by Les C

Created on: February 05, 2009

Hydrogen the Fuel of the Future

Hydrogen makes up around ninety percent of the known universe. Its abundance is staggering. It has the most promising future of powering our planet as any other element known to man. Since our planet is in such desperate need of alternative fuels it is essential that we look closely at this very abundant resource.

So who is using hydrogen today? Hydrogen is used mostly for the production of ammonia and petroleum refining. It is also used in NASA space program as a fuel for space shuttles and in fuel cells that provide heat electricity and drinking water for astronauts. Fuel cells are devices that convert hydrogen directly into electricity. In the very near future we will probably be using these fuel cells in everyday life.

As a possible alternative to gasoline in our cars it has outstanding characteristics. In its pure form when it burns there is no undesirable emission. In many of its uses the only resulting waste is water vapor. Hydrogen can power vehicles, generate electricity thru fuel cells, and be used to meet many other world energy needs. There are also many different ways of producing Hydrogen. There is extensive research being done in the area of photoelectrolysis.

Photoelectrolisis is a process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen with greater efficiency than any other method, and it uses sunlight, another abundant resource to do it. Work is being done to perfect this by Senior Scientist Dr. John Turner and fellow scientist Dr. Oscar Khaselev. The devise uses photovoltaic cells that produce electricity with an electrolysyser to break down water to its simple elements oxygen and hydrogen.

The main method used now is synthesis gas production. This method produces gas from steam reforming or partial oxidation. Researchers are also beginning to look seriously into using micro-organisms to produce hydrogen. This is very similar in process as the process of photosynthesis that plants use, for convert sunlight into food and energy. Researchers are calling this process Photo conversion. Some biological organisms naturally produce hydrogen using sunlight as a catalyst as part of there metabolic function.

Fuel cells have probably the greatest potential for us as consumers. They are already in use in the space program and extensive research is being done to put them into our everyday lives. Fuel cells can provide low cost.high efficiency power for stationary and mobile applications. Improvements in catalyst loading, and

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