Reply #8: Hydrogen today is a dirty fuel

[Clara T]

Hydrogen today is a dirty fuel

There is a mature hydrogen production industry in place today, and it's big business. Hydrogen is produced, stored and transported on a commercial scale today. Virtually all this hydrogen is made by steam reforming natural gas or other fossil-fuel-derivatives. The carbon that is left over from breaking the hydrogen out of these hydrocarbons is typically just released to the atmosphere, where it typically bonds with oxygen to make carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In addition, additional fossil fuels are typically burned to generate the heat required for the process, creating the regular witches' brew of pollutants, toxins and carcinogens normally produced by burning petroleum products. Some starry-eyed environmentalists believe the future of hydrogen production will be based on sustainable energy sources, and point to small production facilities as proof. However, sustainable energy sources make up a small fraction of energy production in North America, so there is no surplus to be used for hydrogen production.For example, the Canadian Association for Renewable Energy argues in favour of renewable sources for hydrogen production, but even they acknowledge that hydrogen today is a dirty fuel, and a lot of work will be required to correct this.The reality is that for the foreseeable future any significant increases in hydrogen production in North America will be powered by one of the following.

1) Natural gas; either by steam reforming (most likely) or producing electricity for electrolysis (less likely). However, as natural gas shortages loom in North America, it may be more important to use this fuel for electrical generation (growing demand) and residential use (space heating, water heating, cooking, clothes dryers).
2) Coal; either by production of coal gas and refining it to get hydrogen, or producing electricity for electrolysis.
3) Oil. Older plants, now mothballed, could be put back into production quickly to meet increased electrical demand to support electrolysis.
4) Nuclear. High availability source for electricity production with low fuel costs, and the heated water (from cooling the reactor) could be used as the feedstock for the electrolysis process). However, permanent storage of nuclear waste has still not been fully resolved or implemented anywhere on the planet; more than 40 years after spent fuel waste started being produced. No new nuclear plants have been ordered in North America since the 1970's. (This may be about to change given massive incentives from governments in the United States and Ontario.)

The cycle efficiency of hydrogen production is poor

Making hydrogen and using it is a complex and multi-step process - with energy losses at every step. While it is possible to make hydrogen from renewable and sustainable sources, it is simply a bad idea relative to other options such as using the produced energy directly (e.g., as electricity) while powering transportation by other means (human powered vehicles, biofuels, electric vehicles, biofuel-electric hybrids).

http://www.econogics.com/en/heconomy.htm

Look at the MIT study at this link. Humanism is a stubborn philosophy. Seems we always seek the technological solution to the techno-problem and on and on and on.....