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Tag Archives: Hydrogen

Renewable Hydrogen for remote power supply

PV solar is expanding as a potential renewable energy source for each house, and the cost of solar panels are slowly coming down as the volume of production increases. However, the intermittent nature of solar energy is still an issue, especially for off grid and remote locations. Now solar energy is stored using lead acid batteries for such applications and inverters become part of the system. The capacity of the battery bank is designed to meet the electrical demand and to absorb the fluctuation of the energy generated by solar panels and it varies from place to place. This method stores the electrical energy generated by PV solar in the form of DC current and delivers it in the form of AC current. Though this method is the simplest one for remote locations, storing solar power in the form of Hydrogen is more economical and environmentally friendly in the long run.

Solar energy can directly be used to generate Hydrogen using solid polymer electrolyzers and stored in cyclinders.The stored Hydrogen can then be used to fuel a stationary Fuel cell to generate power on site. One can design a system by integrating various components in such a way; the Hydrogen generated by solar energy is used to generate power on site as and when required. By this method one can generate required power throughout the day 24×7 irrespective of the availability of sun. The system integration involves various components supplied by various manufacturers with various specifications and the success of a system depends on the careful design using data acquired over a time on a specific location.

Many winds to Hydrogen projects also have been tested in locations around the world.NREL (National renewable energy laboratory, USA) has conducted number of tests by integrating various components such as PV solar and wind turbines with Electrolyzers (both PEM electroylzers and alkaline electrolyzers) and Hydrogen IC engines for remote power generation as well as for fuelling vehicles with Hydrogen. Though the cost of this system is still expensive, such integration offers enormous potential as a clean energy source for remote locations without any grid power. When one takes into account the fluctuating oil prices, cost of global warming, cost of power transmissions and losses during long distance power transmission from fossil fuel power plants, Renewable Hydrogen offers the best and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Such a system offers complete independence, energy security, reliability and fixed power tariff.

System integration of renewable energy sources for Hydrogen production and on site power generation using Fuel cell or Hydrogen engine is the key to a successful deployment of solar and wind energy for rural electrification and to remote islands. Such system will offer greater return on investment even to supply power to the grid based on power purchase agreements with Government and private companies. Renewable Hydrogen is the only practical solution for clean power of the future and sooner we embrace this integrated solution better for a cleaner future. Government and private companies investing on oil and gas explorations can focus their attention in developing renewable Hydrogen based solutions so that the cost of Hydrogen can become competitive to fossil fuel. Once the cost of Hydrogen reaches parity with cost of fossil fuel then, it will set the beginning of a green revolution in clean energy.

Changing winds and storing technologies

Wind energy is one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources in the world and in 2011 the global market grew by 6% with 40.5 GW new powers brought online, according to Global Wind Report. However storage of intermittent renewable energy is a critical contributing factor in renewable energy development. A study was conducted by University of California for California Energy Commission on the economic and environmental impact of for energy storage technologies and the ways to improve the energy efficiency of wind energy. When there is a strong wind there is no demand for power, and when there is a high demand for power there is no wind. This anomalous supply demand gap demands a reliable way of storing wind power during high wind velocity periods.

They examined for energy storage technologies namely 1.lead acid batteries, 2. Zinc Bromine flow batteries, 3.Hydrogen electrolyzer and Fuel cell storage system and 4.Hydrogen option to fuel Hydrogen cars with Hydrogen. By using NREL (national Renewable Energy laboratory) computer simulation model HOMER  for high wind penetration of 18% in California, they concluded that Hydrogen storage is the most cost-effective than other battery storage technologies and using Hydrogen to fuel Hydrogen cars is economically attractive  than converting Hydrogen into Electricity. The environmental impact of using Hydrogen is benign compared to batteries with their emissions.

“The key findings of this experiments are as follows: Energy storage systems deployed in the context of greater wind power development were not particularly well used (based on the availability of “excess” off-peak electricity from wind power), especially in the 2010 time frame (which assumed 10% wind penetration statewide), but were better utilized–up to 1,600 hours of operation per year in some cases–with the greater (20%) wind penetration levels assumed for 2020.

The levelized costs of electricity from these energy storage systems ranged from a low of $0.41 per kWh—or near the marginal cost of generation during peak demand times—to many dollars per kWh (in cases where the storage was not well utilized). This suggests that in order for these systems to be economically attractive, it may be necessary to optimize their output to coincide with peak demand periods, and to identify additional, value streams from their use (e.g., transmission and distribution system optimization, provision of power quality and grid ancillary services, etc.).

