Is Hydrogen the Way to Go?

Is the hydrogen fuel cell the way to go when looking for an alternative to petroleum, or will we end up back at square one? California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and President Bush seem to have hopped aboard the fuel cell bandwagon. While touting this "new" alternative fuel as the way to save us all from our dependence on foreign oil, they have failed to realize an important similarity the two have.

The hydrogen fuel cell isn't really anything new to us. NASA has been using them to power their spacecraft for quite a number of years. Their ability to provide electricity and water for the crew and onboard systems has more than proven the usefulness of the fuel cell.

Hydrogen is the most abundant of all the elements, yet procuring hydrogen for fuel cell use is costly and difficult. It is produced through electrolysis. Electrolysis is a process, much like distillation, where an object (like water) is broken down into its core components by zapping it with electricity.

Currently, automobiles that run on fuel cells are in the research and development stage. Much like the gas tank on your car, an automobile that operates on a fuel cell will have a container that can carry liquid hydrogen. A vehicle must come with a container that is not only able to handle the pressure of the compressed liquid, but is also insulated well enough to maintain the -423.2*F temperature that the hydrogen must be kept at. Vehicles that operate on gasoline or other petroleum based products do not require such provisions.

Since an automobile that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell is not presently available to the general public, refueling stations are not truly necessary. However, such places are beginning to pop up in California to coincide with the state's plan to build a new fueling infrastructure. Already, there are sixteen fueling stations in California with another fifteen planned for the future. 1 Thus far, the majority of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in operation can be found in California along with appropriate refueling stations. Some of these stations are owned and operated by specific automobile manufacturers such as Honda, Toyota and BMW. Gasoline and diesel, unlike hydrogen, can be obtained in nearly every town from coast to coast from manufacturers who operate almost independently of the car companies.

With liquid hydrogen in your tank, your vehicle's emissions will be zero or near zero. When the extremely cold liquid hydrogen is heated, it will become a gas and move from its insulated tank into the fuel cell where it will mix with oxygen taken from the air. When the two gases are combined, they produce electricity and water, unlike the noxious carbon monoxide produced by gasoline and diesel driven combustion engines.

Currently, hydrogen is most commonly derived from natural gas and coal. This is hydrogen's downfall, along with petroleum, since both of these sources are considered non-renewable. The added factor of where to obtain these resources is a pressing question.

Dependence on the largesse of foreign powers has left the United States, and many other nations, hurting. At present, the majority of dry natural gas is produced in the U.S., with 95% of imports coming in from Canada. However, liquefied natural gas, which is used to make hydrogen, is primarily imported from Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, and Indonesia. 2


As of 2005, there was a total 1,415 coal mines operating in the U.S., with a total of 1,131,498 short tons of coal produced for that year. 3 Yet America's greatest suppliers of coal are Colombia, Venezuela, Indonesia and Canada with a total of 14,840,188 short tons of coal imported in 2005. 4 This leaves one to wonder if our nation will ever be self-sufficient again.

Another factor in the on-going debate is versatility. Although hydrogen, as previously stated, is the most abundant of elements, there has been no discussion on how it will completely replace petroleum. Petroleum isn't just used to make gasoline. It is a key ingredient in a number of items we find in our homes, our cars and at work. The flexibility of petroleum allows us to have everything from plastic milk jugs to scented candles, and hydrogen's lack of adaptability in this area may cause many to take a dim view of this alternative fuel.

Hydrogen, and the cell it fuels, are considered by some to be the wave of the future because of its environmentally friendly by-product, water. However, because fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas are required to obtain the hydrogen needed for the fuel cell, and because it isn't as malleable as petroleum, those dreaming of a hydrogen future may be in for a long wait.

Footnotes
1  California Fuel Cell Partnership. Fuel Cell Vehicles and Fuel. http://www.drivingthefuture.org/fuel-veh1_map.html
2  NaturalGas.org. Natural Gas Supply. http://www.naturalgas.org/business/analysis.asp#domesticng
3  United States Department of Energy. Coal Production and Number of Mines by State and Mine Type. Energy Information Administration.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/table1.html
4  United States Department of Energy. Table 18: U.S. Coal Imports.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/quarterly/html/t18p01p1.html