Why is hydrogen important?

Question

Why is hydrogen important?

Answer 1

Its the preferred approach to the ultimate replacement of fossil fuel in automobiles.

Answer 2

It is the most abundant element on this planet.

It is the first element on the periodic table of the elements and it is also the most simple of all the periodic elements.

Answer 3

cause it can drive an engine. without pollution.

Answer 4

As others have said hydrogen is the basic element in the universe and the basis of all we see and are.

As far as alternative fuel is concerned it is important because it enables a way for global corps and governments to keep control of the fuel supply (it is unlikely that you will be allowed to home-brew hydrogen in your garage or basement).

It will also require big investment in production & distribution networks (complicated because hydrogen is bulky and escapes easily), and considerable development in fuel-cells.

compare with battery electric vehicles that can be refueled at home or work from the grid or home micro-generrator,

the very efficient grid and generator technology  aready exist, as do suitable batteries for range >200 miles (http://www.teslamotors.com) and recharge in 10 minutes (http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com)

Answer 5

It's pretty much the lego brick the universe is made of; all atoms of all elements are produced from hydrogen in the middle of stars.

Answer 6

It's the most prevalent and important element in the Universe.  It's the stuff of stars.  It's ATOMIC NUMBER ONE.

However, it isn't really a fuel.  It's more of an energy storage medium.  You have to put energy in to a system (like water) to get hydrogen out - then you need to store it and deliver it to a conversion device.  That could be a fuel cell (impractical today for transportation) or a combustion engine.  It burns clean and gives off no CO2 but it's more expensive to produce than it costs to use gasoline and other fuels.  Maybe 50 years from now, advances in technology will make it TRANSPORTATION NUMBER ONE.

Answer 7

TO SAVE THE EARTH DUH!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

Water (H2O) can be split using electricity to produce hydrogen and oxygen, and the reverse is true: oxygen when mixed with hydrogen produces electricity. Fuel cells mix these two gasses to produce electricity for cars and for homes, a vital energy source for the future.

Answer 9

To start with... If there was no hydrogen in the sun - there wouldn't BE a sun. It would be an ember, barely warming the surface of Mercury.

Closer to home: With no hydrogen there could be no water since water is comprised of two parts of hydrogen to one part of oxygen. Without water there would be no life on this planet.



Closer yet: We're dependent upon fossil fuels containing very long molecules, mostly comprised upon four elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen (CHON, for short). Combustion of these hydrocarbons results in tremendous quantities of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) being released into the atmosphere.

In theory, these "greenhouse gases" can cause a run-away heating problem that will change - and could entirely eliminate - life on this planet. Venus, for example, has an atmosphere comprised mostly of these two gases. [How would you like to step outside into 900 degree celsius/1,500 degree fahrenheit heat?]

If fossil fuel-dependent vehicles could be run on hydrogen instead of hydrocarbons, there would be no CO or CO2 released into the atmosphere from vehicles because combustion of hydrogen and oxygen yields mostly water with a few traces of OH and H30.

Answer 10

Jay

Hydrogen is a great option for the concept of free energy.     I built my first hydrogen cell about 5 years ago and now currently run 2 trucks, my home hot water heater, home stove and home generator on hydrogen for free with caught rain water and the help of a $10 solar panel.  I offer a step by step DIY guide to walk anyone interested threw the process. You can find it at http://www.agua-luna.com/hydrogen.html or you can email me.

There are basically 3 safe ways to make and use it... chemically, electrically and molecularly, the first 2 being easier so I'll only discuss them here. The fallowing steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to those who would like to run their vehicles or home on hydrogen safely. The entire guide is available at http://www.agua-luna.com/guides.html

    On demand h2 generators are a bit different from the Hollywood versions like seen Chain Reaction with Keanu Reeves, that tend to explode violently every time a film is being made. However when used in an on-demand system there is no storage of hydrogen and oxygen in its gas form, only liquid (water) and is only transformed into gas “on-demand” in small cylinder size amounts. It’s actually safer then gasoline as it doesn’t evaporate, creating explosive fumes in the tank like gas.

