[Greenbuilding] Problems with Hydrogen

[Keith Winston]

I think you're right to emphasize that Hydrogen can function as part of 
an energy storage system, but is not a fuel itself. I often call it a 
battery, though it's the entire system that is the battery. It's often 
called an energy carrier in the technical literature.

It seems to me that part of the dilemma is that compression or 
liquefaction of hydrogen is expensive. So even if you can split it from 
water efficiently (50-90% efficiencies are reported), you may not be in 
good energy-balance shape by the time you use it. Liquified hydrogen 
only has 1/4 the energy of gasoline, by volume.

keith


John D'Angelo wrote:
> To all..
>
> I have owned two electric vehicles 20 years ago. A car called the Citicar
> that was made in Florida that went out of business a LONG time ago. To me it
> was an idea SECOND car. It basically last forever because it had an aluminum
> frame, and plastic body. All you had to do was change batteries every few
> years. The thing I liked about it the best was there was virtually NO
> maintenance. Today I would be charging it off renewable energy not the grid.
>
> We all need to be aware of where our power comes from or I should say HOW it
> is made. Yes wind and solar electric power are truly CLEAN power and fossil
> fuel power is truly DIRTY power.
>
> Hydrogen has its place. Yes it does take energy to make it but IF the power
> to make it comes form wind or sun then how is that "EXPENSIVE"? After all a
> wind generator or solar electric power WILL pay for itself one day and the
> power then becomes absolutely free as does the hydrogen. That is the
> economic reality of all renewable: the energy is FREE once the collection
> system is paid for. So the economics does work but one has to get past the
> "first time cost" . Basically fossil fuels have much lower entry level costs
> to produce energy where as renewable have a much higher entry level costs.
> But one thing ALL fossil fuels have in common is REPLACEMENT costs. You have
> to feed the beast DAY in and DAY out.
>
> There is NO reason why EVERY house built today cannot have 100% of its
> energy come from the energy that falls on its roof. That said the house has
> to practice and use the most energy efficient devices and natural light to
> achieve that goal. We are in the stone age when we build and use fossil
> fuels to power a home today.
>
>   

-- 
Keith Winston
Earth Sun Energy Systems
3927 Madison St.
Hyattsville, MD 20781
301-980-6325
keith at earthsunenergy.com
www.EarthSunEnergy.com