Alternative energy sources and applications

Hydrogen as a Source of Alternative Fuel for Singapore

The research proposal here offers a rationale for a more intensive investigation of the prospects for adoption of hydrogen fuel cells as a primary sources of alternative fuel in Singapore. The proposal provides a rationale for the intended study by discussing the connection between the use of fossil fuels in developing countries such as Singapore and the relationship this has to global climate change. Moreover, the proposal establishes the incumbency placed upon developing nations with thriving commerce such as Singapore to participate in ways of improving energy efficiency. Specifically in the areas of electrical power generation and transportation, this proposal evaluates the basic virtues and drawbacks of hydrogen fuels as the primary alternative source. This proposal includes consideration of the higher efficiency and cleaner burning of hydrogen but also acknowledges the difficulty of storing and transporting it as well as the considerable undertaking that would be required to make such storing and transport infrastructurally feasible. The proposal ultimately tilts toward an endorsement of this fuel source and a research endeavor that justifies this endorsement.

Introduction:

Today, the world is coming to terms with the reality of a global oil shortage. The petroleum which has constituted the dominant and exponentially consumed energy source of the last century is becoming scarcer. Moreover, significant evidence persists that the use of fossil fuels is contributing directly to trends of global climate change. This is especially so for the developing sphere, where the resources for alternative fuel research and development have been somewhat scarce. In nations such as Singapore, much celebrated for recent surges in commercial and industrial activity, the race is on to determine the most practical substitute for this precious but environmentally destructive, politically inflammatory and economically pertinent resource. Today, such clean burning but as yet technologically inefficient alternative fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen cells all are under empirical consideration. Other considerations are such renewable sources of energy as hydroelectric or solar power. And if regulated to determinable safety, a considerable increase on reliance upon nuclear power could help to alleviate our oil dependency. That said, the proposal here will proceed with a closer examination of one of the more attainable of the above alternatives, the hydrogen fuel cell. A clean burning fuel with no Carbon Dioxide emissions, the proposal here will consider the promise and the pitfalls carried by the hydrogen fuel alternative as this applies to Singapore.

Proposal:

The brief discussion here below provides a rationale for the proposal to engage in further and more focused research on the viability of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source in Singapore. This will address an array of sources relating to global climate change, Singapore's environmental situation and policies, and the credibility of hydrogen as an alternative to fossil.

Discussion:

As a developing nation with considerable economic prospects ahead of it, it is incumbent upon Singapore to consider all viable means of modernizing its fuels sources. According to the Singapore government's own National Climate Change Strategy (2008), "all countries have to play a role consistent with their unique national circumstances. Singapore will do its part, in particular by improving the energy efficiency of our major energy sectors, namely power generation, industries, transport, buildings and households. We are also committed to the global research effort on climate change and energy technologies and are investing to develop technologies that can help the world meet the climate change challenge, in the areas of solar energy and water." (NCCC, p. i)

The government provided data also goes on to report that there is no longer any serious scientific doubt that the carbon-based emissions in question have led to patterns of global climate change. According to Singapore's Ministry of the Environmental and Water Resources (MEWR), the combustion of fossil fuels produced upward of 40,000 kilotons of Carbon Dioxide.

Moreover, according to the National Climate Change Committee, the burning of fossil fuels through electric power generators, the employ of vehicles and the process of deforestation all have conspired to trap 'greenhouse gases' in the earth's atmosphere. The consequences, the NCCC warns, will be a rise in global temperatures by roughly 1.1 to 6.4 degrees, leading to a rise between 18 and 59cm by 2010. (NCCC, p. i) As Singapore is an island nation, this rise in sea level carries terrible implications for the future survival of the country.

