A Hydrogen Economy

Agenda

• A Hydrogen Vision of the Future

• Hydrogen Systems

• Producing Hydrogen

• Storing and Transporting Hydrogen

• Hydrogen Fueled Transport

• Problems with Hydrogen

• The Promise of Hydrogen

• Hydrogen Summary

A Vision of a Hydrogen Future

"I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used singly or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable. I believe then that when the deposits of coal are exhausted, we shall heat and warm ourselves with water. Water will be the coal of the future." 

Jules Vernes (1870) L´île mystérieuse

Hydrogen Economy Schematic

Hydrogen Economy in Hong Kong

http://www.gii.com.hk/eng/clean_energy.htm

New Busses in China

Hydrogen Fueling Station

Hydrogen Systems

Hydrogen Production Cycle

Crabtree et al., “The Hydrogen Economy,” Physics Today, Dec 2004

Operating the Hydrogen Economy

Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Hydrogen Economy Supply Chain

Hydrogen Pathways

http://www.ch2bc.org/index2.htm

Advantages of a Hydrogen Economy

• Waste product of burning H2 is water

• Elimination of fossil fuel pollution

• Elimination of greenhouse gases

• Elimination of economic dependence

• Distributed production

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Issues with Hydrogen

• Not widely available on planet earth

• Usually chemically combined in water or fossil fuels (must be separated)

• Fossil fuel sources contribute to pollution and greenhouse gases

• Electrolysis requires prodigious amounts of energy

Technological Questions

• Where does hydrogen come from?

• How is it transported?

• How is it distributed?

• How is it stored?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Producing Hydrogen

Current Hydrogen Production

•Current hydrogen production

•48% natural gas•30% oil•18% coal• 4% electrolysis

•Global Production•50 million tonnes / yr•Growing 10% / yr

•US Production•11 million tonnes / yr

How is Hydrogen Produced?

• Reforming fossil fuels• Heat hydrocarbons with steam• Produce H2 and CO

• Electrolysis of water• Use electricity to split water into O2 and H2

• High Temperature Electrolysis• Experimental

• Biological processes• Very common in nature• Experimental in laboratories

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Steam Reforming

• From any hydrocarbon• Natural gas typically used

• Water (steam) and hydrocarbon mixed at high temperature (700–1100 °C)• Steam (H2O) reacts with methane (CH4) • CH4 + H2O → CO + 3 H2 - 191.7 kJ/mol

• The thermodynamic efficiency comparable to (or worse than) an internal combustion engine• Difficult to motivate investment in

technology

Electrolysis of Water (H2O)

http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/edu_k-12/9-12/fc_energy/make_your_own_hydrogen_results.html

Electrolysis of Water

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/electrol.html

Renewable Energy for Electrolysis

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy4.htm

Biomass Electrolysis Module

http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/photos.html

High Temperature Electrolysis

• Electrolysis at high temperatures

• Use less energy to split water

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy

Biological H2 Creation

•Nature has very simple methods to split water

•Scientists are working to mimic these processes in the lab; then commercially

Crabtree et al., “The Hydrogen Economy,” Physics Today, Dec 2004

Storing & Transporting Hydrogen

Hydrogen Storage

• Storage a major difficulty with hydrogen• H2 has low energy density per volume

• Requires large tanks to store

• H2 can be compressed to reduce volume• Requires heavy, strong tanks

• H2 can be liquefied to reduce volume• Boils at -423 °F (cryogenic)• Requires heavily insulated, expensive tanks

• Both compression and liquefaction require a lot of energy

Ammonia Storage

• H2 can be stored as ammonia (NH3)

• Exceptionally high hydrogen densities

• Ammonia very common chemical• Large infrastructure already exists

• Easily reformed to produce hydrogen• No harmful waste

• BUT• Ammonia production is energy intensive• Ammonia is a toxic gas

Metal Hydride Storage

• Metal hydrides can carry hydrogen• Boron, lithium, sodium• Good energy density, but worse than gas

• Volumes much larger than gasoline• Three times more volume• Four times heavier

• Hydrides can react violently with water• Leading contenders

• Sodium Borohydride• Lithium Aluminum Hydride• Ammonia Borane

Alkali Prod. Energy vs. Instrinsic Energy

Energy needed to produce alkali metal hydrides relative to the energy content of the liberated hydrogen.

Bossel et al., The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?, Oct 28, 2004http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h2_eco.htm

Transporting Hydrogen

Storing & Transporting Hydrogen

• Store and Transport as a Gas• Bulky gas

• Compressing H2 requires energy

• Compressed H2 has far less energy than the same volume of gasoline

• Store and Transport as a Solid• Sodium Borohydride• Calcium Hydride• Lithium Hydride• Sodium Hydride

http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm

Hydrogen Fueled Transport

Hydrogen-Powered Autos

Hydrogen-Powered Autos

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

Hydrogen-Powered Trucks

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

http://aix.meng.auth.gr/lhtee/projects/cryoplane/

Hydrogen powered passenger aircraft with cryogenic tanks along spine of fuselage. Hydrogen fuel requires about 4 times the volume of standard jet fuel (kerosene).

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

Hydrogen-Powered Rockets

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2vehicle.html

Implications of Hydrogen Transport

 Weight of fuel

Weight of steel tank

Weight of carbon fiber tank

Volume of tank contents

Volume of tank

Typical 18 wheel truck (diesel)

1175 lb (small) NA 22.5 feet3 24.0 feet3

Typical sedan (gasoline)

108 lb (small) NA 2.25 feet3 2.5 feet3

Truck converted to ICE hydrogen

313 lb 31,300 lb 6,960 lb 67.5 feet3 157 feet3

Sedan converted to hydrogen fuel cell

17.4 lb 1740 lb 387 lb 4 feet3 9 feet3

http://planetforlife.com/h2/h2swiss.html

The Promise of Hydrogen

UNIDO-ICHET Projection

http://www.unido-ichet.org/ICHET-transition.php

UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONINTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR HYDROGEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

The Iceland Example

• Iceland committed to be the first hydrogen economy• 2050 goal

• Will use geothermal resources to create hydrogen• Power autos, buses, and fishing fleet with hydrogen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy

The Hydrogen NanoHorn

• If this is developed, we will have a hydrogen economy.

• Aleutian Island wind turbines to generate hydrogen via electrolysis