At low levels of wind penetration (1%–2%), the electrolyzer/fuel cell system was either inoperable or uneconomical (i.e., either no electricity was supplied by the energy storage system or the electricity provided carried a high cost per MWh).

In the 2010 scenarios, the flow battery system delivered the lowest cost per energy stored and delivered.  At higher levels of wind penetration, the hydrogen storage systems became more economical such that with the wind penetration levels in 2020 (18% from Southern California), the hydrogen systems delivered the least costly energy storage.

Projected decreases in capital costs and maintenance requirements along with a more durable fuel cell allowed the electrolyzer/fuel cell to gain a significant cost advantage over the battery systems in 2020.

Sizing the electrolyzer/fuel cell system to match the flow battery system’s relatively high instantaneous power output was found to increase the competitiveness of this system in low energy storage scenarios (2010 and Northern California in 2020), but in scenarios with higher levels of energy storage (Southern California in 2020), the electrolyzer/fuel cell system sized to match the flow battery output became less competitive.

The hydrogen production case was more economical than the electrolyzer/fuel cell case with the same amount of electricity consumed (i.e., hydrogen production delivered greater revenue from hydrogen sales than the electrolyzer/fuel cell avoided the cost of electricity, once the process efficiencies are considered).

Furthermore, the hydrogen production system with a higher-capacity power converter and electrolyzer (sized to match the flow battery converter) was more cost-effective than the lower-capacity system that was sized to match the output of the solid-state battery. This is due to economies of scale found to produce lower-cost hydrogen in all cases.

In general, the energy storage systems themselves are fairly benign from an environmental perspective, with the exception of emissions from the manufacture of certain components (such as nickel, lead, cadmium, and vanadium for batteries). This is particularly true outside of the U.S., where battery plant emissions are less tightly controlled and potential contamination from improper disposal of these and other materials is more likely. The overall value proposition for energy storage systems used in conjunction with intermittent renewable energy systems depends on diverse factors:

The interaction of generation and storage system characteristics and grid and energy resource conditions at a particular site The potential use of energy storage for multiple purposes in addition to improving the dependability of intermittent renewable (e.g., peak/off-peak power price arbitrage, helping to optimize the transmission and distribution infrastructure, load-leveling the grid in general, helping to mitigate power quality issues, etc.)

The degree of future progress in improving forecasting techniques and reducing prediction errors for intermittent.  Electricity market design and rules for compensating renewable energy systems for their output”. Hydrogen storage and Hydrogen cars hold the key for future renewable energy industries and Governments and industries should focus on these two key segments.

Cheap Hydrogen to combat global warming?

The first few hydrogen atom electron orbitals ...

The first few hydrogen atom electron orbitals shown as cross-sections with color-coded probability density (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hydrogen is well-known as a potential source of clean energy of the future. But it is not available in a free form; its generation from   water using Electrolysis requires more energy than, a free Hydrogen can generate.  It requires about 5kws power to generate 1 m3 Hydrogen gas, which means, it requires about 56 Kw power to generate 1 Kg Hydrogen using water electrolysis. But 1Kg Hydrogen can generate only about 15-20 Kw Electricity using a Fuel cell. This anomalous situation makes Hydrogen generation using water electrolysis uneconomical for clean power generation. That is why most of the Hydrogen is now generated by steam reforming natural gas. Another reason for using natural gas is, to cut the cost of Hydrogen and also, to make a smooth transition from fossil economy to Hydrogen economy using existing infrastructures. Power generation and transportation using Hydrogen and Fuel cell has been commercially tested, proven and ready for deployment. However, we still have to deal with emission of greenhouse gas during steam reformation of natural gas due to the presence of carbon atom in natural gas.

Meanwhile, one American company recently announced a break-through technology that will generate free thermal energy from atomic Hydrogen using a patented process. The inventor of the process claims, when atomic Hydrogen is allowed to react with a specific Catalyst, Hydrogen atom undergoes a transition to a new atom called “Hydrino”, releasing energy while the electron in the atom shifts to a lower orbit close to proton. It was believed so far that the electron in Hydrogen atom is at its lowest level (ground level) and the closest to proton. This is the first time somebody claims that there is a lower state than the ground state  in Hydrogen atom and the amount of energy released in this transition to ‘Hydrino”,  is  in between by an uncatalyzed Hydrogen atom by combustion and nuclear energy. Unlike nuclear energy, this energy is non-radioactive. But the energy released by this process is more than 200 times than energy released by Hydrogen atom by normal combustion. The reaction does not create any pollution or radio-active materials as by-products. The process has been tested, verified and certified by scientists in few  laboratories and universities.

