Alternative Fuels: The Future of Hydrogen

297 Pages·2008·1.58 MB·English

by  Michael Frank Hordeski

ALTERNATIVE FUELS—
THE FUTURE OF HYDROGEN
SECOND EDITION

A F —
LTERNATIVE UELS
T F H
HE UTURE OF YDROGEN
SECOND EDITION
BY MICHAEL FRANK HORDESKI
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hordeski, Michael F.
Alternative fuels : the future of hydrogen / by Michael Frank Hordeski.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-88173-595-7 (alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-4200-8016-4 (distribution by
Taylor & Francis : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-88173-596-5 (electronic)
1. Hydrogen as fuel. 2. Fuel switching. 3. Hydrogen cars. 4. Automobile
industry and trade--Forecasting. I. Title.
TP359.H8H67 2008
333.79’4--dc22
2007050884
Alternative fuels : the future of hydrogen--second edition / by Michael Frank Hordeski
©2008 by The Fairmont Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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1-4200-8016-4 (Taylor & Francis Ltd.)
While every effort is made to provide dependable information, the publisher,
authors, and editors cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.
T C
ABLE OF ONTENTS
Preface .............................................................................................................vii
Chapter 1 Fuels and Trends .........................................................................1
Chapter 2 The Evolution of Oil .................................................................33
Chapter 3 Fuel and Autos ..........................................................................67
Chapter 4 Fuels for the Auto ...................................................................101
Chapter 5 The New Transportation .......................................................125
Chapter 6 Fuels and the Environment ...................................................151
Chapter 7 Hydrogen Sources, Biomass and Wind Power ...................175
Chapter 8 Alternative Fuel Paths and Solar Hydrogen ......................213
Chapter 9 Infrastructure Choices and Nuclear Hydrogen .................235
Chapter 10 Trends in Fuels and Energy Technology .............................255
Index ..............................................................................................................284

