Hydrogen is a "clean" fuel because when it burns, it combines with oxygen to form water; no toxic byproducts or greenhouse gasses are produced in the process. The APR process extracts hydrogen from a variety of biological sources, especially simple carbohydrates and sugars generated by common plants.
claims like these are, IMO, misleading; or simply ignorant. If you are using a plant based fuel stock to generate hydrogen, you will necessarily be generating some form of oxidized carbon. If the process results in a carbonate, the carbon will be sequestered as a solid and removed. However, if the carbon is oxidized to carbon dioxide, there exists the same problem and limitation as burning fossil fuel. So, one always needs to ask, "what is the fate of the biomass" , whenever a hydrogen fuel source is derived from organic matter. So far, the only method which does not generate any carbonaceous waste, from the generation of hydrogen fuel is electrolysis of water powered from nuclear fuel (as well as solar, wind, and geothermal...the only real "clean" energy sources; though these sources are not yet abundantly available). However, in this instance, one is simply swapping the potent negative impact of greenhouse gasses (carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, as well as some sulfur and nitrogen oxide impurities) for the potential negative impact of radioactive waste. |