The above process offers great hope to generate a clean, non-polluting energy at the lowest cost. The ‘dihydrino and Hydrogen is separated and Hydrogen is recycled back to continue the process while’dihydrino’ has other potential commercial applications. The inventor has named this power as “Black power” as he hypotheses that such phenomena explain the presence of “dark matter” in Galaxies. According to quantum mechanics, the energy level of a normal Hydrogen atom is at its ground level as its minimum level (N=1), but its energy level increases at higher states such as N=2, 3, 4.When the energy level jumps from higher (excited state) to a lower level, it emits energy in the form of photon of light (Quanta).The spectrum of such emission matches the ultraviolet light of the sun. Since sub-quantum atoms are non-radioactive, the inventor claims that he is duplicating the above process of Nature by a catalytic thermal process in the state of Plasma using a specific Catalyst.

If such a large thermal energy is released by formation of ‘Hydrino’atom in the above process, then such energy can be used to generate Hydrogen by conventional water electrolysis at a fraction of the cost.

Then, Hydrogen economy can become a commercial reality and the above technology has a potential not only to generate power at fraction of a cost of the fossil fuel but also to generate a clean and non-polluting power. The inventor has also hypothesised a “grand new unified theory” of atom as the basis for the above invention. Mainstream scientists have always have been reluctant to support such “free energy” theories but, when someone can prove the process of generating an excess energy (more than 200 times than the theoretical energy released by an exothermic chemical reaction) and it is non-radioactive then mainstream scientists may be sidelined by world community. It is always possible to prove something unique without any theory   and come out later with a theoretical explanation to satisfy the scientific community. Many discoveries in the past were by mere accidents and one should have an open mind to look into any new concepts without any bias, especially if the discovery can resolve serious problems of humanity at  times  of crisis.

 

Rare earth materials and Renewable

As the threat of global warming looms large, Governments and Industries are looking for innovative, alternative and renewable energy sources and energy efficiency solutions. But how many alternative energy sources are available and what are their potentials? How to cut our carbon footprint without making larger new investment? How to improve the energy efficiency of the existing systems so that we can increase energy output for the same amount of fuel input and cut the cost of energy? These are some of the fundamental questions Governments and industries are grappling with, for the past few years. We are used to generating cheap energy from coal, oil and gas at the cost of the environment for several decades. We are used to water supply free of cost or at negligible cost for several decades. Governments were able to survive year after year because they were able to supply these two fundamental requirements of the people namely, energy and water at low-cost. But this situation changed swiftly when scientists raised the alarm bells on carbon emission and global warming. Still many Governments, especially industrialized countries with large energy and water usage, are still playing ‘wait and watch’ game, because they cannot afford to increase the tariffs on power and water. Any such increase will make Governments unpopular and their re-election to the office doubtful.

The real alternative to fossil fuels is only solar energy, which is clean, reliable and abundant. All other forms of renewable sources such as wind, geothermal, ocean thermal energy and wave energy are only offshoot of solar energy. The prime source is still the sun and the source of energy is from the chain nuclear fusion reaction of Hydrogen atom. The radiation of this nuclear reaction in the sun has to travel an average distance of 93 million miles to reach the earth, yet it is enough to meet current energy need of  entire humanity by a factor of 20,000 times. But to convert sun’s light and heat energy into Electricity and other useful forms of energy, we need some rare materials which we never used in the past. They are called ‘rare earth materials’ because their available sources and supplies are rare on planet earth. But these exotic and rare earth materials are becoming indispensable in the development of renewable energy products and applications. The future growth of clean energy technologies depend on supply of such rare earth materials.

Fourteen elements and related materials were selected for a criticality assessment by US Government department of energy. Eight of these are rare earth metals, which are valued for their unique magnetic, optical and catalyst properties. The materials are used in clean energy technologies as follows. Lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, cobalt and lithium are used in electric vehicle batteries. Neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium are used in magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines. Samarium is also used in magnets. Lanthanum, cerium, europium, terbium and yttrium are used in phosphors for energy-efficient lighting. Indium, gallium and tellurium are used in solar cells. The materials were selected for study based on factors contributing to risk of supply disruption.

