A Hydrogen Economy

Agenda

A Hydrogen Vision of the Future

Hydrogen Systems
Producing Hydrogen
Storing and Transporting Hydrogen
Hydrogen Fueled Transport
Problems with Hydrogen
The Promise of Hydrogen
Hydrogen Summary

A Vision of a Hydrogen Future

"I believe that water will one day be employed as
fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute
it, used singly or together, will furnish an
inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an
intensity of which coal is not capable. I believe
then that when the deposits of coal are
exhausted, we shall heat and warm ourselves
with water. Water will be the coal of the future."
Jules Vernes (1870) Lle mystrieuse

The Hydrogen H2 Molecule

http://planetforlife.com/h2/index.html

Hydrogen Economy Schematic

Hydrogen Economy in Hong Kong

http://www.gii.com.hk/eng/clean_energy.htm

Hydrogen Fueling Station

Hydrogen Systems

Hydrogen Energy Cycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy

Hydrogen Production Cycle

Crabtree et al., The Hydrogen Economy, Physics Today, Dec 2004

Operating the Hydrogen Economy

Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Hydrogen Economy Supply Chain

Hydrogen Pathways

http://www.ch2bc.org/index2.htm

Advantages of a Hydrogen Economy

Waste product of burning H2 is water

Elimination of fossil fuel pollution
Elimination of greenhouse gases
Elimination of economic dependence
Distributed production

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Issues with Hydrogen

Not widely available on planet earth
Usually chemically combined in water
or fossil fuels (must be separated)
Fossil fuel sources contribute to
pollution and greenhouse gases
Electrolysis requires prodigious
amounts of energy

Technological Questions

Where does hydrogen come from?

How is it transported?
How is it distributed?
How is it stored?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Producing Hydrogen

Current Hydrogen Production

Current hydrogen
production
48% natural gas
30% oil
18% coal
4% electrolysis

Global Production
50 million tonnes / yr
Growing 10% / yr

US Production
11 million tonnes / yr

How is Hydrogen Produced?

Reforming fossil fuels
Heat hydrocarbons with steam
Produce H2 and CO

Electrolysis of water
Use electricity to split water into O2 and H2

High Temperature Electrolysis

Experimental

Biological processes
Very common in nature
Experimental in laboratories
http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Steam Reforming
From any hydrocarbon
Natural gas typically used

Water (steam) and hydrocarbon mixed

at high temperature (7001100 C)
Steam (H2O) reacts with methane (CH4)
CH4 + H2O CO + 3 H2 - 191.7 kJ/mol

The thermodynamic efficiency

comparable to (or worse than) an
internal combustion engine
Difficult to motivate investment in
technology

Carbon Monoxide Reforming

Additional hydrogen can be recovered
using carbon monoxide (CO)
low-temp (130C) water gas shift reaction
CO + H2O CO2 + H2 + 40.4 kJ/mol

Oxygen (O) atom stripped from steam

Oxidizes the carbon (C)
Liberates hydrogen bound to C and O2

Hydrogen Steam Reforming

Hydrogen Steam Reforming Plants

Electrolysis of Water (H2O)

http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/edu_k-12/9-12/fc_energy/make_your_own_hydrogen_results.html

Electrolysis of Water

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/electrol.html

Renewable Energy for Electrolysis

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy4.htm

Biomass Electrolysis Module

http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/photos.html

High Temperature Electrolysis

Electrolysis at high temperatures
Use less energy to split water

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy

Biological H2 Creation
Nature has very
simple methods to
split water
Scientists are
working to mimic
these processes in the
lab; then commercially

Crabtree et al., The Hydrogen Economy, Physics Today, Dec 2004

Storing & Transporting Hydrogen

Hydrogen Storage
Storage a major difficulty with hydrogen
H2 has low energy density per volume
Requires large tanks to store

H2 can be compressed to reduce volume

Requires heavy, strong tanks

H2 can be liquefied to reduce volume

Boils at -423 F (cryogenic)
Requires heavily insulated, expensive tanks

Both compression and liquefaction

require a lot of energy

Ammonia Storage
H2 can be stored as ammonia (NH3)
Exceptionally high hydrogen densities
Ammonia very common chemical
Large infrastructure already exists

Easily reformed to produce hydrogen

No harmful waste

BUT
Ammonia production is energy intensive
Ammonia is a toxic gas

Metal Hydride Storage

Metal hydrides can carry hydrogen
Boron, lithium, sodium
Good energy density, but worse than gas

Volumes much larger than gasoline

Three times more volume
Four times heavier

Hydrides can react violently with water

Leading contenders
Sodium Borohydride
Lithium Aluminum Hydride
Ammonia Borane

Alkali Prod. Energy vs. Instrinsic Energy

Energy needed to produce alkali metal hydrides relative to the

energy content of the liberated hydrogen.
Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Transporting Hydrogen

Storing & Transporting Hydrogen

Store and Transport as a Gas
Bulky gas
Compressing H2 requires energy
Compressed H2 has far less energy than
the same volume of gasoline

Store and Transport as a Solid

Sodium Borohydride
Calcium Hydride
Lithium Hydride
Sodium Hydride
http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Hydrogen Fueled Transport

Hydrogen-Powered Autos

Hydrogen-Powered Autos

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

Hydrogen-Powered Trucks

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

Hydrogen powered passenger aircraft with cryogenic tanks

along spine of fuselage. Hydrogen fuel requires about 4 times
the volume of standard jet fuel (kerosene).

