrogen fires, brooms are often used to sweep an area of a suspected fire.  This is not what you want to do in your garage in the mornings when trying to get your hydrogen fueled vechile started.  Hydrogen is almost impossible to keep stationary, because of it’s light weight and it’s molecules are small. 

It is difficult to seal hydrogen, usually this means leaks.  Fortunately hydrogen is light weight so it dissipates rapidly.  When hydrogen does leak, it rises, so it would have to accumulate someplace near the leak, if at all, this would be a worry for anyone utilizing hydrogen.  I don’t know, I think this would concern anyone with a supply of hydrogen cylinders (fuel cells) in their garage.  Storing is the chief concern, because of the explosive energy in hydrogen if mixed with air.  A standard portable cylinder filled with hydrogen at 2,400 psig is equivalent to 35 pounds of TNT with regard to explosive potential.  A 12-pack of cylinders would equal 420 pounds of TNT and a typical tube trailer would equal 5,585 pounds of TNT.

Even though hydrogen is considered an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, problems remain that could take decades to resolve.  This discussion is directed at the danger inherent when using hydrogen for any application.  Hydrogen will in future decades provide power for society, however there will be hopefully a full scale renewable energy scheme in place by that time.  The hydrogen economy is not going to be seen in the near future. 

How do you feel about all this?  Make a comment, we’ll print it, even if we don’t agree. In the meantime, see you around the galaxy…

This is in response to Patrick Serfass who commented on my piece posted a few days ago. For those who have not guessed, it’s “Hydrogen Economy? Not In The Near Future”. Patrick is employed by the National Hydrogen Association, more about that later. First, I would like to point out, this is a huge organization. That being the case, why would they care enough to attack my humble little blog? I’ll tell you a little story. The National Hydrogen Association or NHA is a group that includes sustaining members and industry members. In his comment on my piece, Patrick states that I should do some research at the NHA website. Well, I was way ahead of him there, I had checked the site before I started the piece. He further states that I had my facts wrong. I would like to say that my information is different from the information on the site for the most part. However, I stand by my data, I listed a reputable source as a reference for a great deal of the information contained in my piece. Patrick listed his employer as his only source of information. Can you say, “conflict of interest”? It would be the same if I used a relative of mine to verify information, they would have to disqualify themselves on ethical grounds. Let’s talk about ethics, you’ll be surprised at the identity of some of the sustaining members of the NHA. Most of the sustaining members are large corporations. Some, are familiar to us all as they have had a lot of news coverage of late.

You could go to the NHA website and see the list of members and you would be at least mildly surprised. For instance, there’s General Motors Corporation, and there’s Chevron Oil. Why are these guys in bed with NHA? In an article from earlier this month, I detailed the funds that big oil and dirty coal were spending to defeat the Waxman-Markey (Energy) bill. I revealed fraudulent behavior on the part of dirty coal. (see “Dirty Coal Industries’ Dirty Tricks”) These guys are not interested in cleaning up our environment, they are interested in raking in big profits.

What exactly does Patrick Serfass do for NHA? He’s listed as the Director of their support staff over technology and communications. Apparently the truth does not enter the discussion when you are communicating with people you don’t agree with. Everything I put forth regarding hydrogen technology is backed up by their website and the business their members happen to practice. Let me illustrate this point.

There are several types of membership with NHA, two of which are industry members and sustaining members. For instance General Motors is a sustaining member, so are Indian Oil, and Chevron. Westinghouse, on the other hand is an industry member. Indian Oil and Chevron are part of the ‘Big Oil’ industry. Last year this industry took Americans to the brink of disaster when they drove gas prices to four dollars a gallon. They are in the process of repeating this again now! They want to go from a fossil fuel infrastructure to a hydrogen infrastructure. Westinghouse, who serves the nuclear power industry, wants to produce this hydrogen from nuclear driven steam methane reforming or from nuclear driven water splitting. You can get this information from the NHA website, if you dig deep enough. Nebraska Public Power District is an industry member of NHA. They currently get 60% of the power that they sell their customers from our old friends the Dirty Coal industry, whose lobbists like to write fraudulent letters to congressmen. NPPD gets 20% of their power from nuclear power. Another of their members is a company known as Entergy. They believe in a partnership between hydrogen and nuclear power. My point is NHA has members who espouse all of the points that I made in the previous article published last week.

Patrick, our NHA friend, stated that there were police groups, cell phone companies and others using hydrogen for backup power, however, he never said when or how. That is because this is something that may happen in the future, but it has not surfaced yet. There is another point that seems to suggest my article rubbed NHA the wrong way for the wrong reasons. NHA has a section on their website for the press. One of their ‘fact’ sheets is called “Hydrogen Economy”, how’s that for irony? (I was not aware of this fact until I looked closer at the site than I had previously) No one need take my word for any of this, everything I said in this and the previous article is based on facts supported by their members, you simply have to look harder than you might normally. Use the links provided by our friend Patrick in his comment on the previous article. Any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave them, we will respond. See you around the galaxy…

The following is from a study by E. Gerald Meyer, Arts and Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY. He referred to it as the ‘good, bad and the ugly’ of hydrogen technology. Much has been written about the “hydrogen economy” with the theme that by substituting hydrogen for gasoline the nation can reduce its dependence on foreign oil, and have a pollution free transportation fuel. That is “the good”. However, the hydrogen must be transported, distributed and stored with safety. Also, it must be utilized in a vehicle either by a combustion system or by a fuel cell system. The former can perhaps be devised without too much difficulty but the latter poses many problems. Fuel cells currently lack the needed reliability, the stability and the energy output. In addition the cost of the fuel cell system far exceeds that of the present gasoline system. That is “the bad”. Hydrogen production is “the ugly”. The current level of 9 tons/yr must be increased eighteenfold to meet current demand, which increases by 4% annually. Hydrogen, not a renewable energy source, is a secondary energy type as is electricity. It must be produced by a primary energy type. In addition, hydrogen requires a hydrogen-containing substrate of which there are two types: the hydrocarbons and “hydrooxygen” (water). The former produce CO2 in addition to hydrogen as does direct use of fossil fuels. Water requires either thermal dissociation or electolysis with the primary energy of choice for either being nuclear energy. Electrolyis might be accomplished with solar energy but the quantities needed mitigate against this. Thus with so many problems to solve, the hydrogen economy is at least thirty years in the future.

I realize that there are a large number of people who disagree with what I have put forth here, but remember, hydrogen is not a renewable energy source as I stated earlier. This in and of itself should lead us to proceed with caution with regard to hydrogen. We are reeling from the damage fossil fuels have done to our environment. We have almost a moral duty to pursue renewables like wind and solar power. Please read this piece and give it serious thought, I’m sure you will come to a similar conclusion. That’s my take on the subject, leave a comment and we’ll print it even if you don’t agree. See you around the galaxy..: