First of two parts
ONE of our guest panelists at The Manila Times’ auto forum on Thursday afternoon was Anthony Aucone, the principal of Hydron NRG, an Australia-based company that specializes in hydrogen power systems for vehicles and electricity generation. I was very pleased Mr. Aucone took the time to join us, for two reasons.
First, I am a bit of geek when it comes to hydrogen technology. Although I apply the same brutal skepticism to it as I do any kind of energy or environmental technology, hydrogen is one of the few that I go to sleep knowing it will work, hopefully sooner rather than later. It is not without its technical challenges, but unlike logically flawed concepts like small modular reactors, solar geoengineering, fusion reactors, or space-based power generation, the solutions to hydrogen’s challenges are easily conceivable.
The second reason, which was more pertinent to our forum’s focus on electric vehicles (EVs), is that hydrogen is the only plausible alternative to battery power. Barring some future and as-yet unimaginable breakthrough in technology, batteries and hydrogen are the only two choices to replace internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. Thus, it was informative — necessary, in fact — to include it in the discussion.
However, during my conversation with Mr. Aucone I sensed something, so I paused and turned to our audience and asked: “Can I have a show of hands, how many of you have no idea what we’re talking about?” There were some chuckles, and then a dozen or so hands sheepishly went up. That sort of confirmed my suspicion that to most people in the Philippines, hydrogen power is a complete mystery, despite its being occasionally mentioned by the Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies that vaguely champion the development of a “hydrogen economy” here in the Philippines. So, it is perhaps time once again to present the short primer on hydrogen power.
The fuel
Hydrogen is the most common and lightest element in the universe, which means the supply of it is literally infinite, although harvesting, storing and using hydrogen require technological solutions. Hydrogen, as an energy source, can be used in two basic ways. First, it can be used directly as fuel, although it is not as efficient in this regard as carbon-based compounds. Second, it can be used for energy storage. When mixed with oxygen in a fuel cell, the reaction produces water, electricity, and a small amount of heat. In either application, hydrogen is considered “clean,” as its combustion only produces water vapor.
Hydrogen is usually described as having a “color,” based on how it is produced. “White” hydrogen is naturally occurring hydrogen, which is relatively rare because hydrogen is also the most reactive element and almost always is found in combination with other molecules. The recent enthusiastic announcements about possible white hydrogen deposits in Central Luzon should be regarded with extreme skepticism. “Green” hydrogen is produced using strictly renewable energy, although there are some arguments about what kinds of production methods actually count as “green.” “Blue” hydrogen is extracted from natural gas and involves capturing the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct. It is portrayed as a “clean” option by the petroleum industry that is investing heavily in it; most environmentalists disagree, but the process does have some good points. “Gray” hydrogen is the same thing as blue hydrogen without the CO2 capture process.
“Brown” hydrogen is the least environmentally friendly of all the various “colors,” and involves the gasification of brown coal, lignite, or oil. “Black” hydrogen is similar and comes from the gasification of black coal, but it is relatively uncommon, as black coal is more useful for other things. Most hydrogen currently produced on Earth is either of the gray or brown variety. There are a number of other color names for various types of hydrogen production methods, including pink, which is hydrogen produced using nuclear power; yellow, which is hydrogen produced using solar power specifically; and turquoise, which is hydrogen extracted by pyrolysis of natural gas using renewable energy.
How it works
In a fuel cell, which is the best-developed hydrogen technology at this time, hydrogen combines with oxygen in the air across a catalyst, usually platinum or an alloy containing platinum, ruthenium, or palladium, in a reaction that creates an electric current, water and heat. While there are still quite a few technical challenges to overcome to make fuel cell technology sufficiently cost-effective and widely accessible to make it as “mainstream” as batteries, the technology itself is fairly straightforward, and has been in use for decades.
In fact, the technology is centuries old. The first internal combustion engine ever built (in 1804 by French-Swiss inventor Isaac de Rivaz) was powered by hydrogen, and the first crude hydrogen energy storage device — what we would today call a fuel cell — was built by the Welsh scientist William Grove in 1838. The modern concept of “hydrogen power” dates back to the mid-1960s, when automotive engineers began experimenting with applying the fuel cell technology perfected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to road vehicles. General Motors is credited with the first practical example, called the Electrovan, in 1966.
Whether it is applied in a vehicle or as a renewable energy generation source, a hydrogen fuel cell is essentially a form of battery. It has the advantages of producing the same amount of electricity in a smaller, lighter form, and requiring much less material. A vehicle with a fuel cell typically has a much longer range than one with a battery of equivalent strength, and whereas a battery requires a considerable amount of time to recharge, refilling the hydrogen supply for a fuel cell takes no longer than it does to refuel a gas- or diesel-powered vehicle.
However, as I said earlier, there are challenges. No technology is perfect or risk-free, and hydrogen is no exception. Building a hydrogen-powered vehicle or a small power generator that not only works, but also performs well is not a problem. Developing hydrogen power to make it cost-effective, reliable and commercially appealing at a large scale is rather more complicated. I’ll get into that in part two of this column on Tuesday, May 26.
ben.kritz@manilatimes.net
Bluesky: @benkritz.bsky.social
Website: www.badmannersgunclub.com