One way to improve its odds of survival is for Singapore to participate in more global efforts at seizing on alternative fuel sources. This might help to improve the support and resource availability from sources such as multinational contract firms and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). It is thus that we look to a context such as the United States in cultivated this proposal. ON this point, former President Bush stated in a 2003 address that his administration was dedicating over a billion dollars to the development of Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology as a means to proliferating a legitimate form of alternative energy. Bush's "initiative, supported by legislation in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) and the Advanced Energy Initiative of 2006, aims to develop hydrogen, fuel cell and infrastructure technologies to make fuel-cell vehicles practical and cost-effective by 2020" (Nice & Strickland, 1)

Even with that degree of external support, a certain pressure still remains to explore this prospect cautiously. Though the prospect of hydrogen fuel cells as a means to yielding power is extremely exciting due to the low cost of the fuel source itself and its clean-burning environmental friendliness, it is nonetheless true that the United States, let alone Singapore, is a great distance away from implementing the true infrastructural changes that will be necessary to realize this ambition.

Despite the likely cost and length of such a development project, there is a great deal of hope that the technology itself will produce a viable model for transition from the fossil fuels that largely drive Singapore's electrical generation utilities. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, "fuel cells have the potential to replace the internal combustion engine in vehicles and provide power in stationary and portable power applications because they are energy-efficient, clean, and fuel-flexible. Hydrogen or any hydrogen-rich fuel can be used by this emerging technology." (U.S. DoEn, 1).

As greater resources and global support are dedicated to innovations relating to hydrogen energy storing, it is hoped that the costs of transition and the additional costs of energy and transport can be reduced through continued refinement of technological processes that are themselves nearly 100 years old. According to the Linde Group, a hydrogen fuel provider, there is a collective of global agencies, private groups and national governments dedicated to furthering this exact type of research. Accordingly, the Linde Group reports that "many of the innovations aimed at establishing a viable, sustainable hydrogen fuelling infrastructure were developed in close collaboration with key industry players and with funding from the European Commission and national governments in countries such as the U.S., Japan and Germany. These advances are bringing the vision of sustainability within reach, especially in the expanding road transport/mobility sector." (LG, p. 1)

To an extent, this position expressed by the Linde Group is given further support by the evidence provided in the table below:

The table below shows the efficiency of hydrogen in comparison to other fuel.

Hydrogen

Natural Gas

Gasoline

Propane

Lower heating value1

51,532 BTU/lb

21,300 BTU/lb

18,000 -- 19,000 BTU/lb

19,800 BTU/lb

Density at standard conditions

0.0007 lbs/gal a

0.005 lbs/gal a

6.0 -- 6.5 lbs/gal a

4.22 lbs/gal

Phase at standard conditions

Gas

Gas

Liquid

Liquid

Autoignition temperature in air

1,050 -- 1,080°F

1,004°F

495°F

850 -- 950°F

Volume concentrations for flammability in air

4.1% -- 74%

5.3% -- 15%

1.4% -- 7.6%

2.2% -- 9.5%

Diffusion coefficient2 in air

0.0946 in2/sec b

0.0248 in2/sec b

0.008 in2/sec b

0.017 in2/sec c

Toxicity to humans

Non-toxic, simple asphyxiant

Non-toxic, simple asphyxiant

Poisonous, carcino-genic. Irritant to lungs, stomach and skin

Non-toxic, simple asphyxiant

The table presented directly above provides a basis for the support that continues to emerge from various sources for the proliferation of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source. As we can see, here above, hydrogen is both non-toxic to humans and has a far lower density than either gasoline or propane. However, the array of parties invested in its further exploration helps to underscore the level of global support required to make a realistic push for the adoption of such technology. This remains a push that is confounded by a number of practical and economic drawbacks which must also be accounted for in any more investigative research on the subject. Specifically, we consider that there would be need for a fully developed infrastructural support system to facilitate the generation and distribution of hydrogen-based energy and that there are certain challenges to transporting the highly combustible matter. According to Panasonic (2010), "Fuel cells require hydrogen as fuel. For domestic use, it would be necessary to build a new infrastructure to supply hydrogen gas to homes. This presents challenges because neither high-pressure compressed hydrogen gas nor cryogenic liquefied hydrogen can easily be handled at home." (Panasonic, p. 1)