P
REFACE
Oil prices hovering at $100 a barrel, soaring Chinese demand, rocket-
ing energy markets, climate-destabilizing carbon emissions, new energy
investments at $500 billion/year, the energy world has lost its bearings.
Not since the energy shocks of the 1970’s has the availability of energy
been so important.
A recent survey indicated Americans believe energy security should
be a top priority of U.S. energy policy with wide support for a moon shot
type of effort to develop a hydrogen economy. The dependence of the U.S.
on oil creates a national security vulnerability that could result in wide-
spread economic problems and increased global instabilities.
Many factors affect our energy use, one of the most important is the
availability of fuels. Mineral fuels can be divided into three types: solid,
liquid and gas. In the fi rst group are the coals. In the second group are the
petroleum products which are rich in both carbon and hydrogen. These
products provide a large range of fuels and lubricants. In the third group
are the natural gases from petroleum deposits, the butane gases and coal
and coke gas. Liquids include gasolines (or petrols). Their physical state
allows them to be used directly in spark-ignition engines.
The two principal combustible elements common in coal and petro-
leum are carbon and hydrogen. Of the two, hydrogen is more effi cient.
The value of a fuel depends mainly in its calorifi c value. Pure carbon has
a calorifi c value of 14,137 Btus while hydrogen has a value of 61,493 Btus.
The higher the proportion of hydrogen a fuel contains, the more energy
it will provide. The hydrogen content of liquid and gaseous fuels ranges
from 10 to 50% by weight. They provide far more heat than solid fuels,
which range from 5% to 12% by weight. The less oxygen in the fuel, the
more easily the hydrogen and carbon will burn. The lower the oxygen
content of a fuel, the better it will burn. The ideal fuel would be pure hy-
drogen.
Other factors used in assessing the merits of different fuels include
moisture content, extraction, storage and transportation. Most fuels come
directly or indirectly from carbohydrates; vegetable matter which result
from photosynthesis occurring in green plants. The energy in these fuels
is due to the sun. When burning fuels are extracted from living plants, we
are recovering recent solar energy. When burning coal or gas, we are tap-
vii
ping ancient solar energy.
Is a hydrogen economy a reality? When President George Bush pro-
posed a $1.7 billion program to promote hydrogen-fueled cars in his State
of the Union Address, both sides of the aisle applauded. Almost everyone
supported a hydrogen economy.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element on the planet. But it cannot
be harvested directly. It must be extracted from another material. A wide
variety of materials contain hydrogen, which is one reason it has attracted
widespread support.
Environmentalists envision an energy economy where hydrogen
comes from water, and the energy used to accomplish this comes from
wind. The nuclear industry sees a water-based hydrogen economy, but
with nuclear as the power source that electrolyzes water. Nucleonics Week
views nuclear power as the only way to produce hydrogen on a large scale
without adding to greenhouse gas emissions.
In the fossil fuel industry, they see hydrocarbons as providing most
of our future hydrogen. They already have a head start since almost 50%
of the world’s commercial hydrogen now comes from natural gas and an-
other 20% is derived from coal.
The automobile and oil companies are betting that petroleum will be
the hydrogen source of the future. It was General Motors, that coined the
phrase “the hydrogen economy”.
A hydrogen economy will not be a renewable energy economy. For
the next 20-50 years hydrogen will overwhelmingly be derived from fossil
fuels or with nuclear energy.
It has taken more than 30 years for the renewable energy industry
to capture 1% of the transportation fuel market (ethanol) and 2% of the
electricity market (wind, solar, biomass).
A hydrogen economy will require the expenditure of hundreds of
billions of dollars to build an entirely new energy infrastructure (pipe-
lines, fueling stations, automobile engines). This will come from public
and private money.
Making hydrogen takes energy. We may use a fuel that could be
used directly to provide electricity or mechanical power or heat to instead
make hydrogen, which is then used to make electricity.
We can run vehicles on natural gas or generate electricity using nat-
ural gas now. Converting natural gas into hydrogen and then hydrogen
into electricity increases the amount of greenhouse gases emitted.
Hydrogen is the lightest element, being about eight times lighter
viii
than methane. Compacting it for storage or transport is expensive and
energy intensive.
Another rationale for making hydrogen is that it is a way to store en-
ergy. That could benefit renewable energy sources like wind and sunlight
that cannot generate energy on demand.
Many see hybrid vehicles as a bridge to a new type of transportation.
Toyota and Honda have been selling tens of thousands of cars that have
small gas engines and batteries. American automobile companies are fol-
lowing their lead.
Toyota and Honda and others are looking in the future to substitute
a hydrogen fuel cell for the gasoline engine. That work will continue.
This book will get beyond the glib, “we can run our cars on wa-
ter,” news bites and assesses the reality to convert to a hydrogen economy.
Some believe that the hydrogen economy has serious, perhaps fatal short-
comings while others consider it the path to a future of relative energy
independence.
Topics include energy policy, fuel supply trends, statistics and pro-
jections, oil reserves, alternative fuel scenarios, fuel utilization, sustain-
able energy paths, cost analysis, fuels and development and regulatory
issues. An energy evolution is taking place and will be pushed by changes
in the environment, alternative fuels, sources of hydrogen, power genera-
tion needs, fuel cell/electric vehicles and ultimately provide our power
and transportation future.
Chapter one is an overview of the barriers to implementation. It in-
troduces the various technology and air emission issues, safety, and al-
ternatives such as natural gas, hydrogen gas, methanol, ethanol and fuel
cells.
Chapter two investigates the evolution of oil supplies, coke and gas
fuels, city gas, natural gas, petroleum and sulphur, sources, crude oil pric-
es, refining and distribution.
Fuels and autos are topics of Chapter three. It includes the auto fu-
ture, electric cars, revivals, the auto industry, car designs and the impact
of mass production.
Chapter four investigates the impact of auto technology. It considers
fuel cell electric cars, fuel cell cabs, the fuel cell future and recent advances
in fuel cell auto technology.
The new transportation is the theme of chapter five. Fueling stations
are important for any alternative fuel especially hydrogen. Fuel cell ad-
vances will also pace hydrogen cars as well as the level of government
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