People are touting hydrogen as the new "fuel" What they are not saying is that we have no natural resources of hydrogen to consume. Any hydrogen that we do have is either a byproduct of petroleum extraction or is manufactured either via steam reformation of methane or by brute-force electrolysis. Unfortunately, none of these are very efficient - electrolysis requires 52.5 kWh to produce one kilogram of hydrogen. One kilogram of hydrogen holds 39.4 kWh of energy. Steam reformation is a lot more efficient but you are destroying the natural gas to manufacture something that has a whole host of problems. Natural gas (methane) is a much better fuel.
The IEEE/Spectrum Magazine has an article that really shows the cognitive dissonance at play:
2022—The Year the Hydrogen Economy Launched?
Among the technological visions that seem perpetually futuristic (think commercial nuclear fusion and maglev trains), the hydrogen economy has always been tantalizing. Hydrogen produced from renewable energy or nuclear power, with minimal greenhouse-gas emissions, could be piped or transported pretty much anywhere, using mostly existing infrastructure. It could power trucks, cars, planes, and ships and generate electricity, either in fuel cells or combustion turbines. In short, it could do anything fossil fuels do now, but with substantially reduced climate impact.
All fantasy and handwaving. Grand new future... And then there is this picture with this caption:
links the facility to transmission lines that deliver power to Southern California.
A $2.65 billion project, just getting underway, will install facilities there to generate electricity
from cleanly produced hydrogen.
That is $2.6 billion dollars of yours and my money. Taxpayer money being used to subsidize energy rat-holes. Make a few people very rich and screw the rest of us. Nuclear energy is the way to go - specifically Thorium. Molten salt reactors. The uranium lobby has been blocking these for years - time to pull their teeth.
Leave a comment