The world's best thinkers on energy and climate
Introduction: The concept of a “hydrogen economy” took a hit in the first years of the new century when hydrogen was touted as the clean transportation fuel of the future. Prolonged failure to deliver on that vision tarnished popular perceptions. The concept didn’t die, but it receded from public attention. … [Read more...]
Highlights: Several options exist for clean fuel production in the long-term future. Next-gen biofuels have the potential to approach current oil prices at a low environmental cost. Hydrogen can be produced economically from excess wind/solar power, nuclear heat or fossil fuels with CCS. … [Read more...]
What is meant by "externalized costs"? Externalized costs are real costs that are not quantified within the levelized cost calculations presented in the internalized cost articles. These costs are directly or indirectly paid by various sectors of the economy in forms such as pollution-related health costs, grid integration costs of intermittent renewables, and a reduction in the free services rendered by the biosphere. … [Read more...]
Growth in hydrogen fueling transportation infrastructure and fuel cell vehicle (FCV) sales is advancing the concept of a true “hydrogen highway” – and ultimately the potential for more rapid growth in retail hydrogen fuel sales. Commercial sales for hydrogen transportation fuel are not included in the market sizing estimate as this data is just beginning to become available, for two reasons. … [Read more...]
The hydrogen economy had been written off as a failure by most industry watchers, writes independent energy expert and former software engineer Roger Arnold. Lately, however, hydrogen seems to be making a comeback. Not because of any special technology breakthroughs but because persistence and general advances have begun to pay off. … [Read more...]
As part of the quest of having energy sources that produce near-zero CO2 emissions, energy systems analysts have looked at hydrogen as one such source. They see hydrogen as a possible fuel for transportation. In California, the hydrogen economy movement has received support, in the form of subsidies and demonstration projects, from the state government and environmental groups, often supported and financed by prominent Hollywood … [Read more...]
As hydrogen refueling stations begin to appear, including one from Shell opening near London, Toyota makes its Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle more widely available and iron ore smelters even look to hydrogen as an alternative reducing agent (rather than coal) that doesn’t involve carbon, it would appear that this important energy carrier is beginning to show its potential. The final energy (i.e. energy we use) mix in use today is less than … [Read more...]
Hydrogen, which can be used to store energy, produce electricity and fuel vehicles, is one of the innovation priorities for French energy giant Engie (€70 billion revenue). This is a company that prides itself on its diversity however, explains Stephane Quere, Innovation Director at Engie, with activities stretching from Europe to Africa and Asia, and businesses from gas distribution to security systems. Some of the main priorities for Engie are … [Read more...]
The technology that produces hydrogen using renewable electricity has already passed crucial regulatory tests for grid balancing in a commercial environment, despite what I said here a month ago. For over 30 years the prophets of green energy have been promoting the idea that the “hydrogen age” is just around the corner. The gas is abundant in the form of water, molecules of which possess two hydrogen atoms for every oxygen atom. Making it … [Read more...]
My Energy Quest in the DesertSome readers are aware that I am presently in Arizona working on a project. At some point I will write an in-depth article about the things I am working on, but today I want to pull the curtain back just a bit.In a series of articles in 2010, I wrote about methanol’s potential as an alternative fuel. I dealt with the common criticisms about methanol — toxicity, corrosion, energy density — and I argued that methanol … [Read more...]
Hydrogen fuel cells are emerging as key players in the clean energy landscape of the future, except for one problem: it takes a lot of energy to make hydrogen, and here in the US, the preferred source of that energy appears to be natural gas. That’s hardly a sustainable solution. However, not to worry. Researchers have been turning their attention to renewable energy for producing low-cost hydrogen. The most recent development is a low-cost … [Read more...]
Interview with Dr. Mustafa Hatipoğlu, managing director of the International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET), a UNIDO project supported by the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. A hydrogen economy – a system of delivering energy using hydrogen – is proposed as a solution to some of the negative effects of using hydrocarbon fuels. What might a hydrogen economy look like in practice?Currently, the world … [Read more...]
Nico Hotz, a Duke University researcher, discusses solar power generation research that involves using hydrogen as a vehicle for creating electricity. Full Transcript: Ben Lack: You’ve got some pretty interesting findings on trying to get more generation capacity out of solar panels.What’s the problem that you were trying to solve and how you came across the research. Nico Hotz: The problem or the question that we wanted to … [Read more...]
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