Hydrogen Economy

Hydrogen - the most abundant element in the universe yet there exists no hydrogen gas on earth but this is due to the fact that our gravity is so weak that the hydrogen escaped into space billions of years ago. But lets go back in time and compress the evolution of transportation. Back in 3500BC, the first wheeled vehicles were invented. It were fixed wheels on carts and it allowed people to transport multiple objects in one go. Over the course of several thousands of years, river boats, then the wheelbarrow were invented. It was better, faster and more efficient transportation methods up until the Industrial Revolution where everything changes. It was a revolutionary transition to new manufacturing processes in the 18th and 19th Century. When Karl Benz came around in 1885 and built the worlds first practical automobile, it didnt use horses or people to carry the load, but an internal combustion engine. It replaced animal-drafted carriages and soon became more affordable by the majority of the population when Ford started the mass production in 1908. 1 The world of automobiles now consists of hybrid cars which are both powered by a battery and an engine and even have cars on the market which are completely environmentally friendly as they are powered by just a battery. Many people around the world believe, every time when a new product is out or when something extraordinary enters the market, that nothing will perfect the previous model, yet we underestimate it and the market surprises us with new things. Now scientists have come with new concepts to be even more efficient. The term hydrogen economy sounds very scientific and something that excites the population with this ornate word but it just refers to the element hydrogen. This unique element is the clean fuel of the future. It is an unusual element. When its either burned to yield heat or react with oxygen in a fuel cell to create electricity, the one and only byproduct is water.2 The one issue with hydrogen is that it doesnt exist on earth as a pure gas despite the fact that its the most abundant element in the universe. Scientists currently get hydrogen from extracting it from other compounds such as natural gas, biomass, alcohol or water electrolysis. The bitter truth is that hydrogen is not a source of energy but an energy carrier, so it can only be stored or transported.3 So the climate change impact actually depends on the carbon footprint of

Bellis, M. 2014. The History of Transportation. [online] Available at: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_transportation.htm [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014]. 2 Muller, R. A. 2014. A Pollution-Free Hydrogen Economy? Not So Soon | MIT Technology Review. [online] Available at: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/401988/a-pollution-free-hydrogen-economy-not-sosoon/ [Accessed: 26 Feb 2014]. 3 Muller, R. A. 2014. op. cit. A Pollution-Free Hydrogen Economy? Not So Soon | MIT Technology Review

the energy used to produce it. The energy you put in to extract the hydrogen equals to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted but scientists are researching to find the a way to store and reuse energy in a more efficient way which limits the emission of greenhouse gases. So, lets first ease into this hydrogen economy topic and get to know what the hydrogen is used for nowadays and then talk about the fuel cells in detail and see what possibilities there are in the future of the hydrogen economy.

The hydrogen economy is aiming to replace the current fuel economy. Automobiles have an internal combustion engine that emits greenhouse gases.4 If incompletely combusted, it emits carbon monoxide which is a poisonous gas for the human body but thats not the only problem that arise from fossil fuels.5 Another problem is the environmental pollution as in transporting and storing oil. This reminds us of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It was one of the most devastating humancaused environmental disasters ever occurred back on March 24, 1989 where it spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil.6 This disaster let people become anxious as this could happen at any time in the future again. This oil spill risked the life of the species living in the ocean in that region and the surrounding. However, this fuel economy depends mostly on oil-rich countries such as the Middle East. If they increase the price for one barrel, the output will hardly be reduced as the world depends on this energy source - its an inelastic demand.

These major problems that arise just from the fossil fuels lets scientists want to consider a new method of energy - one that doesnt cause detrimental accidents, or emits toxic gases. Something that is really simple and easy: Hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in this universe. Our world was created and needed this element to be created in the first place. However, due to the weak gravity on earth, the hydrogen gas escaped into space billions of years ago so the only way to receive this, is to extract it from water or from hydrocarbons. The advantage from water electrolysis is that it only requires oxygen to react with and produces water.7 This clean technology allows no greenhouse gas emission. It is a more efficient fuel source in transportation as it has 60% efficiency as opposed to 20% efficiency in a fossil fuel powered car.8 Also, the hydrogen economy will not have dependence of oil-rich

