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Tag Archives: Renewable energy

The solar,wind and water- three keys for energy independance

Renewable Hydrogen is the key that can offer us energy independence in the twenty-first century. Fossil fuel usage will still continue for some more time because the world has already invested massively on fossil fuel infrastructures. The stacks are too high for them to switch over to renewable over night. It is the Mother Nature who provided us coal, oil and gas all these years using her manufacturing process under the earth over millions of years. But we human beings exceeded her tolerance limit by emitting greenhouse emission by our rapid growth in population and industrialisation.We failed to discover an alternate fuel in time and continued with an age-old technology with all its inefficiencies. Inefficiencies breed pollution. We were keen to use the heat of combustion by burning a fossil fuel to generate electricity or drive our cars, but paid no attention to the gases released during such combustion. We learnt Thermodynamics and the relationship between heat and work, but failed to understand the consequences of gases of combustion and its impact on our environment.

There are two issues involved in burning a fossil fuel to generate electricity. The heat of combustion is an exothermic reaction and we get a certain amount of heat. Then we convert this heat energy into electrical energy and the overall efficiency of such conversion is about thirty-five percent. Only thirty-five percent of the heat input energy becomes electrical energy and the remaining sixty-five percent heat along with gases of combustion are released into atmosphere. Of course part of this heat is recovered in a commercial plant, but the bulk of heat is released into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. We failed to understand the potential of Hydrogen even though we used Hydrocarbon for several decades. We even discovered Urea, the fertilizer that caused ‘green revolution’ in agriculture, using the same Hydrogen present in the Hydrocarbon feedstock. It is time for us to make best use of a fossil fuel to its most potential when we burn each kilogram of fuel. We should burn coal not just with air but also with steam so that we can generate Hydrogen rich gas that can run a gas turbine in a combined cycle or run our cars on roads. Such a conversion will lead to a substantial increase in energy efficiency as well as in greenhouse gas emission reduction. Governments in industrialized countries should make it a mandatory to convert all their power plants to syngas generation as described above. They should also discourage new plants using fossil fuels with punitive power tariffs and encourage renewable energy projects with higher tariffs. Governments can also impose similar tariffs for transportation depending upon the fuel used such as fossil fuel or Hydrogen.

Governments should encourage renewable energy projects such as solar and wind   to generate Hydrogen from water as centralized power plants and distribute DC (direct current) by rural electrification. If the country side is electrified using this system then, agriculture, business and industries can thrive in rural areas. Direct current (DC) distribution net work can be installed in rural areas and encourage people to use energy-efficient appliances such as Direct current air-conditioners with energy star ratings and tariffs. Governments can bring about these changes by adopting a ‘carrot and stick ‘policy to encourage renewable and discourage fossil fuels.

Solar energy is the key from which all other forms of energy emanate such as wind, geothermal and ocean thermal energy conversion system.  It is of paramount importance to increase the efficiency of renewable systems and improve energy efficiencies of appliances we use. It is simpler to use LED bulbs using a Direct current generated by Renewable Hydrogen. It is once again the Mother Nature that can come to the rescue of human beings through solar, wind and water to generate clean energy for the twenty-first century.

Energy generation and distribution is no longer a business or revenue issue but a moral and ethical issue for Governments. It is only people who can bring about such sweeping changes by electing the right Government who can care for the environment. The future generation will judge us only based on what kind of environment we leave them behind.

All roads lead to Hydrogen

We have discussed about the formation of fossil fuel as part of carbon cycle. It takes several million years before the carbon from the plants and animals turn into fossil fuels due to chemical reactions under higher pressure and temperature. The fossil fuels include solid coal, liquid oil and gaseous Hydrocarbons such as crude oil and natural gas. The natural gas forms the top layer due to its lightness. Natural gas is also the result of anaerobic reaction by microorganism in the absence of air converting organic matter under the earth into a gas. The gas during exploration comes with great pressure to be transported across several kilometers. We are actually duplicating this process to generate Biogas from our food and agriculture wastes and other organic matters. The end product is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. During oil and gas exploration we get methane and carbon dioxide and other gases such as Hydrogen sulfide depending upon the location of the oil field. That is why Sulfur  and other products such as Mercaptans are present in crude oil and natural gas. When these fossil fuels are burnt the gaseous combustion  products contain sulfur dioxide and oxide of nitrogen along with oxides of carbon.  Air is normally used for combustion which is a mixture of Nitrogen and oxygen in the ration of 71:21,therefore, the combustion products invariably consist of oxides of nitrogen.

