Hydrogen Fuel as an Alternative

¶ … hydrogen fuel as an alternative energy in the United States. Hydrogen fuel is often touted as an alternative energy source to replace fossil fuels. However, hydrogen does not occur naturally and must be manufactured, and the energy used to manufacture it uses as much energy as it saves in fossil fuel, so it is really not an acceptable alternative to fossil fuels, it is simply a replacement, rather than a solution.

Hydrogen is created by "splitting water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen" (McCarthy). The energy used to split the water can be just about anything, from solar to nuclear, but they all cost money to produce and to utilize, so the energy savings from hydrogen is not nearly as great as many would think. The State of Hawaii has been working on this problem since the 1980s, and they still do not have a working infrastructure or a highly developed, working hydrogen program throughout the islands, in fact, they are still in the study phases of storage and fuel cells (Rocheleau). However, they are working on many alternative technologies for developing, storing, and using hydrogen, such as biomass and plankton, and alternative types of fuel cells that use hydrogen more efficiently.

One of the biggest problems with hydrogen is storage. It is powerful, but it also takes up a lot of room. That means that storage and fuel tanks have to be quite large to give an automobile any kind of range, and that is proving difficult. For example, the BMW that uses hydrogen or gasoline has a 300-mile range on gas, but only 125 miles on hydrogen (McCarthy). That means that hydrogen vehicles have to have hydrogen fuel stations spaced relatively close together, and that has not happened so far, making hydrogen vehicles impractical for many drivers who drive long distances in their vehicles.

Another problem with storage is evaporation. Even in a perfect system, the insulation is not impeccable, and hydrogen will be lost through evaporation. This ties in to the first law of thermodynamics and loss, and while hydrogen is lost during work, it is lost when not working, which is an imbalance and impracticality in the hydrogen fuel system, as well. Instead, loss of the fuel results in entropy, a concern of the second law of thermodynamics and this helps prove the impracticality of this fuel. Combine this with the size of the fuel tank necessary to power a car for many hundreds of miles, and hydrogen begins to look far worse as a real alternative to fuel conservation and replacing fossil fuels.

Hydrogen seems like a good idea, and there are hydrogen vehicles in production and on the road. However, delivering hydrogen from the production plants to facilities also proves to be expensive, and it is expensive to build new hydrogen fuel centers, as well. Hydrogen can be dangerous, too. Liquid hydrogen can freeze air, and hydrogen can cause explosions, just like gasoline. If enough hydrogen leaks from a faulty valve or tank in a confined space, like a garage, it can explode, as well (McCarthy). That means that hydrogen could pose a potential danger, just like gasoline, that other types of fuels do not develop.