Re: Congress Passes H-Prize

On May 13, 2006, at 10:46 PM, Donald Qualls wrote:
> If you're using electricity to break down
> water, it's more efficient to transmit the energy as electricity  
> and do
> the electrolysis at the "last mile".
>
> Which is to say, our existing infrastructure is better for a hydrogen
> economy than an upgrade or replacement to handle hydrogen the way  
> we now
> handle natural gas.

The problem with that is that there are losses in the electrical  
transmission system that are much greater than would exist in a  
hydrogen pipeline. We could put gigawatts of wind turbines here in  
Iowa, but the electricity they produce can't be shipped to California  
or anywhere else that really needs it. We're limited to powering  
cities in proximity to the windy plains.

A more reasonable approach, both less lossy and sticking somewhat to  
the idea of a hydrogen economy, would be to manufacture methanol  
using the normal process that uses carbon monoxide and hydrogen; the  
hydrogen could be made via electrolysis from wind, hydro, or nuclear  
power and the carbon monoxide made from atmospheric carbon dioxide or  
from industrial waste (hydrocarbon power plant, ethanol plant,  
whatever).

The methanol would then be piped to wherever the energy was needed,  
and used in high efficiency gas turbines or -- ideally -- in direct- 
methanol fuel cells, as the technology matures. Methanol has a much  
higher energy density than even highly compressed hydrogen, and  
there's no worry of embrittlement.

If the US was to sign the Kyoto treaty (presumably under a new  
administration), this could even go to upholding that. If the  
methanol was sold internationally, either by pipeline to our  
neighbors or by ship, it would be equivalent to exporting carbon  
dioxide that would have been released into the atmosphere.


The sci-fi solution to both the hydrogen economy and power line  
losses is to have cryogenic pipelines crossing the US carrying liquid  
hydrogen, with superconductive cables in the pipelines made possible  
by the low temperatures.

Ben