Hydrogen fuel cells as a viable renewable energy alternative

Hydrogen Fuel as a Possible Renewable Energy Source

In the search to find new energy sources that would reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels, and the United States' dependency on foreign sources for these fuels, hydrogen is emerging as a likely partial replacement. There are several methods by which hydrogen can be produced domestically, and when used in fuel cells the only emission hydrogen produces is water -- there are absolutely no greenhouse gases or airborne pollutants (AE 2009). There are also significant problems with hydrogen fuel that must be surmounted before it truly becomes a viable replacement for fossil fuels and other alternative energy sources; it is much more costly to produce in terms of both money and energy than fossil fuels are, making the actual efficiency of the fuel in the global energy system too low in the current situation (U.S. Dept. Of Energy 2009). A comparison of the benefits of hydrogen use however, especially with the possibilities for overcoming the difficulties in its use, reveals that this technology is well poised to be our next major fuel source.

The major problems with hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels are the expensive and energy-intensive methods of extracting and storing hydrogen. Though hydrogen is abundant in many forms, especially water, it takes a great del of energy to remove hydrogen form water and other sources. As this is the same energy that is released in joining hydrogen to water, it is incredibly inefficient to try to extract hydrogen from water for use as fuel -- the net result in the overall system will always be negative (more energy will be used to produce the fuel and lost as heat than will make it to the fuel cell) (U.S. Dept. Of Energy 2009). New on-vehicle storage methods also need to be developed (AE 2009).

Both of these problems have solutions on the way, and actually the first and more pressing issue has several promising solutions. There are certain algae that produce hydrogen as a waste byproduct, and the cultivation of such algae and collection of their hydrogen emissions has so far proven somewhat successful (AE 2009). Continued refinement of this process and a bolstering of its efficiency could lead to commercially and industrially viable production levels. There are also methods for extracting hydrogen from waste materials that makes use at least partially of the natural breakdown of these materials; though energy is used in this decomposition, it is not energy transformed and applied at human expense, eliminating its strain on the system (AE 2009). Complex new storage mechanisms are also making the concept of hydrogen fuel cells in cars more viable (U.S. Dept. Of Energy 2009). There have been several major test projects involving hydrogen-powered vehicles in land, air, and sea, including the use of drone spy planes by the U.S. military, municipality waste removal trucks, and a UPS delivery truck (AE 2009; EPA 2009). All of these show the great promise that hydrogen fuel cells carry for the future.