Producing Hydrogen

So where do we get
hydrogen from?
There are a number of ways that we can get our
hydrogen. It is a bit of a myth that hydrogen is a
“fuel”—it isn’t really as there is no such thing as a
hydrogen mine or a hydrogen well—we can’t just
dig it out of the ground or drill for it like oil or gas.
We need to produce it from another primary energy
source. In this chapter we are going to evaluate some
of the different options for producing hydrogen.
Electrolysis
At school, you might have used a Hoffman
apparatus in science class. A Hoffman apparatus
has a reservoir of water through which is passed an
electric current. The electric current disassociates
the hydrogen from the oxygen in the water. The
gas bubbles off from the electrodes and is collected
in separate storage containers. It is observed that
twice as much hydrogen is produced as oxygen.
Taking a little bit of time to think about this, we
see that the chemical formula for water is H
2O—this
makes sense as we can see that there is twice as
much hydrogen in water than oxygen.
The hydrogen produced by the electrolysis
process is very pure—some fuel cells require a
very pure form of hydrogen so this is ideal.
The one disadvantage of electrolysis is that significant amounts of electrical energy are needed for
the process. While this electricity can be generated
using clean, green renewable energy, there are also
many champions of a nuclear-hydrogen economy
using supposedly cheap nuclear energy to produce
hydrogen—this would leave us with a toxic legacy
of waste, and would negate many of the benefits of
a clean hydrogen economy.
Biomass gasification
and reformation
Biomass has proven itself as a relatively clean,
near carbon-neutral source of energy. Agricultural
waste, organic matter, wood, and other sources of
biomass can be heated in a controlled atmosphere
without the presence of oxygen. This yields a
gas—synthesis gas—which is hydrogen-rich as
well as containing carbon monoxide and dioxide.
The carbon emissions from this source of energy
are effectively neutral as the carbon dioxide was
taken out of the atmosphere in the first place by the
growing plants, however, carbon emissions in the
production and distribution of biomass cannot be
ignored. There is also the possibility of sequestering
the carbon produced in the gasification process.
This could effectively make biomass with hydrogen
extraction a “carbon-negative” fuel.
Steam reformation
By combining high-temperature steam, and
methane, it is possible to extract hydrogen from
this fossil fuel. Although carbon dioxide is produced,
the location is centralized and it opens up the
possibilities for carbon sequestration (although
bear in mind that this is an unproven technology
with no demonstrated long-term safety). The process