Fuel of the future

Fuel of the future

October 2022

By Darshan Goswami

Fuel of the Future? 

Darshan Goswami is optimistic that hydrogen, produced from tap water,  could become the forever fuel of the future, generating power for homes,  industries, and cars. 

A new day is dawning for a revolutionary  way to generate electric power from  renewable energy sources. Imagine a  future where the electrical power needed to  run your computer, TV, and DVD is generated  from a small appliance about the size of a  dishwasher, located in your home. Envision  generating electricity without combustion and  producing heat and pure drinking water as  by-products. Picture a world powered almost  entirely by an infinitely abundant and totally  clean fuel. Hydrogen, the most common  element in the universe, is that fuel, which can be produced from tap water to generate  power for homes and cars. Imagine being able  to drive your car more than 500 miles between  fill-ups. The car you drive could become a  power station on wheels, producing about 30 to  50 kilowatts of electricity. At work, the parked  car in the parking lot could be making money  for you by supplying energy to the power grid  during peak hours. The same fuel cells in the  car parked in your garage could provide power  for your home use. 

In the new age of hydrogen, each individual  could become the producer as well as the  consumer of energy. Automobile, oil, and  utility companies are spending billions to  make this dream come true. 

Renewable Energy Source 

Hydrogen is a renewable, versatile, simple, and  sustainable domestic energy, and there is no  danger of running out of hydrogen because it  is the most abundant element in the universe.  Hydrogen can be produced through a thermal,  electrolytic, or photolytic process from fossil  fuels, biomass, or water. Renewable and  nuclear systems can produce hydrogen from  water, using a thermal or electrolytic process.  People can even produce it in their homes with  relatively simple apparatuses. 

‘Hydrogen Economy’ is the term used to mark  the shift from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and  gas to hydrogen. The vision of a Hydrogen  Economy is one of an unlimited source of fuel  that would be used to generate energy without  releasing carbon and other pollutants into the  air. 

Hydrogen has the potential to do for the energy  revolution what the computer and the Internet  have done for the information revolution.  Fuel cells are considered the microchip of  the hydrogen age, the key to abundant energy  from secure, renewable resources. Ultimately,  fuel cells supplying homes, businesses, and  industries could be linked to a national power  grid, allowing surplus power at one location  to be transferred to areas experiencing power  shortages. 

Hydrocarbon Economy 

Today, we have a hydrocarbon economy, but  the transition toward a Hydrogen Economy  has already begun. In the very near future, we  will have weaned ourselves from carbon and  

we will live in a Hydrogen Economy powered  by hydrogen energy from renewable resources.  You will have access to hydrogen energy to the  same extent that you now have to petroleum,  natural gas, and electric power. 

Some cities, such as Chicago and Vancouver,  already have buses powered by hydrogen fuel  cells. Ford, GM, BMW, Toyota, and Honda  have prototype cars powered by hydrogen.  The Ford chairman, William Clay Ford Jr.,  has declared that the fuel cell will “finally end  the 100-year reign of the internal-combustion  engine.” Such efforts are leading the world  towards a Hydrogen Economy. 

The present fossil fuel economy has created  significant environmental problems worldwide.  A Hydrogen Economy promises to eliminate  all of the problems created by the fossil fuel  economy. The advantages of a Hydrogen  Economy include greater fuel efficiency, the  elimination of pollution and greenhouse gases  caused by fossil fuels, and the elimination  of economic dependence on Middle East oil  reserves. 

Good for Developing Countries 

Specifically, a Hydrogen Economy may be  even more beneficial to developing countries  because it will generate more economic  opportunities, reduce poverty, and offer  dramatically cleaner renewable resources to  bypass at least part of the expense of building  a fossil fuel infrastructure. 

A Hydrogen Economy could produce total  decentralisation of the global energy market  controlled by giant oil companies and utilities,  and result in the vast redistribution of wealth  and power. In a Hydrogen Economy, utility  companies will become obsolete.

Environment 55 

A World Hydrogen Energy Roadmap must be  developed to address hydrogen production,  delivery and transportation, storage,  conversion, public–private partnerships,  research, codes and standards, testing, public  education, and end-use products. It must also  overcome major challenges in the development  of new sensor technology. This effort must  include government, industry, universities,  and research laboratories. 

Government subsidies and tax incentives  could be used to encourage putting a Hydrogen  Economy on the fast track. The goal of the  programme should be to develop technologies  to safely produce, store, and transport hydrogen  from water, nature’s abundant and virtually  free source of hydrogen. 

New Energy Revolution 

Hydrogen has the potential to do for the energy  revolution what the computer and the Internet  have done for the information revolution.  Global reliance on Middle East oil will come  to an end, and international trade balances  will be realigned. Fuel cells are a critical  technology that will bring a total revolution  in the energy sector and change the course of  history. President Bush has referred to fuel  cells as the “wave of the future” and called for  a “focused effort to bring fuel cells to market.” The ultimate goal is to use the renewable  energy of the sun to split water into its basic  components of oxygen and hydrogen. 

A Hydrogen Economy would open the doors  for fundamental changes in our economic,  political, and social institutions, similar to  the impact of steam power at the beginning  of the Industrial Age. The giant oil companies  are investing heavily in a hydrogen future to  control the design, production, and sales of the  devices that produce and consume hydrogen.  Fuel companies like Shell, BP, and Texaco are  forming hydrogen and fuel cell technology  divisions. 

A Hydrogen Economy is a bright vision for  the future of energy that will revolutionise  the world by reducing our reliance on oil from  Middle Eastern countries. I envision hydrogen  as the power generation fuel of the future that  will wean the world away from oil, slow global  warming, and lift billions out of poverty. If  significant progress is desired, government  and private partnerships must be established  to concentrate on development efforts. A  ‘Manhattan Hydrogen Project’ is needed to  ensure that the Hydrogen Economy vision  becomes a reality soon. 

Darshan Goswami, has more than 40 years of experience in the energy field.  He worked as a project manager for Renewable Energy, Micro-grid and Smart  Grid projects at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in Pittsburgh.  He is an electrical engineer with a passion and commitment to promote,  develop, and deploy renewable energy resources an hydrogen economy.