We are so addicted to oil and we are even trying to convert  natural gas into oil, similar to gasoline using GTL (gas to oil) process. However all these combustion processes can be reacted with steam to form synthesis gas, a precursor for liquid Hydrocarbon. It is quite obvious that water in the form of steam is a key part in future energy mixes because that is how one can introduce a Hydrogen molecule in the reaction process. Hydrogen in the form of water is the key. Even if we can successfully steam reform natural gas to get Hydrogen we still have problems deal thing with traces of sulfur and Mercaptans, potential poison for  catalyst in PEM (Proton exchange membrane) Fuelcells.The idea  is to generate Hydrogen using a carbonaceous source such as fossil fuel for simple reasons. It is abundantly available but it emits greenhouse gases; but when you introduce Hydrogen into the mix then there is a good possibility of reducing greenhouse emission, even though we still use fossil fuels. Secondly, we are cautious to handle pure Hydrogen due to its explosive nature and the best available option is to mix Hydrogen with combustion products of fossil fuels. The result is the formation of Syngas.

Syngas is an important intermediary that will lead us to the Hydrogen economy of the futue.The syngas can be generated by various methods as long as we have an organic source and water (steam) source. In fact all food and agriculture waste can be converted into syngas either using a biological process or by gasification process. Both will lead to formation of  Methane or syngas.

Syngas is a mixture of hydrogen with carbon dioxide formed in the following sequences, starting with carbon ,air and  steam.

2C + O2——– 2 CO

2CO + 2H2O———2H2 +2 CO2

The carbon source can be any organic source such as coal, coke, wood etc.As you can see in the reaction, the quantity of carbon source is equally important to generate Hydrogen. One can say that Syngas is a match maker between fossil economy of the past and Hydrogen economy of the future. It is a very important chemical reaction that will change the future energy scene in the world.

That is why many counties like US and Australia and in Europe who have much coal deposits are now trying to generate Hydrogen from coal. Once coal is converted into a gas such as syngas then they are one step closer to separate Hydrogen from syngas.Number of companies and research  organizations  around the world are trying to develop  an efficient and economical method of generating Hydrogen from coal. They have to find suitable conditions to generate higher yield of Hydrogen from syngas and then find an efficient system to separate Hydrogen from carbon dioxide. As I have mentioned earlier, the purity of Hydrogen is important especially when we use coal as the basic material because it has number of impurities to be  removed  before converting into a syngas.

As we can see, all energy roads are now leading to Hydrogen as the final clean fuel of the future. When the demand for Hydrogen increase, the demand for water too will   increase because it is the direct source of Hydrogen. Energy and water are two side of the same coin as I have mentioned earlier in the past.

Hydrogen assisted combustion

We have been using fossil fuels like diesel, petrol and natural gas for power generation and transportation from the time of industrial revolution. The basic fuel and the combustion technology are practically the same with efficiencies less than 40%. In fact we have become very complacent with both the fuel and the combustion technology and there were no major research and development on both the above issues. In fact we became completely dependent on these two issues and there was no real breakthrough either in substituting the fossil fuel or in the combustion technology. The basic reason behind this situation can be attributed to the discovery of electromagnetism, which opened the way for electricity generation as well as transportation. In both these industries, the key part is the motor which provided a rotary motion. This rotary motion generates electricity in turbines and such motion is created by combustion of a fuel, which is invariably a fossil fuel. We have carried on this for few decades before the emission of greenhouse started rising abnormally and became an issue.

We are now at cross roads wondering what the future holds for the world. Is it possible to carry on the business as usual or look for an alternative source of energy? We started looking at various sources of energy as an alternative. Any alternative energy source should meet two critical parameters namely the lower or no carbon emission and sustainability. Low carbon can be achieved by few methods. The immediate option is to maximize the energy efficiency of existing systems so that for the given input of fuel the output is much higher than what we have achieved all these years. But this increase in efficiency should be real to achieve the emission levels of greenhouse suggested by the UN panel on climate change.

