IAHEAM
Indian Association for Hydrogen Energy and Advanced Materials
IAHEAMIndian Association for Hydrogen Energy and Advanced Materials
Article by
Dev madhav. S. D
Plus one Science student
Govt. HSS Kulathoor
Thiruvananthapuram
“Despoiling nature to get at the tiny trickle of oil we have left won't make any significant difference in what we pay at the pump - not now and not ever. And it won't make our country any less dependent on foreign fuel. Our thirst for oil is bad for national security, bad for our economy and bad for the environment…”
“It is estimated that there is enough oil and natural gas offshore and in non-wilderness and non-park lands in the United States - but currently ruled off-limits for production by the federal government - to fuel 50 million cars and heat nearly 100 million homes for the next 25 years...so why the need for hydrogen?...”
Which of these would a person in his right mind stand for……I’m guessing the first one because, 25 years is not a long time, and certainly no one would want to think that he could be happy for the next 25 years and live the other half of his life in total chaos.
Hydrogen fuel does not occur naturally on Earth and thus is not an energy source; rather it is an energy carrier. It is most frequently made from methane or other fossil fuels, but it can be produced using sources (such as wind, solar, or nuclear) that are intermittent, too diffuse or too cumbersome to directly propel vehicles. Integrated wind-to-hydrogen plants, using electrolysis of water are exploring technologies to deliver costs low enough, and quantities great enough, to compete with traditional energy sources.
Hydrogen is one of the many potential replacements for gasoline as fuel for ground vehicles. It is not a power source in itself, but an energy carrier that is produced rather than found naturally. It tends to be made from methane or other fossil fuels, but it can also be obtained from sources like wind, solar or nuclear power. These are readily available non fossil fuel energy sources that themselves are unsuited to propelling vehicles, but if used to make hydrogen would allow for a vehicle economy entirely void of carbon-dioxide emissions. As farfetched as it might seem, it is very much a possibility if one takes into account that vehicles such as airplanes, submarines and space shuttles already run by hydrogen at least partially.
Many companies are working to develop technologies that might efficiently exploit the potential of hydrogen energy for mobile uses. The attraction of using hydrogen as an energy currency is that, if hydrogen is prepared without using fossil fuel inputs, vehicle propulsion would not contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The drawbacks of hydrogen use are high capital cost, low energy content per unit volume, high tankage weights, high storage vessel pressures, the storage, transportation and filling of gaseous or liquid hydrogen in vehicles, the large investment in infrastructure that would be required to fuel vehicles, and the low efficiency of production processes.
That does not mean that we will have to wait to see hydrogen vehicles in use. Hydrogen buses are currently on trial in many locations of the world, a fleet of hydrogen-run London taxis were ready for trial for the London 2012 Olympic Games and many car producers have already produced functional hydrogen demonstration models of personal vehicles. Hydrogen is, in other words, indeed a potent alternative to gasoline, but in all likelihood the technology required to put it to use as such needs years to mature before it is ready to be launched for the public.
Money also stands as another huge barrier when talking about hydrogen based economy. Everything in today’s world runs under the command of the little greenish piece of paper currency. It’s the only thing which one can’t completely live without in today’s urban life…..be it the pauper or the prince. And it also plays its villainous part in the construction of a hydrogen based economy. But we still do not have to lose hope …. History has shown us that in due progress of time objects and ideas related to technology has become increasingly cost efficient and economically productive. Let us hope that the same will take place in the case of a hydrogen economy.
It is said that critics will arise when there is no need for them to come and make matters worse…….and sadly this proved to be true when it came to building a hydrogen economy. A major question born is about whether this hydrogen economy will be accessible to every nook and corner of the world...?
Relievingly, and quite obviously our scientist have had an answer to this question even before the time from which it was raised. The answer can simply be termed as not just depending on hydrogen but relying upon the other different means of alternative energy production like wind energy, geo-thermal energy, hydroelectric energy ,etc. For example, in Siberia, Norway, etc.freezing up of the aqueous atmosphere inside the fuel cell engine of the hybrid electric car which runs on hydrogen poses a problem. But these countries are blessed with large areas where we can tap geo-thermal energy. The cars and other vehicles here can be run by the electricity produced by the geo-thermal energy tapped.
True….. We still have a long way to go but sitting at home and sprawling over this fact will not get us anywhere, we should remember that a giving up attitude never did get mankind anything. So given the right amount of effort and providing support for organizations working for bringing about a hydrogen economy we can be able to picture a fuel economy which is cleaner ,efficient, yet powerful. Mankind awaits the dawn of a new era, an era where hydrogen revolves as the next big thing.
A national level debate competition for school students to create awareness about Hydrogen Energy.
Date: 28th December 2021
Venue: Online Platform
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A National Meet for Young Scholars of Hydrogen Energy and Advanced Materials
Place and Date will be confirmed soon.
