An interesting set of posts reprinted from Yahoo BLDPF thread, with
implications for companies involved with fuel cells,
post.messages.yahoo.com.
At the First International Association for Hydrogen Energy Conference
in 1974, the issue that dominated all others was "How can we establish
a hydrogen economy while it remains cheaper to burn fossil fuels than
to produce hydrogen?" The scientists in attendence were confident that
the details of a hydrogen energy infrastructure could be worked out -
but how could it be economically justified?
Dr. Robert Zweig of today's Clean Air Now spoke with great impact
on how a conversion to a hydrogen economy could be entirely
financed by the elimination of pollution-related health expenses. It
made perfect sense to me, but there was no market mechanism for it
and the hydrogen economy never materialized. Today, that market
mechanism is being gradually put into place through government
incentives and penalties - and perhaps, even more importantly, the
economic incentives are becoming more attractive through research
made possible by
government/academic/industry research and development projects that
spinn off into the free enterprise system.
A prime example of the serendipitous/synergistic nature of these
collaborations is the following short article. It describes work by Oscar
Khaselev and John A. Turner at the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, resulting in a doubling of the efficiency of hydrogen
production from solar energy. The paper announcing this breakthrough
was published in Science Magazine as "A Monolithic
Photovoltaic-Photoelectrochemical Device for Hydrogen Production
via Water Splitting" - [Science 1998 280: 425-427.]
This is a very exciting breakthrough. When I met John Turner at the
Fuel Cell Seminar in Palm Springs, he downplayed the significance of
this discovery, saying he was surprised at the level of notice his work
received. But this response is common among specialists.
Pull back and take a look at the bigger picture.
Fuel cells of all types are rapidly getting smaller and more efficient.
Wind power has made tremendous gains in efficiency and
dependability. On-board hydrogen stotage volume in transportation is
poised to make a breakthrough in the area of carbon fiber and
nanotube storage. Stationary FCs (Ballard, IFC, etc.), skid reformer
plants (IFC) and electric power trains (Ford Ecostar) are nearing mass
production. And consumer electrolysers are about to be released
(Stuart Energy).
It is no mystery: what is about to happen. I believe that this building
momentum is unstoppable. The world is going to change abruptly.
And for the better. |