The second option will be to switch over to different fuels with less carbon emission e.g., coal-fired power plants switching over to gas-fired power plants using combined cycle. Retrofitting organic Rankin cycle as a bottoming for steam turbines to squeeze out some extra energy. Decentralizing the power plants in a phased manner in favor of distributed energy systems where gas, instead of electricity, can be supplied to each industry, to generate their own power using CHP process. All these measures can help reduce the emission level but our dependency on fossil fuel will still continue.

W can look at a completely different fuel source and new technology for power generation and transportation. If we look at carefully there are not many alternative fuel sources except Hydrogen that could meet these limits. We are also trying to develop bio fuels. But biofuels are also organic chemicals with carbon backbone which will generate greenhouse emission. Moreover bio fuel sources such as palm oil, corn are also food sources. There is an indiscriminate deforestation and plantation of palm trees in tropical countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and PNG. The focus is now shifting to carbon based organic compounds like biofuel and biogas. This will create a situation where food crops will be substituted with energy crops creating food shortage.But the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere may not be reduced drastically by these methods.

We need to develop an energy source which does not emit any carbon emission and at the same time we should be able to use existing technology to the possible extent. Only Hydrogen can meet these requirements. In the current situation it is impossible to substitute fossil fuels in a short span of time. We can cut fossil fuels by blending with Hydrogen to the most extent possible so that we can meet two goals. We can cut the carbon emission and at the same time we can deploy Hydrogen as a blended fuel with fossil fuel and not, pure Hydrogen. Since Hydrogen is a very light gas and readily forms an explosive mixture with oxygen, this opens up a new opportunity to develop Hydrogen assisted combustion process in power generation as well as in transportation. It will be easier to handle a mixture of natural gas and Hydrogen for combustion in Gas turbine, or spark ignited reciprocating engines, as well as, gasoline combustion engines in cars. This will also gives us an opportunity to develop advanced and competitive systems like Fuel cell as an alternative technology for combustion process in due course of time.

The hydrogen assisted combustion technology is much easier, faster and economical and at the same time cut the greenhouse emission to an accepted level. But the source of such Hydrogen cannot be natural gas but only renewable sources. The renewable technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion) should generate renewable Hydrogen. This is the key for sustainability as well as for greenhouse gas mitigation. These two benefits are too attractive to ignore and it is time we move from total fossil fuel to Hydrogen blended fossil fuel. The blended fuel along with the energy efficiency measures suggested above should go hand in hand, so that we may get over this turbulent period of financial crisis and global warming.

It is also possible that Hydrogen assisted combustion be adopted for coal-fired power plants by simply firing coal slurry, finely powdered coal blended with water and conveyed pneumatically for firing boilers and also for gasification process to generate syngas for IGCC (Integrated gasification and combined cycle) applications. Syngas production will be critical in the near future for a smoother transition from fossil economy to Hydrogen economy irrespective of the route we adopt.

Hydrogen from seawater

Seawater is an inexhaustible source of Hydrogen but the cost of generating Hydrogen from seawater is much higher compared to normal tap water. The quality of water should have a minimum electric conductivity at 0.1 micro Siemens/cm for electrolysis. Even our tap water is not up to this purity and it requires further purification. The electric conductivity of seawater is about 54,000 micro Siemens/cm.The conductivity increases due to the presence of dissolved salts. But seawater can be desalinated using the process of distillation or by the process called ‘reverse osmosis’. In both the above processes, desalination requires a large input of energy in the form of thermal or electrical. Currently the source of such energy comes from fossil fuels, which is one the biggest emitters of greenhouse gas emission. Many countries in the Middle East have shortage of fresh water and most of these countries depend on desalination of seawater for their fresh water requirements. The cost of desalinated water varies from $ 1.00 to $ 1.75/m3 depending upon the capacity, site and the cost of energy. The fresh water for potable purpose normally has a TDS (Total dissolved solids) of 500ppm (parts per million) or less and this can further be lowered to a required level using reverse osmosis.

Currently Hydrogen is generated as a by-product on an industrial scale by electrolysis of saturated sodium chloride brine during the production of Caustic soda. Chlorine is another by-product in the above process. Most of Caustic soda manufacturers use Hydrogen as a fuel or for the production of Hydrochloric acid. But there is an opportunity in caustic soda plants to use Hydrogen to generate more electricity using PEM (Proto exchange membrane) Fuel cell suitable for their electrolysis. This will aid these industries to cut their energy consumption, which is one of the highest in Chemical industries.