Brain, M. 2014. HowStuffWorks "How the Hydrogen Economy Works". [online] Available at: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-economy/hydrogen-economy.htm [Accessed: 02 Mar 2014]. 5 Brain, M. 2014. op. cit. HowStuffWorks "How the Hydrogen Economy Works". 6 Council, E. 2014. Oil Spill Facts - Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. [online] Available at: http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/index.cfm?FA=facts.QA [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014]. 7 Bellis, M. 2014. Physics Illustrations. [online] Available at: http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/ss/Physics_Illustr_2.htm [Accessed: 10 Mar 2014]. 8 HubPages. 2014. Electrolysis: The Way of the Future. [online] Available at: http://tinmar.hubpages.com/hub/Electrolysis-The-Way-of-the-Future [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014].

countries as opposed to the fossil fuel economy.9 Electrolysing water can be done in anyones home; of course in small quantities but its not as dependent and its an elastic demand. These are just a few advantages that the hydrogen economy provides but lets go more in depth of what methods there are for the extraction of hydrogen.

The two primary uses today is hydrogencracking. The word explains itself - the reactant is cracked to get hydrogen. This process involves producing ammonia in the Haber process to be used as a fertiliser and then to reform fossil fuels into lighter fractions for fuel usage.10 The other primary use is the oxygen byproduct as it is beneficial for manned space missions or in submarines. So, lets see from where the current hydrogen production is from: 48% is extracted through natural gas, 30% from oil, 18% from coal and just the last 4% comes from water electrolysis. This is because the hydrogen economy is a new industry but growing rapidly and scientists are researching to find more efficient ways to extract hydrogen and reuse the energy.11

One of the major methods of production is currently the reformation of fossil fuels by a fuel processor but it produces carbon dioxide which defeats the purpose of limiting greenhouse gas emission.12 As I mentioned before, the energy you put in to extract the hydrogen equals to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. The other method is the electrolysis of water which may sound environmentally friendly but this process requires electrical or heat input from other energy sources such as fossil fuel or nuclear power to produce large quantities of hydrogen. For now, this method is used to obtain hydrogen through high pressure electrolysis or low pressure electrolysis. The difference being is, with the standard electrolyser, the compressed hydrogen output is at around 120-200 Bar.13 When the hydrogen is under high-pressure, then the average energy consumption for internal compression is approximately at 3%. The hydrogen that is compressed in the electrolyser doesnt require an external hydrogen compressor which would be needed for the standard electrolyser which increases the pressure of hydrogen by reducing its volume. Then there is the biological hydrogen production. This is more environmentally friendly as opposed to thermochemical or electrochemical processes but is also partly due to the word: biological, because the vast majority of people will see anything that contains the word bio in it, as ecofriendly. This process gets hydrogen by photosynthesis, fermentation and microbial electrolysis cells - This hydrogen is referred to as biohydrogen. For instance, this is produced in an algae

Brain, M. 2014. HowStuffWorks "How the Hydrogen Economy Works". [online] Available at: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-economy/hydrogen-economy.htm [Accessed: 02 Mar 2014]. 10 Brain, M. 2014. op. cit. HowStuffWorks "How the Hydrogen Economy Works". 11 HubPages. 2014. op. cit. Electrolysis: The Way of the Future. 12 Brain, M. 2014. op. cit. HowStuffWorks "How the Hydrogen Economy Works". 13 Brain, M. 2014. op. cit. HowStuffWorks "How the Hydrogen Economy Works".

bioreactor. Back in 2000, scientists discovered that the C.reinhardtii algae, if it has a limited quantity of sulphur, will switch its byproduct of oxygen to hydrogen in normal photosynthesis.14 There are various ways of extracting hydrogen, not highly efficient yet but this will improve with time, though what happens afterwards? How do you keep the hydrogen in place so it doesnt escape into space? How would you even transport it around?

