Hydrogen is found on or near the earth's surface only as a constituent
of other chemical compounds, notably water and hydrocarbons. Hydrogen
can be released from these other compounds, but it always requires
energy to do so - more than can ever be recovered by using the
released hydrogen as a fuel. So for all practical thermodynamic
purposes, hydrogen is an energy storage medium, not a source
of energy. From an environmental or energy security point of view,
producing hydrogen for use as a fuel (as in a car) is only worthwhile
if the energy used to make the hydrogen comes from renewable sources
(solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc.), or if the engine running
on hydrogen is efficient enough to at least make up for the energy
used in producing the hydrogen. Otherwise, it is more economic
and less polluting to just burn the hydrocarbon in the first place.
Virent Energy
Systems hydrogen and/or hydrocarbon fuel gas from waste steams,
waste biomass, and energy dedicated biomass crops using liquid
phase reforming
Hydrogen is found on or near the earth's surface only as a constituent
of other chemical compounds, notably water and hydrocarbons. Hydrogen
can be released from these other compounds, but it always requires
energy to do so - more than can ever be recovered by using the
released hydrogen as a fuel. So for all practical thermodynamic
purposes, hydrogen is an energy storage medium, not a source
of energy. From an environmental or energy security point of view,
producing hydrogen for use as a fuel (as in a car) is only worthwhile
if the energy used to make the hydrogen comes from renewable sources
(solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc.), or if the engine running
on hydrogen is efficient enough to at least make up for the energy
used in producing the hydrogen. Otherwise, it is more economic
and less polluting to just burn the hydrocarbon in the first place.
