Letter to the editor:

Hydrogen not a practical solution

Yok Chen, Henderson

Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009 | 2:04 a.m.

The Las Vegas Sun’s editorial Tuesday on hydrogen fuel cells missed the point. Yes, the only emission from a car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell is a little harmless steam. Wonderful! The issue is not about the affordability of hydrogen-fueled cars and trucks, as the Sun claims. The issue is: Where would the hydrogen come from? Hydrogen does not grow on trees. It takes enormous energy to produce the hydrogen — by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Where would the energy come from? Fossil energy? If so, what have we gained? Obviously the present administration has thought this issue through.

Discussion: 15 comments so far…

By StanG

8/5/09 at 2:35 a.m.

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Yok Chen:
Other than "NO", what do you suggest?
By annienonymouse

8/5/09 at 6:42 a.m.

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He can buy Nissan's new Leaf. It only can go 100 miles on one charge.
By casinokid

8/5/09 at 7:36 a.m.

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Actually solar panels can be used to convert water to hydrogen, So it would use another energy source but the energy used is a renewable one like the wind.
Also hydrogen is the most abundent source of fuel.
I wonder back when the automobile first came onto the scene if there was all this oppision to it like well the thing stinks, or it makes a loud noise or it scares my horse we don't want progress NO! NO! NO!
By mwh710

8/5/09 at 8 a.m.

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Hydrogen is the ONLY answer. Sorry all you oil-hungry repubs.
By VegasEngineer

8/5/09 at 9:20 a.m.

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Generation is still a problem. Sometime soon scientists will find a way to do it quickly and cheaply.
By VegasBill

8/5/09 at 10:17 a.m.

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Science always finds a way. Always!
By edgewise

8/5/09 at 11:24 a.m.

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"He can buy Nissan's new Leaf. It only can go 100 miles on one charge."

Nissan estimates that 80% of people drive less than 100 miles a day. If you drive more than that, the Leaf is not for you. Luckily for you, there are many, many other types of vehicles available.
By AngryReader

8/5/09 at 11:46 a.m.

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Yok,

Hydrogen power is based on a "solar-hydrogen" solution. Using solar energy to 'crack' water into hydrogen and oxygen effectively stores solar energy as flammable hydrogen gas.

I suppose you could also use nuclear power plants to crack the water also.

The primary problem is that we simply don't have enough time left to convert to a hydrogen-solar economy before we hit the carbon tipping point that will probably turn us into something resembling Venus... very hot and no life.

Humanity has painted itself into a corner with fossil fuels, and the only way out at this point is a nuclear energy solution. Nothing else can be deployed fast enough.

The problem with the naysayers, is that they cannot see things in a timeframe beyond their own existence.

This is why they cannot understand things like evolution, the true age of the earth (I don't care what the King James bible says, it ain't 6,000 years), and the very real possibility that human created carbon in the atmosphere could push the ages old cycle of increasing and declining northern ice sheets over the edge.

That edge is where nature no longer reverses the shrinking ice sheet and the planet just keeps heating up until life as we know it can no longer be sustained.

Most people are too self-centered or simple minded to care about the future beyond their own existence.
By StanG

8/5/09 at 12:44 p.m.

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Angry Reader:

Ronald Reagan's Sec'y of the Interior, James Watt, said: "I do not know how many future generations we can count of before the Lord returns."

So if we can expect the Rapture soon, what the heck?
By lemahj

8/5/09 at 12:50 p.m.

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The use of using Ammonia, NH4, as a chemical to manufacture, using solar and wind energy, then distributed, has merit.

Ammonia can be used directly as a fuel, or can be converted to free hydrogen for use in a fuel cell.

Ammonia is safe when compared to pressurized hydrogen, which is very explosive, for both storage and transport.

http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/nh3_...
By getalife

8/5/09 at 2:16 p.m.

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angry, good points but the nexus of this problem is that technology is still down the road, but the government wants to start taxing/penalizing as if the technology is now.

I am a big fan of nuclear, but unless you just fell from the sky, you should know the demonizing effects that the word nuclear has on the greens.

Ironic isn't it, the only true green solution that is "shovel ready" can't be implimented because the greens twitch and froth anytime the word nuclear is used.

I deliberately used the word nuclear four times because it means a enviro-wacko just had four siezures.
By Future

8/5/09 at 3:32 p.m.