    Chemically

    1. You’ll need a 6inch x 1ft schedule 40 pvc pipe. With pvc cement glue a cap on the bottom and use a s***w on cap for the top. Drill a small hole (1/4inch or so) in the side close to the top, s******g in a small copper shut off valve. Place a few feet of stranded (food grade is good) flex hose to the valve and into the air intake of your engine (carburetor or fuel injections).

    2. Now crunch up a couple aluminum cans (beer cans, soda cans etc) and drop them into the pvc pipe, along with a couple cups of lye (Red Devil drain opener has lye in it, some Clorox and Drano’s do to).

    3. Then simply add water, s***w on the top and wait a few minutes.

    What happens in simplicity is that aluminum and lye don’t really get along so they battle, and as always the innocent civilians (water H2O) that the most casualties, by giving up its hydrogen and oxygen. This then builds up in the void of the pipe and is ready to be vented into your engine, by opening the valve. You may need to start your engine on gas then switch it off after the hydrogen starts burning.

    Electrical is a bit easier then Chemically.

    1. Simply take a small solar panel 1.5 amps is what I use ($9 at harborfreight.com), connect the 2 wires from the panel +- to 2 conductors (carbon cores of batteries work well, just be careful removing it from the jacket), but any conductive material will work ie. Copper, aluminum, steel, etc.

    2. Drop the wires into a water tank (I use 55gal drums), make sure they don’t touch each other.

    3. Drill a small hole (1/4inch or so) in the side close to the top, s******g in a small copper shut off valve. Place a few feet of stranded (food grade is good) flex hose to the valve and into the air intake of your engine (carburetor or fuel injections).

    4. Then simply add water, s***w on the top cap and wait.

    After a few hours tiny bubbles will form and rise off one conductor (that’s hydrogen) and even smaller bubbles that just looks like foam will rise off the other (oxygen). I don’t remember which likes the positive and which likes the neg hydrogen or the oxygen.

    The third method is more complicated and is what I use for my vehicles. It’s just a modified Joe’s Cell, there’s a step by step DIY guide available to walk you threw the process here http://www.agua-luna.com/hydrogen.html It also covers the other 2 methods described in more detail.

    Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at http://www.agua-luna.com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Retired Boeing Engineer now living 100% Off-the-Grid with my family, using Alternative Energy & loving every minute.

for more info visit agua-luna or email me at [e-mail]

Answer 11

When it burns it produces water only, no carbon dioxide. So it is a clean fuel.

Answer 12

It's What the tree's breath and without tree's. We Can't get oxygen and without oxygen we can't breath out hydrogen or we cant even breathe for that matter.

Wow!!! Whoever gave me thumbs downs are retarded. GO BACK TO SCIENCE CLASS!!! GET HELP YOU IDIOTS!!! IMA GO BALISTICALLY INSANE!!!

Answer 13

hydrogen is the most abundant type of matter in the universe.

without hydrogen stars would not shine.

on earth, without hydrogen, there would be no water.

all forms of life are made of hydrogen.

and there is a plan to replace fossil fuels with hydrogen, a non fossil fuel, although that technology is still very much elusive.

Answer 14

You have asked this within the topic alternative fuel vehicles.

In that context the answer is that it might become a useful way of storing energy for use by vehicles.  On the other hand there are several problems to be overcome before it can have wide use.  For example, how can the hydrogen be safely contained so that it does not present an even greater risk of fire and explosion in an accident than present day fuels?

Hydrogen is extremely volatile, which is why it does not occur naturally in the environment except in compounds with other elements (for example water is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen).  In order to make it available as a fuel, hydrogen has to be separated from those other elements and this takes a great deal of energy (for example electrical energy can be used to split water by electrolysis).  The hydrogen fuel produced by electrolysis is, therefore, a means by which the energy used in splitting water can be stored in the fuel tanks of vehicles.

In my opinion hydrogen will not become a really useful fuel for vehicles until and unless we develop sustainable electricity generation using wind, wave, tide, geothermal and other such resources with which to separate the hydrogen cheaply.  And that still leaves the problem of storing the hydrogen safely.

Best wishes