Hydrogen gas has a high energy density by weight but has a low energy density by volume in comparison to gasoline.15 This means that pure hydrogen gas must be pressurised or liquefied to be stored. It uses a lot of energy to put the hydrogen through the liquidification process which involves pressurising and cooling steps. Liquified hydrogen has a lower energy density by volume than gasoline. In other words, in a litre of gasoline there is more hydrogen (116 grams) than in a litre of pure liquid hydrogen (71 grams). There is also a method of storing hydrogen which is a cycle. In the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride, created from borax, is an exothermic reaction that yields hydrogen gas. As hydrogen gas is released it turns back into borax so it can be recycled. This is a widely used method of storing hydrogen.16 Storing it in tanks can be very challenging as hydrogen tends to diffuse through any material that should have hydrogen in it because of its small molecular size. However, it can be transported by hydrogen pipeline transport and hydrogen-equipped filling stations.17 Hydrogen stations would be supplied by tanks or other transportations. When its transported and stored in underground pipelines, the efficiency is at 60-65% of remaining hydrogen. The other storing of hydrogen is known as power-to-gas which converts excess electricity to produce hydrogen or renewable gas using electrolysis. Its one of the most efficient ways of storing hydrogen as it provides a rapid response. The produced hydrogen or renewable gas can be stored for several days or even weeks without losing any of it. Another advantage is that when the hydrogen is stored in underground pipeline networks, it can be transported to any location at any time which results in overall greater system efficiency.18

Now, that the hydrogen economy has been introduced, the next focus is the fuel cells itself and how the hydrogen is used in fuel cells to produce electricity. The first time I heard about this hydrogen fuel cell, I was very curious of what it was. The term itself sounds lavish but it actually is just a device that converts chemical energy from a fuel into

14

Anja Hemschemeier, T. H. 2009. Analytical approaches to photobiological hydrogen production in unicellular green algae. 102 (2-3), p. 523. Available from: doi: 10.1007/s11120-009-9415-5. 15 Peplow, M. 2014. Hydrogen's false economy | Chemistry World. [online] Available at: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/03/hydrogen-economy-clean-energy [Accessed: 28 Feb 2014]. 16 Wu, Y. and Moring, R. M. 2014. Sodium Borohydride for Hydrogen Storage. [online] Available at: http://web.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20archive/Files/48_2_New%20York_10-03_0784.pdf [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014]. 17 Muller, R. A. 2014. op. cit. A Pollution-Free Hydrogen Economy? Not So Soon | MIT Technology Review. 18 Muller, R. A. 2014. op. cit. A Pollution-Free Hydrogen Economy? Not So Soon | MIT Technology Review.

electricity when it reacts with oxygen. Thats a superficial explanation and there is more than just that. Fuel cells would replace the emission of greenhouse gases in internal combustion engines and turbines. The two commercially available technologies are alkaline electrolysers and the proton exchange membrane electrolysers.19 Electrolysers can store the excess output and can be used to fuel a power plant to generate electricity.20 As mentioned before, this compressed hydrogen is stored underground in salt caverns and could be crucial to its renewable energy targets in 2050. The hydrogen from electrolysis can be combined with existing gas networks known as power-togas. So when hydrogen combines with carbon to produce synthetic hydrocarbon fuels such as methane and methanol, it has some advantages as mentioned at the beginning, for instance, that it limits the greenhouse gas production. The alkaline electrolysers were first used in the industry back in the 1920s.21 The electrolyte is an aqueous alkaline solution which contains sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide and the electrodes are usually nickel-coated steel. This technology converts chemical energy from a fuel into electric it with oxygen but require a constant source of fuel and oxygen to keep the reaction in a continuous motion. As with all cells, they contain two electrodes. The anode receives hydrogen gas and oxidises it to hydrogen ions. The electrons are drawn out of the anode to the cathode via an external circuit which completes the circuit and creates the electric current. The electrolyte allows the hydrogen ions to move from one side to the other. It plays a vital role as it can only have the specific ions pass through, otherwise it would disrupt the chemical reaction. At the cathode, the hydrogen ions bind with oxygen with the electrons from the external circuit to produce water. A catalyst is needed for a fast reaction to occur at the cathodes.22 The electricity is induced chemically instead by combustion where it emits greenhouse gases.

