Hydrogen Power“Paving the way to a brighter new future in fuel”

Erin Mckeon

Chris Burger

Will Wheeler

Replacing Fossil Fuels

“I believe fuel cell vehicles will finally end the 100 year reign of the internal combustion engine as the dominant source of power for personal transportation.”- Ford CEO William C. Ford Jr.

Hydrogen is…

•existing freely in nature

•an invisible, extremely flammable gas

•highly reactive and essential in many chemical and biological processes

•not an energy source, but rather an energy carrier from which a secondary form of energy must be created

Hydrogen..A Plentiful Element

Hydrogen is the most abundant substance within the universe, making up 3/4 of all matter.

The sun still being in the early stages of it’s life is made up of 75% hydrogen.

Millions of years ago Hydrogen reacted to produce Helium and all the energy was emitted to space, but a small amount was captured on Earth by plants that had died and have now become the fossil fuels that are now the basis of today’s leading world industry.

Exists in nature, an invisible gas which is extremely flammable, can produce secondary energy

Read from Hydrogen Power pp.2

Sources of Hydrogen

Sources that Hydrogen can be extracted from: Natural Gas, Water, Coal, Gasoline,

Methanol, Biomass Other sources being researched include the

uses of solar energy, photosynthesis, decomposition, and fuel cells themselves can tri-generate electricity, heat, and hydrogen.

Hydrogen Production

H is difficult and costly to compress, store, and transport; it has one of the lowest energy densities of any fuel, 1/3rd of any natural gas. Hydrogen has major safety issues; it’s flammable over a wide range of concentrations and is very easily ignited. Hydrogen is one of the most leak prone gases, set to a strict set of regulations and standards.

-Currently in US at 8 billion kg (energy equivalent of 8 bil/gal. of gasoline), Americans consumed 180 bil/gal. gasoline in 2000, hydrogen demand is growing.

The Beginning of Hydrogen Power William Grove first experimented with

electrolysis in 1839. This is the process of separating water into it’s core elements: hydrogen and oxygen, in an attempt to produce an electrical current.

50 years later the term “fuel cell” would be coined for a modernized version of this process, and would be the birth of hydrogen power.

Fuel Cell Basics

Fuel Cells use hydrogen with oxygen from air to produce electricity. The electricity generated powers a vehicle’s motor.

In principle, a fuel cell operates like a battery. A fuel cell converts chemical energy directly into electricity by combining oxygen from the air with hydrogen gas. However, unlike a battery, a fuel cell does not run down or require recharging. It will produce electricity as long as fuel, in the form of hydrogen, is supplied

Modern Fuel Cell Structure

http://www.utcfuelcells.com/fuelcells/index.shtm

Why Hydrogen? Why Now?

Hydrogen production is already large– It is used to synthesize ammonia for fertilizer production – It is used in high-pressure hydro-treating petroleum in

refineries The U.S. uses 30% of total energy consumption on

transportation Transportation and energy-intensive processes

depend on oil, which is a finite, non-renewable energy source

Hydrogen promises to lead “better, faster, more efficient, environmentally clean transportation designs.

Hydrogen Emissions

Environmentally speaking, the use of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell car would produce no harmful emissions, just a trickle of water.

The only other emissions are the burning of natural gas used to produce the hydrogen

Hydrogen Initiative in the U.S.

President Regan’s State of the Union Address in 1986 initiated NASA to begin research and development of the hydrogen atom.

Inaugural Speech January 2003, President George W. Bush made a claim towards advancing renewable energy sources in the Freedom CAR campaign.

GM and other members of the Big Three, Ford and DaimlerChrysler provide the prototype minivan HydroGen3.

The Future of Hydrogen?

Hydrogen could resolve the fluctuating seasonal and day lighting issues behind storing solar energy.

Geopolitically the use of the fuel cell would create freedom from the US’ dependence on foreign oil.

Hydrogen-producing units can be stored virtually anywhere. BP and Shell have committed millions of dollars to hydrogen production and storage, while other oil companies are extracting hydrogen from gasoline around the nation.

Hydrogen Vehicles

Stores energy more efficiently than batteries

Burns twice as efficiently in a fuel cell as gasoline does in an engine

Doesn’t rely on any fossil fuel

It’s only waste product is water

Other Modes of Hydrogen Transport

Bush’s Quest to Replace Fossil Fuels

Under President Bush’s visionary Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, the Department supports early, high-risk research to overcome the technical barriers to a hydrogen economy and seeks to make it practical and cost-effective for Americans to choose to use clean, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2020. 

Hydrogen Highway

The "Vision 2010" for California's Hydrogen Highways is to ensure that by the end of the decade every Californian has access to hydrogen fuel along the State's major highways, with a significant and increasing percentage of that hydrogen produced from clean, renewable sources.  

On-Site/Stationary Hydrogen Power 1st National Bank of Omaha $3.4 million

800 kw fuel-cell system. Refueling stations for vehicles Could potentially produce

electricity for homes, businesses, institutions, and industry through stationary power plants

The Pros and Cons of Hydrogen

Abundant- will never deplete.

Will be a viable replacement for fossil fuel.

Used widely in industry with much experience.

Can be generated by renewable energy.

It’s only emission is pure, drinkable water.

One gallon of hydrogen produces an equal amount of energy as 1/4 gallon of gasoline.

Difficult to extract Expensive, renewables

more so Flammable, leak-prone Strict standards

Websites

http://www.hydrogenhighway.ca.gov/facts/cafcpwhereh2.htm

http://www.cafcp.org/fuel-vehl_cars.html