Though usage of such material is relatively small, it is anticipated that the growth of clean technologies will need a substantial quantity of these materials. Currently China is endowed with almost 95% of such rare materials in the world. These materials are available in the form of ores and minerals under the earth. They have to be mined, processed and extracted in a pure form so that they can be used in developing clean energy products of the future. We will discuss about such products and technologies in our future articles. The anomaly is the energy required to mine, process and extract these rare earth materials need energy and such energy to have to come only from the sun. It is once again Nature that comes to the rescue of human beings at such critical junctures.

 

Fuelcell can become a commercial reality

We now generate electric city from heat, obtained by combustion of fossil fuel such as coal, oil and gas. But such combustion generates not only heat but also greenhouse gases such as Carbon dioxide and oxides of Nirogen.The only alternative to generate power without any greenhouse gas emission is to use a fuel with zero carbon. However, oxides of Nitrogen will still be an issue as long as we use air for combustion because atmospheric air has almost 79% Nitrogen and 21% oxygen. Therefore it becomes necessary to use an alternative fuel as well as an alternative power generation technology in the future to mitigate greenhouse problems.

Hydrogen is an ideal fuel to mitigate greenhouse gases because combustion of Hydrogen with oxygen from air generates only water that is recyclable. Combining Hydrogen with Oxygen using Fuel cell, an electrochemical device is certainly an elegant solution to address greenhouse problems. But why Hydrogen and Fuel cell are not commonly available? Hydrogen is not available freely even though it is abundantly available in nature. It is available as a compound such as water (H2O) or Methane (CH4) and Ammonia (NH3). First we have to isolate Hydrogen from this compound as free Hydrogen and then store it under pressure. Hydrogen can easily form an explosive mixture with Oxygen and it requires careful handling. Moreover it is a very light gas and can easily escape. It has to be compressed and stored under high pressure.

Generation of pure Hydrogen from water using Electrolysis requires more electricity that it can generate. However, Hydrogen cost can be reduced using renewable energy source such as solar thermal. The solar thermal can also supply thermal energy for decomposing Ammonia into Hydrogen and Nitrogen as well as to supply endothermic heat necessary for steam reformation of natural gas into Hydrogen. On-site Hydrogen generation using solar thermal using either electricity or heat can become a commercial reality. Hydrogen generation at higher temperatures such as Ammonia decomposition or steam reformation can be directly used in Fuel cell such as Phosphoric acid Fuel cell.

Phosphoric acid fuel cell is a proven and tested commercial Fuel cell that is used for base load power generation. It is also used for CHP applications. Hydrogen generation using solar thermal and power generation using Fuel cell is already a commercial reality and also an elegant solution to mitigate greenhouse gases. Large scale deployment of Fuel cell and solar thermal will also cut the cost of installations and running cost competing with fossil fuel.Fuecell technology has a potential to become a common solution for both power generation and transportation.

While Government can encourage renewable energy by subsidizing PV solar panels and discourage fossil fuel by imposing carbon tax, they should give preference and higher tariff for power purchase from Solar thermal and Fuel cell power generators. This will encourage large-scale deployment of Fuel cell as a potential base load power source.

Liquid coal- a novel fuel to reduce greenhouse gas

Coal is the single largest fuel used for power generation all over the world, due to its abundant availability and established infrastructure and technology. However, greenhouse gas emission poses a significant challenge in continuing the usage of coal as prime fuel. Currently, Natural gas is favored as fuel for power generation and number of LNG (liquefied natural gas) plants have been set up in many parts of the world. Coal seam methane gas is another potential source that competes with natural gas. Basically, Methane is the major constituent of such gases in the form of Hydrogen  and they are suitable for both combustion as well as for gasification for power generation. Countries who are endowed with large deposits of coal such as Australia, South Africa, Indonesia have advantages in clean coal technologies and in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. There is an opportunity for coal-fired power plants to continue their operations, if they can solve the greenhouse gas emission and other pollution problems associated with coal. Number of companies are now re-evaluating clean coal technologies such as IGCC and carbon capture and reuse.