This technology seems to be an eco-friendly and efficient but is it efficient enough to replace the energy provided by the fossil fuels? Lets explore the efficiency of this method. Scientists have been researching about fuel cells and how to maximise efficiency by manipulating the electrodes and the electrolyte. However, the substances used are all depended on the electrolyte. So the voltage require to split the water molecule is at 1.23V at 25 degrees Celcius and

19

Fuelcelltoday.com. 2014. Water Electrolysis & Renewable Energy Systems. [online] Available at: http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/analysis/surveys/2013/water-electrolysis-renewable-energy-systems [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014]. 20 Institution, S. 2014. A Basic Overview of Fuel Cell Technology. [online] Available at: http://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/basics.htm [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014]. 21 Fuelcelltoday.com. 2014. op. cit. Water Electrolysis & Renewable Energy Systems. 22 Institution, S. 2014. op. cit. A Basic Overview of Fuel Cell Technology.

also requires 2.96kWh of electricity to even get this reaction started.23 The electricity requirement depends on the design and has an efficiency of 65-75%. Its an efficient process but the electricity costs are therefore high, so industries consider electrolysing steam instead of liquified water to reduce the costs. The advantage is that this technology is very robust, has a good reputation and has been constructed at a megawatt-scale. It also uses cheaper materials and substances than the proton exchange membrane electrolysis which will be discussed later. There are also several other advantages that this technology provides. Firstly, its a mature process as specific electrolysers are manufactured in industries. Next, the conditions for this are a quite low temperature of 80-90 degrees Celsius and 0.1 to 2MPa. Also, the production of hydrogen is very pure with a yield over 99.8% hydrogen.24 However, no production method has only the good side. With this technology, two challenges arise with this electrolyser. The first one is the electricity consumption. As mentioned earlier on, it requires a constant flow of electricity of other sources that perhaps will defeat the purpose of limiting the greenhouse gas emissions because the energy you put in to extract the hydrogen equals to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. The other challenge is the cost of manufacturing the electrolysers. It costs approximately 3 per kilogram but the hydrogen production depends on the electricity price which connects with the first issue. The biggest hydrogen production is provided by Norsk Hydro ASA. Its a renewable energy company and also provides the largest quantity of aluminium around the world.25

The other commercial available technology is the proton exchange membrane electrolyses and has been in the industry for a while as well but is not as efficient to store large amounts of energy.26 At room temperature, the maximum hydrogen production is at 83% when using the lower heating value. However, in practical terms, it ranges from 40-60% using the higher heating value.27 This is due to the loss of activation, the mass transport of protons and the voltage drops across the cell during the mass transport because of internal resistance. Research is currently being done to increase catalytic activity by finding a substitute for the current standard carbon-supported platinum particle catalysts. There needs to be less amount of platinum used in current PEM fuel cells to

23

Fuelcelltoday.com. 2014. Water Electrolysis & Renewable Energy Systems. [online] Available at: http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/analysis/surveys/2013/water-electrolysis-renewable-energy-systems [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014]. 24 Fuelcelltoday.com. 2014. op. cit. Water Electrolysis & Renewable Energy Systems. 25 Hydro.com. 2014. Aluminium metal and aluminium products - Hydro, a global supplier - Norsk Hydro. [online] Available at: http://www.hydro.com/ [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014]. 26 Fuelcelltoday.com. 2014. op. cit. Water Electrolysis & Renewable Energy Systems. 27 Institution, S. 2014. A Basic Overview of Fuel Cell Technology. [online] Available at: http://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/basics.htm [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014].

make it a realistic alternative to internal combustion engines.28 One solution is to change the design of the platinum particles so that it has more surface area for catalytic activities. Another is to alloy so that it results in less bonding with oxygen containing ions. Reduction of poisoning is very important as most of the current hydrogen is produced by reforming fossil fuels which emits carbon monoxide when oxygen is limited which binds better with haemoglobin than oxygen does, so it is very detrimental if inhaled.29 The resistance of platinum of carbon monoxide is currently being researched on. Also, it is very costly due to the use of the substances and materials of the electrodes.

