Re: Fuel Cells in a Hydrocarbon Economy


"lkgeo1" <lkgeo1@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1163438022.615201.28040@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fuel Cells in a Hydrocarbon Economy

It seems like there's a lot less hype these days about the
inevitability and even the imminence of the so-called "hydrogen
economy". More people apparently are coming to recognize the daunting
challenges associated with producing, delivering and storing hydrogen
in a manner that is both economically reasonable and environmentally
beneficial. True, an energy infrastructure based on hydrogen separated
from water by renewably-generated electricity is theoretically
possible, but before such a vision will actually be implemented --
involving incalculable billions of dollars of new hydrogen-compatible
infrastructure -- many performance and cost breakthroughs on many
fronts across many steps of the value chain must be demonstrated
convincingly to investors and customers alike. To say the least, this
is not very likely, at least not anytime soon.

So, with the diminishing appeal of hydrogen, one might think that
interest in fuel cells might be waning. Not so fast, my friend. A
recent report from Fuel Cell Today shows that, at least in stationary
application (if not for transportation purposes), the fuel cell market
continues to show improving vital signs.

Fuel cell technologies that don't require hydrogen as a fuel are
especially attracting attention. In the U.K., Ceres Power's approach
enables the use of natural gas in fuel cells, which has piqued the
interest of the major gas utility British Gas. Just here in Ohio alone,
Ohio University is actively investigating fuel cells that operate on
coal, and Technology Management Inc. has developed solid oxide fuel
cell technology that has operated on biofuels. Other examples are far
too numerous to list here, but you get the idea: fuel cells meshing
with the current hydrocarbon infrastructure.

Admittedly, fuel cells that operate on hydrocarbons do produce some CO2
emissions. It's not the utopian world offered by the promise of the
hydrogen economy. But, if fuel cells can operate cost-effectively on
plentiful and reasonably-priced fuels, they can at least reduce (if not
eliminate) greenhouse gas emissions relative to conventional
utilization of those fuels, and (if used in applications to replace
internal combustion engines) can reduce demand for petroleum of
increasingly vulnerable and uncertain supply. Half a loaf is better
than none.

If fuel cells can make the big time in our hydrocarbon economy, it can
significantly improve our energy/environmental situation while paving
the way for the bigger prize that would be enabled by the longer-term
emergence of a true hydrogen economy -- if/as the other pieces of the
hydrogen puzzle (production, distribution, storage) get solved.

http://www.cleantechblog.com/2006/11/fuel-cells-in-hydrocarbon-economy.html

I'm all for fuel cell research but we must keep in mind that fuel cells have
been in development since 1835. Yes Virginia, 1835 not 1935, that's 171
years! You'd think by now they would have been long ago perfected, but that
is not the case. By contrast look at the progress the internal combustion
engine has enjoyed in far less time than that. Or, look at the gas turbine,
water turbine, steam turbine, jet engine, diesel engine, alkaline batteries,
lithium batteries and on and on. I'm not saying that fuel cells can't make
it, just that there are fundamental problems that have kept them as
scientific curiosities rather than main stream power sources over these many
years. We have been hearing for at least twenty years that I am aware of
that fuel cells are the next best thing and soon will be available for
general use, but we still wait. Yes there are some back up cell power
systems but none of these compete with diesel or gas power for that
application. Now more and more people are going to direct solar with battery
backup eliminating fuel altogether. Given the history and the many forms of
competition, fuel cells have a rough road to hoe. I suspect they are
somewhat of a dark horse to bet on at this late date. I hope I'm wrong.
Bob


.

Relevant Pages

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