As we have seen in previous articles, Hydrogen is the key in developing clean coal technology of the future. That is why, gasification technology such as IGCC (Integrated Gasification and Combined Cycle) is gaining importance over combustion technologies because that is the only way we can introduce a Hydrogen molecule in the combustion by way of ‘Syngas’. By introducing Hydrogen, we not only can improve the thermal efficiency but also use the heat of combustion to the most by combined cycle with reduced GHG emission. It also facilitates the usage of existing and known power generation technologies such as, steam turbine and gas turbine, as well as, new technologies such as Fuel cell and Hydrogen turbines.

Coal in the form of pumpable liquid (CWS –coal water slurry) is another key milestone in developing a clean coal technology. Countries like China and Indonesia have been using coal water slurry for power generation successfully. Finely powdered coal is mixed with water in the ratio of 60:40 along with dispersant such as Lignosulfonate as additives to make a finely dispersed, viscous liquid that resembles heavy petroleum oil, ready for combustion. It is easier to handle pumpable oil than a solid coal.

A novel products called ‘colloidal coal water’ (CCW) is a finely dispersed colloidal coal in water with additives such as surfactants and dispersants with specific formulating agents leading to certain rheological properties is a key development in clean coal technology. The coal water slurry now used does not have long-term stability and storage properties like colloidal coal water fuel. The work is under development and it is expected that such finely dispersed colloidal coal water mix resembling a liquid hydrocarbon may be named as ‘liquid coal’ for all practical purposes will become a low-cost fuel in the future power generation.

This ‘colloidal coal liquid’ can be easily gasified or used as liquid fuel for combustion equipment such as boilers and also serve as precursor for a number of chemical product synthesis as downstream products. The emitted Carbon dioxide can be captured cryogenically and separated in a pure form for potential application such as ‘Natural Refrigerant’ and to synthesize number of chemical products. Clean coal can become a commercial reality provided we re-evaluate the coal preparation, gasification methods and to contain emitted carbon into a useful product of commerce.

Concentrated solar power- a game changer

We  acknowledge that solar energy is a potential renewable energy source of the future. The total energy need of the world is projected in the next 40 years to be 30 TW (terra watts) and only solar energy has a potential to meet the above demand. However, harnessing sun’s energy to its fullest potential is still a long way to go. Concentrated solar power (CSP) offers a greater hope to fill this gap. The main reason is the cost  advantage of CSP compared to PV solar and energy storage technologies and their costs.

The cost of PV solar has steadily decreased in the past few years. Though the cost of solar cell has come down to $0.75 per watt, the overall cost of the PV system is still around $ 3.00 per watt. This is due to the cost of encapsulation; interconnect wiring, mounting of panels, inverters and battery bank. The overall cost of the system will not come down drastically beyond a point. This makes PV solar still more expensive compared to conventional power generation using fossil fuels. People can understand the value of renewable energy and impending dangers of global warming due to greenhouse gases, but the final cost of energy will decide the future of energy sources.

In PV solar the sun’s light energy is directly converted into Electricity, but storing such energy using batteries have certain limitations. PV solar is suitable for small-scale operations but it may not be cost-effective for large-scale base load power generation. The best option will be to harness the sun’s thermal energy and store them and use them to generate power using the conventional and established methods such as steam or gas turbines. Once we generate thermal energy of required capacity then we have number of technologies to harness them into  useful forms. As we mentioned earlier, the thermal energy can trigger a chemical reaction such as formation of Ammonia by reaction between Hydrogen and Nitrogen under pressure, which will release a large amount of thermal energy by exothermic reaction. Such heat can be used to generate steam to run a stem turbine to generate power. The resulting ammonia can be split with concentrated solar power (CSP) into Hydrogen and Nitrogen and the above process can be repeated.

The same system can also be used to split commercial Ammonia into Hydrogen and Nitrogen. The resulting Hydrogen can be separated and stored under pressure. This Hydrogen can be used to fuel Fuel cell cars such as Honda FXC or to generate small-scale power for homes and offices.

By using CSP, there is potential of cost savings as much as 70% compared to PV solar system for the same capacity power generation on a larger scale. Focusing sun’s energy using large diameter parabolic troughs and concentrators, one can generate high temperatures.  Dishes can typically vary in size and configuration from a small diameter of perhaps 1 meter to much larger structures of a dozen or more meters in diameter.  Point focus dish concentrators are mounted on tracking systems that track the sun in two axes, directly pointing at the sun, and the receiver is attached to the dish at the focal point so that as the dish moves, the receiver moves with it.  These point focus systems can generate high temperatures exceeding 800ºC and even 1,800ºC.