Alternatively, offshore wind turbines can be installed to generate power for seawater desalination and Hydrogen production. Offshore wind turbines generate 50% more energy than onshore wind turbines. An integrated process to generate fresh water, Hydrogen using wind turbine is an interesting renewable energy application. The stored Hydrogen can used to generate electricity in remote islands where diesel is used as a fuel. Most of the island in Pacific use diesel predominantly for boat as well as for power generators at exorbitant costs. The wind velocity in such islands is good to generate cheap and clean electricity. For example, the island of PNG has a severe power shortage and it is well located near Coral Sea, which has one of the highest wind velocities in Pacific Ocean. An average wind velocity of 7mts/sec and above is an ideal place for wind turbines. Since these islands are small with less population, wind generated Hydrogen is an ideal solution for their power problems. They can also desalinate seawater to supply drinking water using wind generated power. In fact they can also use Hydrogen as a fuel for their boats and generate power for their cold storage for fisheries. International financial institutions and local banks should come forward to fund such projects instead of funding diesel boats and generators. These islands have pristine water and abundant fish and their main income is only tourism.

Sun, Sand and wind is an ideal combination to generate renewable power all round the year and for tourism industry. It is an opportunity these islands cannot afford to miss. The author is personally involved in a wind based Hydrogen solution for a small island in pacific. The people of this island welcome such projects because it guarantees them an uninterrupted supply of clean power and drinking water. Otherwise they have to sell most of fish catches in a nearby city to buy diesel and drinking water just to survive!

 

 

Ocean-the largest source of Clean energy

Water makes up seventy-one percent of the planet earth and ninety-eight percent of it makes up the ocean.  It is a single source of water for all forms of life on earth and it also plays an important role in climate changes in the atmosphere. Ocean is the biggest heat sink and absorbs sun’s heat and also a carbon sink absorbing excess carbon dioxide from atmosphere. The surface temperature of seawater is warmer than the temperature at the bottom of the ocean. Sun supplies solar energy to the ocean. In fact the water temperature in Deep Ocean is about 15-20C less than the surface temperature, and it is used as a working fluid to cool buildings by evaporative cooling without using any electricity like commercial air-conditioning.

OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion) system is a potential method of generating power using the temperature gradient between ocean’s surface water and ocean’s deep water. A temperature difference, as small as 15 -20C is enough to generate power using Kalina cycle, like geothermal energy systems. Commercial plants using this technology are already in operation in few countries. The biggest advantage with open cycle ocean thermal energy conversion system is the fresh water (desalinated ocean water) as a by-product. This technology is unique because it can generate not only power but also drinking water from sea without polluting the air with greenhouse gas emissions. In fact this technology should be deployed commercially is many islands around the world, where there is always a demand for power and drinking water.

“Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink”. It is the situation in many islands and many parts of the world. Islands like Maldives and Mauritius should adopt this technology to generate power and supply drinking water without burning fossil fuels like diesel or setting up desalination plants. Of course, the economy of scale and finance is an issue in many islands.

PNG (Papua New Guinea) is one of the biggest islands in Pacific Ocean where there is s severe shortage of   power and water. The country is endowed with rich minerals, oil and gas but the basic necessity like power and water are in short supply. OTEC will be an ideal solution for such islands. Fresh water supply is going to be a major issue in parts of the world due to global warming and climate changes. In countries like India, drinking water is in short supply and a number of seawater desalination plants are coming up. Bottled waters are expensive and unaffordable to a common man. This will only increase the power requirements in the country when there is already a massive shortage of power. OTEC is an ideal solution for India with its long coastal line.

One of the major issues with current power generation technologies is the pollution. In any combustion process involving fossil fuel the combustion products like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and Oxides of Nitrogen (the greenhouse gases) will contribute global warming. What is the level of such emission and how fast the globe is warming is a futile argument. The pollution can be small in term of PPM (parts per million) but the cumulative effects over several decades is a major issue and that cannot be simply dismissed. There are many places where the Arsenic content in drinking water is above certain acceptable levels (only in ppms) but such small excess cause debilitating health conditions. This is the same argument with greenhouse emission and global warming. It can be gradual and insignificant but it will reach a tipping point and dramatic changes can happen all of a sudden. Nature has got its own mechanism to adjust any imbalances and keep up certain equilibrium. But humans cannot take them for granted and pollute the air and water indiscriminately. There will be a price to pay.

