Hydrogen is cheaper than Gasoline and Diesel

There is a general opinion that Hydrogen is currently very expensive compared to Gasoline and Diesel. It depends on how you generate Hydrogen. We have been using Gasoline and Diesel for several decades and actual cost of crude oil is much lower than what we are paying for Gasoline and Diesel at the service stations. Crude oil is formed naturally and all the costs involved are for pumping, transportation and refining. The cost of energy spent on transportation and refining is also comparatively low. It is the geopolitical situation in the world, supply demand gap, Government taxes and levies, inventory levels, financial market and distributors play a key role in fixing the price of these fuels. Hydrogen can be generated from tap water without involving fossil fuels at all. But Governments are spending on research and development of Hydrogen generation using fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal. It is understandable that these sources are suitable for bulk production of Hydrogen on an industrial scale. We will also be able to use existing fossil fuel infrastructure to the maximum extent. But the flip side of this approach is Hydrogen generated by this route is still not pure enough to meet Fuel cell requirements. This Hydrogen may be suitable for Hydrogen combustion engines. Why they are not suitable? For example, Hydrogen is generated from natural gas by steam reforming,Syngas is generated as an intermediary product which is a mixture of Hydrogen and Carbon monoxide; but also other impurities present in natural gas such Sulfur,Phosphrous and Mercaptans etc.Natural gas has to be purified to remove all these impurities before it can be subject to steam reformation. In spite of an elaborate purification methods adopted, Fuel cell suppliers are reluctant to guarantee the life of their Fuelcell.The Fuel cell uses expensive Platinum as a catalyst which can be readily poisoned by the presence of impurities in Hydrogen, produced from natural gas. This is one of the main reasons why Hydrogen becomes expensive by this route. Industries can pay high cost for this Hydrogen, but ordinary citizens cannot afford to pay. Hydrogen can be generated directly from tap water by simply electrolyzing it using a Direct current such as solar and wind. If we use grid power, it requires about 68kwhrs of electricity, costing about $3.40 per Kg of Hydrogen. Assuming Hydrogen will cost about $5 per kg after compression and storage, it is still worth the cost. This Hydrogen will give a mileage of 73.4 miles/kg using Fuel cell car. This is equivalent to 3.67 Gallons of Gasoline costing approximately $13.76 at the rate of $3.75 per gallon. It is very clear that Hydrogen is cheaper than Gasoline or Diesel. At the current price,Gasoline costs 275% more than Hydrogen gas. By converting existing coal and oil based power plants into IGCC, Integrated Gasification and Combined Cycle plants, Government can reduce the current emission levels of greenhouse gases, and at the same time supply electricity at the prevailing rates. We do not have to import oil or gas. Government should fund conversion of coal and oil fired power plants into IGCC plants and create Hydrogen infrastructure, by producing more Hydrogen Fuel cell cars and Hydrogen service stations. By adopting this policy, US Government can bring down the prices of crude oil in the international market which will help reduce the prices of all other petrochemical products like fertilizers, plastics, drugs and cosmetics. The crux of the issue is to divert petroleum products from fuel use to other uses. At the same time Governments can reduce their greenhouse emissions to the level demanded by scientists. By reducing the cost of solar panels to less than $1.00 per watt, Renewable Hydrogen will become a commercial reality and that will be the end of fossil fuels.