The temperature required to run a steam turbine does not exceed 290C and it is quite possible to store thermal energy using mixture of molten salts with high Eutectic points and use them to generate steam. Such large-scale energy storage using lead-acid batteries and power generation using PV solar may not be economical. But it will be economical and technically feasible to harness solar thermal energy using CSP for large-scale base load power generation. It is estimated that the cost of such CSP will compete with traditional power generation using coal or oil in the near future.CSP has potential to generate cost-effective clean power as well as a fuel for transportation.

Solar panel to generate Hydrogen

Photovoltaic  solar energy  is becoming popular as a source of clean energy and an alternative to fossil fuels to combat climate change. Though the initial cost is expensive people have started realizing the potential of PV solar as  a real alternative to grid power, especially when they can export surplus power to the grid and earn some revenue. It is  a source of income for potential investors as the energy cost keeps rising steadily. The cost of solar panels, batteries and inverters are slowly coming down as the systems get more popular and more competition is created in the market. However, during cloudy days or when the solar hours are less, the power generation by solar panels is considerably low. Moreover, the ‘power in tariff ‘ system is not available in many countries especially in developing countries. Therefore, energy storage becomes an issue. Lead acid batteries serve as storage devices for smaller applications but it becomes expensive for lager systems. Operation and maintenance, replacement and waste disposal are some of the issues with battery storage.

Generating Hydrogen on site using solar power and storing Hydrogen under pressure in a tank is the best method of storing solar energy. The stored Hydrogen can be used to generate power using a Fuel cell as and when we need power. However, the amount of energy required to convert water into Hydrogen using Alkaline Electrolyzer or Solid Polymer Electrolyzer is still high, averaging 5-7 kwhrs/m3.When you calculate the economics of  Hydrogen storage versus battery storage using a computer modeling for a stand alone system, it is clear that Hydrogen storage is more economical and also guarantees an uninterrupted power supply using a Fuel cell.

One US company has developed a Carbon doped Titanium oxide nanopowder visible light photo catalyst to  generates Hydrogen using sun’s light energy. The company claims that it consumes only one-third of the power consumed by PEM Electrolyzer or half of an Alkaline Electrolyzer.It can be easily installed at roof tops and it can generate Hydrogen even at one-third of sunlight because it can effectively use short UV light and blue wave length of suns light because these energetic wavelengths penetrate cloud cover more effectively than the rest of sunlight. A 2mm modular solar panel can be installed on roof top or installed in multi-acre field installations. Even during the absence of sunlight the company claims it can use grid power to generate Hydrogen using its hybrid integral (MMO) Mixed metal oxide Titanium anode as efficiently as PEM Electrolyzer.

While a PEM electrolyzer generates about 1.3kg Hydrogen from a power input of 100Kwhrs, this model can generate about 2.5kg Hydrogen using MMO + TiO2 anode and about 3.8kg using TiO2 alone. (Based on higher heating value of Hydrogen at 39.4 kwhrs/kg).The panel consuming 26.7kwhr power at 1.0Volt DC current at Anode can generate 1.25kg Hydrogen with Electrolysis electrical efficiency at 148%.  This will make Hydrogen fuel a commercial reality because it will consume only 21.36 kwhrs of Dc power to generate 1 Kg Hydrogen. The generated Hydrogen can generate about 15 Kw power using a Fuel cell. This is an elegant solution to generate and store power using sun’s light than Photovoltaic power.

Recycling Carbon emission to Gasoline production

Nature has a wonderful way of capturing Carbon and recycling it through a process called ‘carbon cycle’ for millions of years. The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were restricted  within certain limits when it was left to Nature. But when human being started burning fossil fuels to generate power or to run cars, the GHG emission surpassed the limit beyond a point where global warming became an issue. The GHG level has increased to 392 ppm level for the first in our long history. Many Governments and companies are exploring various ways and means to reduce greenhouse emissions to avoid global warming. Some Governments are imposing taxes on carbon emission in order to reduce or discourage such emissions. Others are offering incentives to promote alternative energy sources such as wind and solar. Some companies are trying to capture Carbon emission for sequestration.