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The writer missed the point of a small investment in science.

The EPA is looking for other ways to produce Hydrogen.

Obama, Harry Reid, and others continue to ignore hydrogen fuel cells that avoid these issues and are very local in nature.

http://www.energy.gov/energysources/hydr...)

Hydrogen can be produced from diverse domestic feedstocks using a variety of process technologies.

Hydrogen-containing compounds such as fossil fuels, biomass or even water can be a source of hydrogen.

Thermochemical processes can be used to produce hydrogen from biomass and from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and petroleum.

Power generated from sunlight, wind and nuclear sources can be used to produce hydrogen electrolytically.

Sunlight alone can also drive photolytic production of hydrogen from water, using advanced photoelectrochemical and photobiological processes.

In Office of Science's basic research program, a major emphasis is placed on fundamental understanding of photoinduced water splitting that uses the energy of sunlight to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen by semiconductors or photocatalytic assemblies.

To enable more efficient, lower-cost fossil-based hydrogen production, fundamental research in catalysis, membranes, and gas separation are being emphasized.

If we had started 30 years ago to change our energy sources we would not be in trouble today.

Do not be short sighted - start today.
By NLV-Indep13

8/5/09 at 3:50 p.m.

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Using hydrogen in vehicles may not be technically feasible in the near term, however, used in combination with renewable (but not consistently available) sources such as wind and solar, could provide a safe, clean, and reliable source of commercial electrical power. And while it would require water, recycling the resultant water vapor through a condensation process would reduce the overall water requirement significantly. It may not be competitive with oil or coal yet, but as those resources become less available and more expensive, other options will have to be found. And commercial electrical power (hydrogen+, hydro, nuclear, natural gas), supporting vehicles like the Leaf and the Volt, along with biofuels like E85 and biodiesel, are probably going to turn out to be the shorterm solution (next 50 years) to the West's energy conundrum.
By annienonymouse

8/5/09 at 6:24 p.m.

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""He can buy Nissan's new Leaf. It only can go 100 miles on one charge."

Nissan estimates that 80% of people drive less than 100 miles a day. If you drive more than that, the Leaf is not for you. Luckily for you, there are many, many other types of vehicles available."

BTW I was being sarcastic.
By roland299

8/6/09 at 5:13 p.m.

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It is conceded that in order too generate hydrogen using electrolysis it takes slightly more energy to manufacture than the amount of energy that will be available from the hydrogen. However, in order to store electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar, the electricity has to be converted to a form that can be used as needed when needed. If hydrogen is produced when the resources for renewables is present; ie, when the sun's shining or when the wind is blowing,then the energy from these clean renewable sources can be saved, to either generate electricity, through the use of hydrogen fuel cell's, or by burning hydrogen,( though this causes some pollution as well). Using battery technology to store electricity to run a car is a good start to giving up oil as the primary fuel for transportation. But what is not seen is the energy, and the resulting polluting of the environment that happens when making the batteries. The amount of toxic elements left over and generated in the manufacture of batteries, is and will be the next big problem that results from the use of batteries to store electricity. Or how big or how many batteries can be built? Lets get it over with, start building fuel cell's for automobiles, and small scale residential use. Those that can and do, will be able to generate their own electricity right at home through the use of solar and wind, They then will be able to use their surplus electricity to generate hydrogen through electrolysis. ( Using electricity to separate the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in water) The stored will then be able to both fill their own fuel celled cars and/or to operate their own residential fuel cells. Industry will be able to do this as well in large scale generation facilities. This is the energy of the future, and it is here now. It is the only true way to energy independence and a totally clean energy source. It is the only way that we can really develop a transportable fuel that when used is completely free of pollution. It is completely manufactured right here in the United States, and can be built, installed and maintained by Americans. Imagine a world where all the energy is produced in a manner that the generation and the use of the energy is a totally clean and completely generated here at home. When you do that you will see the only answer is by generating and using hydrogen in the way I have portrayed. When we start the conversion from fossil fuels to hydrogen as our energy source we will find ways to produce, use and transport the hydrogen fuel in a more efficient manner. But until we do we are doomed to OIL as the energy supplier, with all of its problems of pollution, and all the problems associated with finding it, buying it and burning it.