Renewable Hydrogen - REH2 | Green Energy News

August 29, 2004 – Vol.9 No.23

RENEWABLE HYDROGEN - REH2.

Looking back to the 1990’s had pure-electric, battery-electric vehicles built at the time been able to achieve a range of 300 miles and a recharge time of 5 minutes or less there probably wouldn't be an effort to build a hydrogen/fuel cell economy today.

Perhaps it was the short range of 90 -120 miles or so that killed the battery EV’s. Perhaps it was disinterest from the automakers. Or perhaps it was pressure from oil companies to stay in the forefront of the fueling game that killed EV’s and promoted hydrogen. Or maybe it was all of those reasons.

Yet, what is remarkable about that time was that the cars were developed, built and sold (actually leased) to consumers in just a few short years. And, if we could go back in time and bring along today’s technology - much better electric motors, better battery technologies, along with light weight vehicles (without sacrificing safety or reduction in size) the 300-miles-per-charge battery electric vehicle could probably be realized.

Instead we have hybrids - which are fine - but the long term focus is on hydrogen fuel cells that aren’t anywhere near commercial production nor available to the average consumer. That’s at least a decade away, if not longer.

And even hydrogen is being questioned.

According to a new study hydrogen may not be the most efficient fuel for our future especially when the ultimate goal is to generate hydrogen from renewable sources such as wind energy.

The study, Carrying the Energy Future, Comparing Hydrogen and Electricity for Transmission, Storage and Transportation, says that electricity generated from renewables, since it is more expensive, must be used at the highest efficiency. But, using renewable-generated electricity to extract hydrogen from water, transport the hydrogen to the market, store it, then convert it back into electricity is highly inefficient losing close to 45-55 percent, or higher in some scenarios, along the way. A battery electric vehicle loses only 20 percent or less in a similar example.

Not to confine itself to the battery electric vs fuel cell debate, the study also looks at hybrid electric vehicles too as a way to archive long range and lowered emissions. For example plug-in hybrids, with a large battery pack, could run short routine trips on battery power alone. The vehicle’s internal combustion generator could keep the battery pack charged on longer trips as well as be an emergency home generator, or a source of power that could be sold to the grid.

The study also took a look at hybrids running on bio-fuels such as bio-ethanol which would be globally carbon neutral but produce local emissions.

The study doesn’t knock hydrogen out of the picture, but it does say that hydrogen and building a hydrogen economy need some serious study before significant investment is made.

The report discounts hydrogen extracted from fossil sources, such as natural gas, as not meeting the necessary goals of drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy independence.

For Carrying the Energy Future visit the publishers of the study, the Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment at http://www.ilea.org/