This alternative energy source is also widely applied in the world but have high costs and are not as efficient yet so industries fund the development of electrolysis to increase the applications of renewable energy.30 The production of pure hydrogen is very efficient in peer plant generators because they act as a coolant due to their chemical properties of low density and high heat conductivity. Another application of water electrolysis is the manufacturing of silicon wafer.31 Hydrogen is used as a reducing agent which promotes silicon growth. Also, weather balloons contain usually hydrogen because it is easier to produce, much more cost-effective and lighter than helium.32 33

If we compress the history of transportation, we see how far we actually got. From horses to water wheels to boats and to automobiles which revolutionised everything. Now were at the stage where we are using cars that are partly powered by electric motors to be more environmentally friendly but that wasnt enough. The world always needs improvement, innovation and new inventions. As Walt Disney said once: We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. This quote speaks so much truth. Imagine if the world remains the same as it is now. Life would be very monotonous and lifeless as there is nothing to aim for.

28

Fuelcelltoday.com. 2014. Water Electrolysis & Renewable Energy Systems. [online] Available at: http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/analysis/surveys/2013/water-electrolysis-renewable-energy-systems [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014]. 29 Muller, R. A. 2014. A Pollution-Free Hydrogen Economy? Not So Soon | MIT Technology Review. [online] Available at: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/401988/a-pollution-free-hydrogen-economy-not-sosoon/ [Accessed: 26 Feb 2014]. 30 Institution, S. 2014. A Basic Overview of Fuel Cell Technology. [online] Available at: http://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/basics.htm [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014]. 31 Fuelcelltoday.com. 2014. op. cit. Water Electrolysis & Renewable Energy Systems. 32 Stratostar.net. 2014. FAQ High Altitude Weather Balloon | StratoStar. [online] Available at: http://www.stratostar.net/faq/ [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014]. 33 Davidson, M. 2013. Why Is Hydrogen Used to Inflate Weather Balloons? | eHow. [online] Available at: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5745592_hydrogen-used-inflate-weather-balloons_.html [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014].

So when the hybrid cars came onto the market, it was something revolutionary as it saved gasoline costs and didnt emit as much greenhouse gases as before. Now, the hydrogen economy is considered to replace the current fuel economy as it provides so many advantages, such as: a clean technology because its only byproduct is water. Its a more efficient fuel source, doesnt emit greenhouse gases and can be produced anywhere, hence, it doesnt depend on oil-rich countries so the demand is elastic and will be cheaper over time.

The current major methods of production are by hydrocracking - reforming fuels by a fuel processor - and electrolysis of water. Water electrolysis has a relative high efficiency but scientists are researching to maximise it by manipulating the electrodes and electrolyte. The advantage of water electrolysis is a low temperature of 80-90 degrees and 0.1 to 3 MPa. Also, the production of hydrogen is very pure with over 99.8% hydrogen. However, they face two big challenges which are the electricity consumption and the costs. For now, to keep the electrolysis in a continuous reaction, there needs to be a constant flow of electricity of other sources which will defeat the purpose of limiting the greenhouse gas emission. In addition, the cost of manufacturing is high and depends on the electricity price which links with the first issue.

The current hydrogen market is a large and rapidly growing industry with lots of potential in it. The world in 50 years may only have automobiles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Lots will change. We saw how the transportation evolved over thousands of years - anything is possible. Perhaps this hydrogen economy is not going to be efficient enough to completely replace the current fuel economy but scientists might find another element which is better, easier to produce and most important of all, more efficient.

Patrick Pflughaupt, 16 years Richmond, UK 16 March 2014

References
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Peplow, M. 2014. Hydrogen's false economy | Chemistry World. [online] Available at: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/03/hydrogen-economy-clean-energy [Accessed: 28 Feb 2014]. Stratostar.net. 2014. FAQ High Altitude Weather Balloon | StratoStar. [online] Available at: http://www.stratostar.net/faq/ [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014]. Wu, Y. and Moring, R. M. 2014. Sodium Borohydride for Hydrogen Storage. [online] Available at: http://web.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20archive/Files/48_2_New%20York_1003_0784.pdf [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014].