Hydrogen: The future's fuel?
UF researchers want to convert water into fuel
By GREG C. BRUNO
SUN STAFF WRITER
he future hydrogen highway has
an entrance ramp in Gainesville.
Visitors look at a BMW clean-energy concept car powered by
hydrogen on display at the Auto Shanghai 2005 exhibition Saturday in Shanghai,
China.
As Florida officials tout hydrogen as the state's clean fuel
of tomorrow, and lawmakers consider legislation that would increase incentives
for hydrogen-based companies, researchers at the University of Florida are
exploring ways to turn political promises into technical reality.
Yogi Goswami, director of UF's Solar Energy and Conversion Laboratory, is
working with a U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop an environmentally
friendly way to split water's chemistry, a process he says could make
zero-emission vehicles commonplace on the nation's roads.
"This cycle splits water into hydrogen and oxygen," Goswami explained
at his lab last week. "You can use electricity, but it turns out it's a lot
more expensive. We're looking at other ways to split water," including the
use of sunlight.
University scientists also are working with NASA to develop new ways to
transport and store hydrogen, a vital component in shuttle missions. Findings
from that research could one day be transferred to terrestrial applications,
Goswami said.
At present, most hydrogen produced for fuel cells or internal combustion is made
from reforming natural gas, a process that uses steam to convert methane into
hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Intense heat and chemical reactions also are used
to separate the element from water, algae - even sugar.
The result is an effective fuel that, when mixed with oxygen in fuel cells, is
as safe as gasoline to burn. If pure hydrogen is used, the only byproducts are
heat and water.
But there is a downside to the current technology: While hydrogen-powered
vehicles are cleaner than conventional cars, the greenhouse gas emissions
released in the fuel's production minimizes the benefits, energy experts say.
"Hydrogen is as clean as the resource you use to produce it," Goswami
said. "If you use coal to produce electricity, then producing hydrogen is
as dirty as coal."
Despite the environmental hurdles, hydrogen already is powering some commercial
vehicles, and state and local governments in California, New York and Florida
have spent millions on experimental fleets.
Earlier this year, Florida's first hydrogen fueling station broke ground in
Orange County near the Orlando International Airport. The station, which will
fuel eight 12-passenger shuttle busses, is expected to be completed in 2006.
Two years before that, Gov. Jeb Bush launched H2 Florida to accelerate research
statewide. All told, Florida has committed $3 million to hydrogen research, and
the federal government has chipped in another $21.5 million.
Even with the financial commitments, however, the day consumers are given the
choice between a gas-guzzling Hummer and a hydrogen Toyota is years away.
It could be a decade before "we will know if we will have a hydrogen
economy," Goswami said. "There are hydrogen cars for sale now, but the
only buyers are governments because it's too expensive."
There are some who hope hydrogen's availability remains elusive, at least in the
short term.
The Sierra Club, for one, has said state and local governments should hold off
promoting the fuel until a greener production method is developed. The group
says better air quality could be achieved by cleaning conventional cars and
promoting hybrid-electric vehicles.
"The Bush administration's hydrogen proposal is like a nicotine patch that
increases cigarette cravings," the Sierra Club's director of global warming
and energy, Dan Becker, said last year of the president's affection for the
fuel.
"Instead of producing hydrogen with clean, renewable energy sources like
wind and solar power, the Bush administration wants to rely on polluting coal
plants and nuclear power."
Despite such criticism, officials in Florida are hedging their bets that
hydrogen will serve as the backbone of the state's economic and environmental
future.
A Department of Environmental Protection-backed piece of legislation being
debated in Tallahassee would create the Hydrogen Energy Technologies Act, giving
hydrogen-producing companies an incentive to relocate to the state. The act also
would increase grant funding for research and make it more attractive for
investor-owned utilities to invest in the fuel.
"We have eight universities that have over 106 research projects going on
in hydrogen, a lot focused on the clean generation of the fuel," DEP Deputy
Secretary Alan Bedwell said.
"The ultimate goal is the renewable generation of hydrogen," Bedwell
said.
But DEP officials say they don't want to wait until "green" research
catches up with the technology. Vehicles already on the market, while not as
clean as the ones Goswami says are theoretically possible, will get the ball
rolling, Bedwell said.
"There are so many aspects of this technology that are complex," the
deputy secretary said. "We still need to move forward with the technology
in its current state so we can refine it."
Such promises may prove beneficial for the state in the long run, but some in
Gainesville say North Florida could be bypassed by the much-touted
"Hydrogen Highway."
Dave Bruderly, an area engineer and long-time advocate of clean fuels, said he
sees no reason DEP isn't pushing harder for hydrogen in Alachua County.
"The world energy systems are going to change to be hydrogen and
electricity," Bruderly said, and hydrogen "should be coming to
Gainesville."
"People in this town would embrace this technology," he said.
Greg Bruno can be reached at 374-5026 or greg.bruno@gvillesun.com
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