This too from David Suzuki is very interesting.
davidsuzuki.org
"Dirty" hydrogen could foul fuel cell potential
3/21/00
Vancouver - The green halo around fuel cells could vanish
if the wrong fuel is chosen to power them, wasting their
clean-energy potential, according to a report released
today by the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina
Institute for Appropriate Development.
The report, Climate-Friendly Hydrogen Fuel, says that
while the fuel cell itself produces no harmful emissions,
generating the hydrogen they use as fuel could cause
almost as much damage to the earth's climate as burning
gasoline in today's cars.
"The fuel cell is a remarkable technology that has the
potential to replace the internal combustion engine as a
clean and economic source of power. But if we make
hydrogen from the wrong fuel source, such as gasoline,
we will have squandered a crucial opportunity to address
global warming and air pollution," says David Hocking,
Communications Director for the David Suzuki Foundation.
"Our life-cycle analysis of the various systems proposed
for hydrogen fuel supply shows that they differ widely in
the pollution they cause. Up to now there has been
virtually no public discussion of those differences," says
Rob Macintosh of the Pembina Institute for Appropriate
Development.
To be truly pollution-free, the hydrogen must come from
a renewable source, such as solar or wind power.
Unfortunately, hydrogen from these sources is not yet
available commercially. Currently, hydrogen is created by
passing a heavy electric current through water or by
stripping it out of fossil fuels, such as natural gas,
methanol or gasoline.
According to the report, the cleanest option among those
available today is to strip hydrogen from natural gas.
That approach would cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the
main culprit behind global warming, by about 70 per cent.
"Until renewable sources of hydrogen are commercially
available, we must use the next best option, natural gas.
By choosing natural gas to make hydrogen, we will cut
pollution dramatically now, as well as build the framework
for completely clean power - hydrogen generated from
renewable energy sources," Hocking says.
Using the Pembina Institute's technique, known as
Life-Cycle Value Assessment, Climate-Friendly Hydrogen
Fuel takes into account greenhouse gas emissions related
to extracting raw materials to produce the hydrogen,
processing and refining it, transporting and distributing it,
as well as operating fuel cell vehicles with it.
"We can also expect the choice of hydrogen supply
systems to make a huge difference in how well this
technology helps solve local air issues, such as acid rain
and urban smog. As fuel cell options develop we will need
to further refine our understanding of their full-cycle
implications," says Macintosh.
The study shows that options such as stripping hydrogen
from gasoline would lead to only modest reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions - in the order of 20 per cent.
"With the production and marketing of fuel-cell vehicles
just over the horizon, the decisions we make today are
critical. If we power these vehicles with dirty hydrogen,
we will entrench the role of vehicles as the biggest and
fastest growing contributor to global warming," Macintosh
says.
For further information, please contact:
David Hocking, Communications Director David Suzuki
Foundation (604) 732-4228, Cell: 727-8651 Rob
Macintosh, Director, Corporate Eco-efficiency Services,
Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development Cell (780)
542-8488 |