 

Ocean is the largest and inexhaustible source of Hydrogen. Currently Caustic soda plants use sodium chloride (salt) brine as the raw material for conversion into Caustic soda; the by-products are Hydrogen and Chlorine. Caustic soda plants are currently using Hydrogen as a fuel or use to manufacture Hydrochloric acid. They can generate on site power using Hydrogen to offset their energy cost. In both water electrolysis as well as brine electrolysis, Hydrogen is a product and Ocean water is the largest source of such Hydrogen. In fact countries should generate Hydrogen using desalinated water and OTEC power. The stored Hydrogen is a stored energy that can be used as and when required. That is why we believe ‘water and energy are two sides of the same coin’.

 

Renewable Hydrogen- Future source of clean energy

I use the word ‘renewable Hydrogen’ for the Hydrogen derived from water using  renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, wave energy, ocean thermal energy conversion systems and biological processes. Hydrogen is clearly the energy source of the future because it has got the highest energy content, compared to any other fossil fuels such a diesel, gasoline, or Butane. The energy content is more than three times that of natural gas, which is considered as the cleanest commercial fuel available in the market. The heating value of Hydrogen is 61,100Btu/lb compared to 23,879 Btu/lb of natural gas. Moreover, only Hydrogen can guarantee a complete reduction of Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The problem with renewable Hydrogen is the cost, at current situation. The DOE (department of energy, USA) has targeted a cost for Hydrogen production at $10to $15 per mmBtu, which is comparable with current Natural gas cost. Currently bulk of the Hydrogen is commercially produced by steam reforming natural gas. However; this process will emit carbon dioxide at the rate of 11,888gms per Kg of Hydrogen produced. Though the cost of Hydrogen by this route is cheaper, mitigation of carbon dioxide is clearly an environmental issue. However it is an important route during the transition process from fossil fuel to a full fledged Hydrogen economy of the future.

Natural gas is increasingly in demand and the price of natural gas keeps increasing as the supply demand gap widens. Large natural gas liquefaction plants are already in operation in many parts of the world and number of new plants are under implementation or under planning stages. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan are three largest importers of LNG (liquefied natural gas) from Australia in Pacific region. There are many coal seam methane gas facilities already in operation in Australia and many are under planning. Due to the disaster at Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan has stepped up its import of LNG. India and China, which have been traditionally using coal as a major fuel, have started importing LNG for their power plants. This has pushed the prices of LNG in the international market significantly. Though LNG is relatively a cleaner fuel, it is very expensive to build import terminals. Moreover countries like India and China do not have a good distribution network by peipelines.The economy of scale also favor only large capacity LNG plants and terminals.  However it is not a sustainable solution in the long run considering the fact that supply of natural gas also keeps dwindling steadily. Despite all these obstacles, Governments around the world are looking only for short-term solutions like LNG, simply because it is an easy fix.

Biogas can be generated from organic waste and waste waters by anaerobic digestion. Many sewage treatment plants around the world have started generating biogas to generate power for captive use and to export the surplus power to the grid. Similarly municipalities are also implementing projects to convert ‘waste garbage’ to ‘energy’. However, the scale of operation favors only large capacity plants in larger cities. However these biogas plants will still emit carbon dioxide because biogas will be combusted using conventional engines, micro turbines and Fuelcells.This is once again a temporary solution only. We need to look beyond all these technologies to really cut the greenhouse emissions.

The only option is by Renewable Hydrogen and we need to take steps to make it a commercial reality. Biohydrogen is another potential technology. However the technology is still in a nascent stage but it is promising. Renewable Hydrogen using renewable energy sources are our best bet. Countries have already started investing in renewable energy infrastructures such as solar and wind. They can as well plan for renewable Hydrogen so that they can be certain about three things. One, they can generate and use uninterrupted power supply without importing oil or gas. Secondly they can be certain that greenhouse emissions can be reduced to pre-industrialization level. Thirdly they can be certain about the last cost of energy and its stability in the long run. These are three important factors every citizen of a country is looking for. It requires political will, determination and swift action on the part of each Government.