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

http://aix.meng.auth.gr/lhtee/projects/cryoplane/

Hydrogen-Powered Rockets

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

Implications of Hydrogen Transport

Typical18wheel
truck(diesel)

Weight
offuel

Weight
ofsteel
tank

Weightof
carbon
fibertank

Volumeof
tank
contents

Volume
oftank

1175 lb

(small)

NA

22.5 feet3

24.0
feet3

Typicalsedan
(gasoline)

108 lb

(small)

NA

2.25 feet3

2.5 feet3

Truckconverted
toICEhydrogen

313 lb

31,300 lb

6,960 lb

67.5 feet3

157 feet3

Sedanconverted
tohydrogenfuel
cell

17.4 lb

1740 lb

387 lb

4 feet3

9 feet3

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2swiss.html

Problems with Hydrogen

Environmental Concerns
48% of hydrogen made from natural gas
Creates CO2 a greenhouse gas

Hydrogen H2 inevitably leaks from

containers
Creates free radicals (H) in stratosphere
due to ultraviolet radiation
Could act as catalysts for ozone depletion

H2 Energy Densities

Crabtree et al., The Hydrogen Economy, Physics Today, Dec 2004

Energy Densities for Various Fuels

Higher Heating Value (HHV) is a measure of energy

Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

H2 and Energy Density for Various Fuels

Hydrogen density and HHV energy content of ammonia

and selected synthetic liquid hydrocarbon fuels
Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Hydrogen vs. Methane

Units Hydrogen Methane

Density

kg/m3

0.0887

0.707

Gravimetric Energy

MJ/kg

142.0

55.6

Volumetric Energy

MJ/m3

12.7

40.0

Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Liquifaction Energy vs. Intrinsic Energy

Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Hydrogen Storage Densities

Crabtree et al., The Hydrogen Economy, Physics Today, Dec 2004

Hydrogen Energy Losses

Windmills generate electricity.
Electricity converted to H2 70% efficiency.
H2 compressed for pumping 20% energy loss
H2 pumped long distance 30% loss
65% loss to Europe from the Sahara).

Loss at filling stations assume 5%

Loss in fuel cell 50% (possibly only 40%)
Combining losses only 15-18% useful
electricity, or vehicle motor power
9.3% in the case of the Sahara
Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Criticism of Hydrogen Economy

Hydrogen economy idea does not work for multiple
reasons.
No practical source of cheap hydrogen
No good way to store hydrogen
No good way to distribute hydrogen

Problems with physical & chemical properties of

hydrogen
Technology cannot change these facts.

Compact / convenient future energy carrier needed

Methane, ethane, methanol, ethanol, butane, octane,
ammonia, etc. are better energy carriers.

Difficult to understand the enthusiasm for hydrogen

Hydrogen does not solve the energy problem and it is a bad
choice for carrying energy.

Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Elemental Hydrogen Economy

Elemental Hydrogen Economy based on the natural cycle of water.

Elemental hydrogen is provided to the user
Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Synthetic Liquid Hydrocarbon Economy

A Synthetic Liquid Hydrocarbon Economy may be based on the two natural

cycles of water and carbon dioxide. Natural and synthetic liquid hydrocarbons are
provided to the user.
Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

The Promise of Hydrogen

UNIDO-ICHET Projection

UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION

INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR HYDROGEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES
http://www.unido-ichet.org/ICHET-transition.php

The Iceland Example

Iceland committed to be the first hydrogen economy
2050 goal

Will use geothermal resources to create hydrogen

Power autos, buses, and fishing fleet with hydrogen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy

Hydrogen Summary

Advantages of a Hydrogen Economy

Waste product of burning H2 is water

Elimination of fossil fuel pollution
Elimination of greenhouse gases
Elimination of economic dependence
Distributed production
The stuff of stars

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Disadvantages of Hydrogen

Low energy densities

Difficulty in handling, storage, transport
Requires an entirely new infrastructure
Creates CO2 if made from fossil fuels
Low net energy yields
Much energy needed to create hydrogen

Possible environmental problems

Ozone depletion (not proven at this point)

Extra Slides

Energy Density of Hydrogen

Current Uses of Hydrogen

Thermochemical Production

Problems with Hydrogen

Prospects for the Future

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

The Hydrogen Vision