While we try to capture Carbon and store them underground, there are many potential commercial opportunities to recycle them. This means the Carbon emission is captured and converted into a commercial fuel such as Gasoline or Diesel or Methane so that future sources of fossil fuels are not burnt anymore. But this is possible only by using ‘Renewable Hydrogen’. Hydrogen is the key  to reduce carbon emission by binding carbon molecules with Hydrogen molecule, similar to what Nature does.

When NASA plans to send a man to Mars they have to overcome certain basic issues. Mars has an atmosphere with 95% Carbon dioxide, 3% Nitrogen, 1.6% Argon and traces of oxygen, water and methane.Nasa is planning to use Carbon dioxide to generate Methane gas to be used as a fuel and also generate water by using the following reaction.

CO2 + 4H2—–CH4 + 2 H2O

2H2O——-2H2 + O2

The water is electrolyzed to split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen using solar power. The resulting Hydrogen is reacted with Carbon dioxide from Mars to generate Methane gas and water using a solid catalyst. This methanation reaction is exothermic and self sustaining. How this can be achieved practically in Mars in those conditions are not discussed here. But this is a classical example on how the Carbon emission can be tackled to our advantages, without increasing the emissions into the atmosphere. There are several methods available to convert Carbon emission in to valuable products including gasoline. The  reaction of the methane with water vapor will result in Methanol.

2H2 + CO——– CH3OH

On Dehydration, 2CH3OH —– CH3COCH3 + H2O.Further dehydration with ZSM-5 Catalyst gives Gasoline 80% C5+ Hydrocarbon. Gas to liquid by Fischer-tropic reaction is a known process.

Carbon dioxide is also a potential refrigerant to substitute CFC refrigerants that causes Ozone depletion. Carbon recycling is a temporary solution to mitigate Greenhouse gas emission till Hydrogen becomes an affordable fuel of the future. It depends upon individual Governments and their policies to make Hydrogen affordable. Technologies are available and only a political will and leadership can make Hydrogen a reality.

Alternative energy is a myth

World is busy developing alternative to Fossil fuel to cut anthropic Greenhouse gas  to avoid global warming. In fact all forms of alternative energy sources except nuclear energy are ‘solar energy’ from the sun, in one form or another. Sun has supplied energy from the time earth was born. It has conducted   ‘photosynthesis’ by supplying light energy and converting atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into glucose for plants, animals and human beings. The excess carbon from the ‘Carbon cycle’ has become fossil fuels under the earth over a time. The fossil fuel is the result of sun’s energy or solar energy. We unearthed fossil fuels and burnt them to extract energy to run our power plants or run our cars. In fact fossil fuel is also a form of  ‘Biofuel’ and technically there is no difference between them except fossil fuel formation takes millions of years.Fossil fuel is nothing but a source of Hydrogen with carbon backbone.

All forms of alternative energy sources we are currently trying to develop such as PV solar, solar concentrators, solar thermal, geothermal energy, wind energy and bioenergy etc, originate from solar energy. The word alternative energy is a misnomer because all these energy are fundamentally solar energy in one form or another.

Solar energy is a radiation of Nuclear fusion  of Hydrogen taking place in the sun. Two Isotopes of Hydrogen called Deuterium (with one proton and one neutron) combine to form a Helium 3 atom and Neutron with release of large energy. Deuterium is non-radioactive and can be extracted from seawater. But this process could not be duplicated commercially for Electricity generation. It is the safest and cleanest form of energy.

In other words, all forms of energy including solar energy come from Hydrogen. That is why Hydrogen has become a potential fuel source in the future. However, developing a commercial technology for the production and usage of hydrogen at a rate cheaper than fossil fuels with zero greenhouse emission has been elusive so far. Generation of Hydrogen from water by Photo electrolysis using a direct sunlight using a Photo catalyst is a promising technology. But duplicating Nature to generate large amount of energy using tiny amount of Hydrogen atom seems to be a distance dream. Nature knows the best. We human beings can use small energy generation technologies such as solar and wind to meet our small energy needs. “There is enough to meets everybody’s need but not everybody’s greed”,Gandhi said.

Exponential growth of population and industries has forced us to look for large power generation and fuel usage at the cost of serious environmental degradation and future generations. Only smarter and cleaner technologies will help sustain the future. Politicians and policy makers  should understand various technologies and their implications than advocating short-sighted and popular energy policies.

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