Hydrogen-the only alternative to Petrol

Our modern civilization has been shaped by oil or Hydrocarbons for several decades to such an extent that there is no immediate substitute for petrol, the world can count on. In fact the world has been complacent about the availability of Hydrocarbon, its applications and its future. Political leaders have competed with each other to make sure that their supply of oil and gas is guaranteed as a  matter of national security. Some countries even waged wars to secure oil fields. This situation is getting worse, as the supply of oil and gas are becoming uncertain and supplies dwindling. Each and every human being in the world is affected by oil and gas in one way or other, irrespective of the size, geography and rate of industrialization. The main reason for this situation is, the contribution of hydrocarbons made in the field of power generation and transportation.

Currently more than 80% of power generation comes from fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. The entire transportation industry all over the world depends on oil and gas. The petrochemical industry’s contribution to our modern civilization is tremendous. It encompasses a whole range of industries whether it is fertilizers or plastics and resins or chemical industries or drugs and pharmaceuticals or cosmetic and toiletries and so on. These major industries determine the progress, civilization and industrialization of a nation. Countries who have vast resources of oil and gas are one of the richest countries in the world, even though these countries have no other resources. Countries with vast population and resources have to depend on oil and gas imports for their industries and transports. Countries with vast mineral resources cannot run their mines without power or transportation.

It is time we look at why oil and gas has become such a critical components in the progress of a nation and how this situation can be overcome. The two major technologies, which depend upon hydrocarbons, are power generation and transportation. Both these technologies use heat as a primary energy. In power generation, heat energy is converted into mechanical energy and then to electrical energy. In transport industry, the heat energy of the fuel is converted into mechanical energy. In petrochemical industry; oil and gas are converted into various chemical products by various chemical reactions and processes.

If we closely look at the Hydrocarbon molecule, one thing is obvious. In a Hydrocarbon molecule, Hydrogen atoms are attached to carbon atoms. A simple example is, Natural gas or Methane gas, represented by chemical formula CH4. Four Hydrogen atoms are attached to a carbon atom, which actually imparts the heat energy (heat content) to the molecule. Without Hydrogen atoms, it is nothing but carbon. If we look at the heat value of Natural gas and Hydrogen, one will understand that Hydrogen has got a higher heating value. What is more interesting is there will be no greenhouse emission (carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide) by combusting Hydrogen. It is only water that is the byproduct of combustion of Hydrogen. If we can generate power or drive a car by combusting a Hydrocarbon, then why not combust Hydrogen to generate power or drive a car using the same combustion process? Even if one considers Hydrogen as too dangerous to handle, a mixture of a minor part of biogas or natural with Hydrogen should solve the issue. It is certainly possible and only Hydrogen can replace oil and gas. We can use a combustion technology we knew for decades or use Fuel cell technology that we start using recently with Hydrogen. It is a clean technology and it does not emit smoke or make noise. Whichever way we looks at it, only hydrogen can replace Petrol. Sooner it does, better for the world.

 

Hydrogen-the key to sustainability

Renewable energy is one of the fastest growing energy sources of our times. But still there are many obstacles to overcome, before it can substitute current methods of electricity generation using fossil fuels, or substitute petrol in cars. The main obstacle is, the intermittent and unpredictable nature of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Wind blows only certain seasons of the year and then wind velocity fluctuates widely in a day. Similarly sun shines only certain hours in a day and the intensity of radiation varies widely in a day. The wind velocity and sun’s radiation intensity are critical components in designing a reliable energy system. It is an anomalous situation, when we need power, there is no sun or wind; when sun shines or wind blows, we may not need any power. How to overcome this anomaly? That is the key, in successfully deploying renewable energy technologies.

Currently we are using batteries to store the energy. When there is a wind with reasonable velocity or sunshine with reasonable radiation intensity, we can generate power and store them in batteries. The wind velocity should be above certain threshold limit, say such as, a least wind velocity of 3mts/sec for amount of hours, while designing a wind based energy system. The same principle applies to solar energy and we need certain minimum solar   intensity and several hours. But in reality, we don’t get these minimum operating parameters, which make the design of a renewable system more complicated.