Hydrogen is the choice of Nature as the source of clean energy

There is so much discussion about Hydrogen as a source of clean energy because, it is the choice of Nature. Nature has provided us with fossil fuels which are Hydrocarbons, chemically represented by CxHy, Carbon and Hydrogen atoms. In the absence of Hydrogen in a Hydrocarbon, it is nothing but Carbon, which is an inert material. The Hydrocarbon gets its heating value only from the presence Hydrogen atom. The natural gas, now considered as the cleanest form of Hydrocarbon is represented by the chemical formula CH4, has 25% Hydrogen by weight basis. It represents the maximum Carbon to Hydrogen ratio at 1:4.This is the highest in any organic chemicals. In aromatic organic compounds such as Benzene, represented by C6H6, the Hydrogen content is only 7.69%.Even in Sugar which is an organic compound from Nature, represented chemically as C12H22O11 has only 8.27% Hydrogen. But Bioethanol, derived from sugar represented by C2H5OH has almost 13% Hydrogen. Ethyl Alcohol known as ‘Bioethanol’ derived from sugar is blended with Gasoline (Hydrocarbon) for using as a fuel in cars in countries like Brazil. Brazil is the only country that does not depend on imported Gasoline for their cars. The same Bioethanol can also be derived from Corn starch. But the starch should first be converted into sugar before alcohol is derived; it is more expensive to produce Bioethanol from corn starch than from cane sugar molasses. The climatic conditions of Brazil are more favorable for growing Cane sugar than corn. Brazil is in a more advantageous position than North America, when it comes to Bioethanol. US is one of the largest consumer of Gasoline.US has imported 11.5 million barrels/day of oil in 2010.It has used 138.5 billion gallons of Gasoline (3.30billion barrels) in 2010) according to EIA. (US Energy Information Administration) It is estimated that Brazil’s sugar based Alcohol is 30% cheaper than US’s corn based Alcohol. Brazil has successfully substituted Gasoline with locally produced alcohol .They also introduced ‘flexible fuel vehicles’ that can use various blends of Alcohol-Gasoline. Most of the Gasoline used in US has 10% Ethanol blend called E10 and E15, representing the percentage of Alcohol content in Gasoline. Brazil is the largest producers of Bioethanol in the world. Both Brazil and US account for 87.8% of Bioethanol production in the world in 2010 and 87.1% in 2011.Brazil is using Bioethanol blends of various proportions such as E20/E25/E100 (anhydrous alcohol) (Ref: Wikipedia). Almost all cars in Brazil use Bioethanol blended Gasoline and even 100% anhydrous Bioethanol is used for cars. Brazil has set an example as a ‘sustainable economy introducing alternative fuel’ to the rest of the world. The 'bagasse' from cane sugar is also used as a fuel as well in the production of ‘Biogas’, which helps Brazil to achieve sustainability on renewable energy and greenhouse gas mitigation. The above example is a clear demonstration of sustainability because natural organic material such as sugar is the basic building block by which we can build our clean energy source of the future. The same Bioethnanol can easily be reformed for the production of Hydrogen gas to generate power and run Fuel cell cars. Many companies are trying to use chemicals such as metal Hydrides as a source of Hydrogen. For example, one company successfully demonstrated using Sodium Borohydride for Hydrogen generation. Many companies are trying to find alternative sources of Hydrogen generation from water, including Photo-electrolysis using direct solar light and special photo catalyst materials. We know Nature produces sugar by using sun’s light, water and carbon dioxide from air by photosynthetic process. Can man duplicate this natural process and generate Hydrogen at the fraction of the cost by simply using water and sun’s light? The race is already on and only time can tell whether our pursuit for cheap and clean Hydrogen can become a commercial reality or just stay as an elusive dream.

Ammonia can substitute Gasoline

Ammonia is a well known industrial chemical that is manufactured worldwide as a precursor for the production of Urea. The chemistry and technology of Ammonia synthesis is well known and well established. It was a land mark achievement to fix atmospheric Nitrogen into the soil in the form of Urea as a fertilizer. It has 17.6% Hydrogen and 82.4% Nitrogen making it an ideal fuel for combustion when compared to Gasoline in terms of greenhouse gas emission because Ammonia no carbon. Handling free Hydrogen has always been a concern due to its explosive nature and lightness. Transportation of Hydrogen in the form of Ammonia is relatively cheaper and safer. A non-regulated Ammonia nursing tank at 265 psi pressure holds 3025kg Ammonia, containing 534kg Hydrogen, whereas a 5900 gallon Hydrogen tube trailer at 3200 psi pressure, contain only 350kgs of Hydrogen. Low pressure Ammonia tank with less than 25% volume contain more than 53% Hydrogen than a high pressure tube trailer. Ammonia has a lower volumetric energy density compared to other fuels.However, after subtracting energy required to elicit hydrogen from each fuel, hydrogen emerges with highest energy density compared to other fuels, and it is the only fuel which is carbon free. These qualities make Ammonia, a potential substitute for Gasoline. Ammonia need not be used as direct combustible fuel in internal combustion engines but it can be used as Hydrogen carrier safely and economically. The Hydrogen resulting from the decomposition of Ammonia can be used as fuel in a Fuel cell car as well as in a combustion engine. It can also be used to generate small onsite power using a Fuel cell or IC engine. For example, 534kg Hydrogen can generate Electricity up to 10 MW and up to 6Mw thermal energy using a Fuel cell. Currently ammonia is manufactured using fossil fuel source such as natural gas or naphtha to generate Hydrogen in the form of Syngas.But this can be effectively substituted with renewable source of Hydrogen such as Electrolysis of water using renewable solar thermal power or wind energy. Alternatively a biogas can be steam reformed to generate Hydrogen similar to natural gas. The generated Hydrogen can be compressed and stored. Nitrogen constitutes 79% of atmospheric air and it can be obtained by air liquefaction and separation by distillation or by simple membrane separation method to separate air into Nitrogen and Oxygen. The resulting Nitrogen can be compressed and stored for Ammonia sysnthsis.Production of Ammonia using Bosch Haber process is well known. Ammonia can be transported in pipelines, in tankers by road, rail or ship to various destinations. Ammonia can be readily be used as fuel using a spark ignited combustion engine with little modifications because Ammonia is classified as non-combustible fuel. Alternatively, it can be decomposed in a catalytic bed reactor and separated into Hydrogen and Nitrogen using PSA (pressure swing adsorption) system. The resulting Hydrogen can be stored to run a Fuel cell car similar to Honda FCX. Ammonia, as a Hydrogen carrier can substitute gasoline as an alternative fuel for transportation and power generation. All necessary technologies and systems are commercially available to make it a commercial reality.

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 currently 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 Fukashima 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 pipelines.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 and use captively 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 reduce 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 final 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 individual Governments.