Green Energy News | March 19, 2000

March 19, 2000 – Vol.4 No.51

ENERGIES... week of March 19, 2000

NOT SO GREEN? According to a new study from the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development, fuel cells powered by hydrogen reformed from gasoline would add about as much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as gasoline burnt in today’s internal combustion engines. Given available technology the best choice for fuel cell vehicles would be to strip hydrogen from natural gas at centralized processing plants.

Using the Pembina Institute’s evaluation technique known as Life-Cycle Value Assessment, the study - Climate-Friendly Hydrogen Fuel - takes into full account greenhouse gas emissions related to extracting raw materials to produce hydrogen, processing and refining it, transportation and distribution, as well as powering fuel cell vehicles.

The study uses publicly available information and concludes that hydrogen from gasoline only reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. Hydrogen from natural gas would reduce emissions by 70 percent. Other technologies, such as deriving hydrogen from algae, are not yet commercially available, nor are expected to be by the time fuel cell vehicles begin commercialization.

Natural gas has long been the preferred choice for stationary fuel cells which could be used to power homes and businesses. The study also gives a thumbs-up to fuel cell technology, provided the source of hydrogen is environmentally sound. The study can be purchased through the Foundation at http://www.davidsuzuki.org/ .

INITIATIVES SPANNING THE GLOBE. President Bill Clinton’s trip to South Asia brought along a pledge of financing to be used for green energy projects in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Among them is a $200 million U.S. Export-Import Bank Line of Credit with the Indian Power Finance Corporation to be used for clean energy projects. A $50 million package for the South Asia Regional Initiative (SARI) Energy Program will accelerate trade and investment in clean energy in the three nations. A $30 million program for Bangladesh for clean air programs through cleaner fuels, and another $4 million to develop renewable energy projects in the nation were also announced.

In the UK, Environment Minister Nick Raynsford has asked regional authorities to draw up proposals to bring renewable energy to their areas. The UK wants ten percent of all electricity to be green by 2010. Offshore wind power and ocean wave energy are two power sources in the UK under consideration with the first offshore wind farm now under construction.The UK is the windiest of the European nations.

In Japan, the Ministry of Transport is supporting a green tax for automobiles. With the tax, cars with greater fuel efficiency will see a tax reduction; fuel-hungry ones slapped with a tax increase. Environmentalists applaud the tax, but would like it extended to all vehicles as well as industry and eventually homes.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), which has been instrumental in creating Japan’s dominance in such markets as consumer electronics, will begin a two-year program to examine the viability of wind energy for the nation. Today only .04 percent of electricity in Japan is generated from the wind.