Batteries can accumulate these small energy generations by intermittent sources of wind and sun, and store them. But these batteries have certain life between 3-5 years and requires regular maintenance, replacements.They also have certain charging and discharging cycles and limitations. At the end of its life, it has to be disposed carefully because these batteries are made of lead and acid, which are toxic materials. Many companies are trying to introduce better technologies such as ‘flow batteries’. But experience shows that such batteries are confined to only smaller capacities. Large scale storage is expensive and sometimes it is not economically feasible. Lithium-ion batteries are more efficient than Lead-acid batteries, but they are more expensive so the renewable energy projects become expensive and cannot compete with conventional fossil fuels, in spite of higher tariffs offered by Government as incentives. Moreover the demand for Lithium-ion batteries will increase substantially in the future, as more and more Electric cars are produced. But lithium sources are limited and it is not sustainable.

The best option to develop renewable energy systems is to generate Hydrogen using renewable energy and store them, instead of storing them in batteries. We can use stored Hydrogen to generate power, or use as fuel for the car, as and when we need. There are no maintenance or disposal problems with Hydrogen storage, when comparing with batteries. Hydrogen generators (electrolyzers) can generate Hydrogen when the intermittent power flows from wind or sun. They can run from a range of capacities from 5 to 100% of rated capacity and they are more suitable for renewable energy sources. But there will be a loss of energy, because the amount of power required to generate Hydrogen, is more than the power generated from the resulting Hydrogen by a Fuelcell.The initial cost will be higher, but it will give operational flexibility with least maintenance, and even adoptable to remote sites. Technology is improving to cut the cost of fuel cells and electrolyzers so that Hydrogen based renewable energy will become a sustainable source of energy in the future. Hydrogen is the only solution that can solve both power generation and transportation problems the world is currently facing.

Water and Energy

We know from the famous equation  of Albert Einstein , that a tiny amount of mass is a vast storehouse of energy. But even the molecular Hydrogen as a result of water decomposition, is a promising energy source of the future. However, the amount of energy we use to split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen is higher compared to the amount of energy that Hydrogen can generate using Fuel celll. But we can mitigate this problem by using Renewable   energy such as PV solar, Solar (thermal), wind energy, geothermal energy, and Ocean thermal energy conversion. The cost of renewable energy is still expensive for two reasons;

  1. We are used to cheap energy from fossil fuels for decades, and we have already recovered most of these investments.

2. A complete switch over to renewable energy technologies will require massive new investment. Unlike the investments we made on fossil fuel infrastructures over several decades, we have to invest on renewable Energy development on a massive scale, and we have to deploy them in a shorter span of time, simultaneously all over the world. Currently there is no such infrastructure in renewable energy industry in existence.

Meanwhile the unabated emission of carbon dioxide by fossil fuels is causing global warming. There are many skeptics on the science on global warming. Such skepticism does not stem from the fact that they have a concrete proof but, ‘such skepticism’ serves their vested interest. Politicians who are in power do not want any increase in the cost of energy, which becomes unpopular among people may eventually, throw them out of power. They say they want to serve people with low cost energy but, neither politicians nor the common man understands the consequences of such measures.

It will be our future generations who will face the brunt of this skepticism, by facing fuel shortage or unaffordable cost of fuel, erratic climate change, and frequent natural catastrophies.It is time for the world to act decisively and swiftly and move towards renewable energy, by massive investment and creation of new skills and jobs on a very large scale.

The companies who have massively invested in fossil power plants, and the governments who depend on the support of such companies and who want to keep the energy cost low, because of its popularity, are the major list of scientists opposing main stream scientific assessment of global warming. The hidden cost of environmental challenges and its consequences is much higher than the savings, due to cheap fossil fuels. It requires a paradigm shift and a sense of social justice, in the minds of Governments and companies. It is not all that difficult to switch over to cleaner technologies. In fact most of the technologies are already available and it requires only a ‘will, bold decision and leadership’ by Governments.

Any clean energy solution should be sustainable in the long run. Hydrogen can meet not only the sustainability but even the transition from fossil fuel to Hydrogen will be smooth. To start with all existing fossil fuel infrastructures can be modified towards Hydrogen generation, and fuel cell based Electricity generation  infrastructures. Of course this will require large investment but compared to a complete shift to renewable energy, it will require only a relatively smaller investment. For example, all fuel stations can be converted into Hydrogen stations by simply installing steam reformers, including LNG based fuel stations. All gasoline based automobiles can be either fitted with Hydrogen IC engines, or converted to fuel cells cars similar to Honda FXL models. If the Governments all over the world can agree for such conversion and a complete shift to Hydrogen economy then, it can become a reality in the next decade. We have to focus on ‘Renewable Hydrogen’, which can come from seawater, a waste source of Hydrogen using renewable energy sources, and Biohydrogen  using from waste organic matters. The future generation will not only have a cleaner and affordable fuel but, a more sustainable future!

