Chemists, engineers etc- what do you think about the hydrogen fuel cell?

Question

Hello everyone!

I'm a journalism student trying to gauge some community opinions on hydrogen fuel cell technology - what do you think about it? what are its future applications?

thanks!

Answer 1

It is about time these new energy sources got some air play. They are a difficult power source for unscrupulous people to make big money of the back of the average Joe so this may be why they are not getting enough air.

Answer 2

think that if they can find an energy efficient way to get hydrogen fuel consistently, then I would definetly go get one.

Answer 3

I'm a mechanical engineer who has been working in the energy conservation / alternative energy field for about 20 years.  

I'm very skeptical about hydrogen fuel cells.  

Right now, we are make most of our hydrogen from fossil fuels.   Unless we find a biomass source for hydrogen, they don't reduce carbon emissions.   Many folks who don't understand seem to believe that we can make hydrogen from water - and we can - but not economically or at any energy benefit.

And we don't seem to have any infrastructure set up for hydrogen the way that we do for electricity, natural gas or even diesel fuel, for example.    I read recently in the Wall Street Journal that General Motors and Toyota have serious doubts about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and instead are turning their attention to electric cars.

Most importantly, I remember that I did a study on fuel cell cost effectiveness for distributed electricity production for a client in California about 17 years ago.  At the time, the client (a natural gas company) was confident that within 5 years, everyone would have a fuel cell in their basement generating heat and power.    Then, about five years later, in a different job, I did an analysis on using fuel cells for power generation in hospitals.   The industry press claimed that there was a six year timeframe before fuel cells were EVERYWHERE.    And five years ago, I worked on preliminary designs for a fuel cell factory.  The manufacturer was convinced that fuel cell demand was going to take off.  The factory was never built.    So it's fifteen years later,  and we seem to be no closer to the mass adoption of fuel cells - even as solar power has made huge advances, and hybrid (and even now electric) cars have started hitting the streets.

I guess I've been hearing the little shepherd boy cry "Fuel Cells" for years now, with no results and I've given up believing him.

Good question.

Answer 4

it would be awesome if we could replace it with gas burning furnace, but we don't have the hydrogen

AND if we did it would be way to expensive!

Answer 5

Still too expensive....

Answer 6

I am an Aeronautical Engineer and have been for sometime now. I think that its brilliant and a step in the right direction. The conventional means of energy,meaning fossil fuels (oil,coal,etc.), are one of the most inefficient and environmentally hazardous source available. Wind, hydrogen, nitrogen, and even nuclear are some of the more environmentally friendly sources simply because they are renewable, plentiful, and/or produce litlle or no "foot print" in our world. Great question by the way....hope you go far with it...its time people learned about the benefits of these sources and stopped believing negative ideas about them.

Answer 7

I am a chemist.

My opinion is that it is a pipe dream, AT BEST.  Sure, MASSIVE amounts of government funding might make hydrogen cars and fuelling stations exist, but that would only APPEAR to solve perceived "problems".  Why?  Because hydrogen is MADE from fossil fuels.  If your "fuel" is not a fuel in itself (hydrogen is a conduit, not a fuel) then your car/machine runs on whatever the fuel source was that created the fuel.  So if the hydrogen came from coal (as most does) then you have a coal powered car, no matter WHAT comes out of your tailpipe, how green the pump is, or how good you feel.  

I like Rivergirl am very pessimistic about hydrogen as a fuel storage medium.  It has so many headaches associated with it that I can't even begin to describe them all.  Unless we found a way to make essentially unlimited amounts of hydrogen it's not going to compete with existing technology.

That said, even if we DID find a way to make vast quantities of hydrogen super-cheap, I still think the best way to handle it would be through some kind of liquification process, such as synthetic fuels which can be handled and transported like gasoline is today.  Hydrogen, as it is, is an incredibly dangerous material.  I'd almost rather have a small plutonium reactor under my hood.

Cartman: what kind of energy are you hoping to derive from "nitrogen"?  Compressed nitrogen?  That would also just be a medium.

Answer 8

it still needs more development but is a great idea: however, will the making of the hydrogen cause other unforeseen problems/pollution?