” Water and Clean Energy -Two sides of the same coin”

Why I say “water and clean energy, are two sides of the same coin?” At the outset, it may sound odd, but in reality, these two are closely interconnected. Let us examine, step by step, how they are connected, to each other, and what are the implications, in terms of cost, and environmental issues.

Take for example, power generation industries. The two basic materials, any power plant require, are, fuel and water. It does not matter, what kind of fuel is used, whether it is a coal based power plant or liquid fuel based plant like Naphtha, or gas based plants, like piped natural gas or LNG Of course, this statement is applicable only, for existing, conventional power generation technologies, and not for PV solar or wind energy, technologies. Let us consider, only power generation, involving conversion of thermal energy, into electrical energy. Today, more than 80% of power generation in the world, is based on thermal power, including nuclear plants. What is the usage of water in power plants? All thermal power plants use steam, as the prime motive force, to drive the turbines, (gas turbine is an exception, but, even in gas based plants, the secondary motive force,  is steam, using waste heat recovery boilers, in combined cycle operations). The quality of water for conversion into steam is of high quality, purer, than our drinking water. The second usage of water is for cooling purpose. The water consumption by power plants, using once through cooling system is 1 lit/kwhr, and by closed circuit cooling tower, it is 1.7lit/kwhr .Only about 40% power plants in Europe, for example, use closed circuit cooling towers, and the rest use only ‘once through’ cooling systems. The total power generated in 2010, by two largest users, namely US and China, were 3792Twhrs and 3715 Twhrs  respectively. The total world power production, in 2008 was 20,262 Twhrs, using following methods.

Fossil fuel: Coal 41 %, Oil 5.50%, Gas 21%, Nuclear 13% and Hydro 16%.

Renewable: PV solar 0.06%, PV thermal 0.004%, Wind 1.1%, Tide  0.003 %, Geothermal 0.3%, Biomass &others 1.30%.

(1Twhrs is = 1,000,000,000 kwhrs)

The above statistics, gives us an idea, on how much water, is being used, by power generating plants, in the world. Availability of fresh water, on planet earth, is only 2.5% (96. 5% oceans, 1.70% ground water, 1.7% glaciers and ice caps, and 0.001% in the air, as vapor and clouds).The world’s precious water source, is used for power generation, while millions of people, do have water, to drink. The cost of bottled drinking water is US$ 0.20 /lit, in countries like, India. This situation is simply unsustainable.

The prime cause, for this situation, is lack of technology, to produce clean power, without using water. The power technology, we use today, is based on the principle of electromagnetism, invented, by Michael Faraday, in the year 1839. That is why, renewable energy, is becoming critically important, at this juncture, when the world is, at the cross road.

In order to overcome, the shortage of fresh water, many countries are now opting, for seawater desalination. Desalination, again, is an energy intensive process. For example 3-4 kwhrs of power is used, to desalinate 1 m3 of water. This  power has to come, from fossil fuel fired, thermal power plants, which are often co-located, with desalination plants, so that, all the discharge, from both the plants, can be easily pumped into the sea. Since, the world is running out of fresh water, we have to look for attentive source of water. In countries like India, the ground water is being exploited, for agricultural purpose, and the ground water is getting depleted. Depleting water resources is a threat to agriculture production. It is a vicious circle.

That is why, distributed energy systems, using Hydrogen as an alternative fuel,  is an important step, towards sustainability. One can generate Hydrogen from water, using renewable energy source, like solar or wind, and store them, for future usage. The stored Hydrogen can be used to generate power, as and when required, at any remote location (even where there is no grid power).The water is regenerated, during this process of power generation using Fuelcell, which can be recycled. There is no large consumption of water, and there is no greenhouse emission. It is a clean and sustainable solution. The same stored Hydrogen can also be used as a fuel for your car! Therefore; (The above statics are based on Wikipedia data).

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