Product Description
“President Bush’s remarks in his State-of-the-Union message proposing a big jump in funding for hydrogen and fuel cell research and development are terrific news. It’s imperative that Congress follows through now and makes available those funds. Aside from the tangible benefits of spending more on an environmentally benign area of energy that for too long has been treated – often condescendingly – like a poor orphan, the political message is of supreme signif… More >>
Tomorrow’s Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet
Tags: Cells, Cleaner, Energy, Fuel, fuel cell, Fuel Cell Research, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen, Planet, Prospects, Tomorrow's
#1 by Golden Lion on January 19, 2010 - 1:04 pm
Hydrogen storage is a central issue surrounding adaptation into hydrogen as tomorrow’s energy. Internal Combustion Engines burning hydrogen seem like the popular future. Toyota’s Rav 4 prototype uses a metal hydride to carry hydrogen in solid form. Hydrogen extracting micro plant under the hood seems unfeasible and hydride storage seems more probable, as the means for storing hydrogen. Steel pressurized tanks seem unfeasible requiring 5,000 psi, weighting 3,400 lbs, and maintaining 800 atmospheres. Hydrides are safer because they cannot spill or vent hydrogen or burn in a crash.
Energy Conversion Devices touts its magnesium based atomically based engineered hydrides as capable of storing hydrogen efficiently and effectively. In 2004, a Toyota Prius housed a ECD solid hydrogen storage system. The prototype Prius achieved 200 miles ranges, used a turbo charged internal combustible engine too boost horse power, innovated with carbon fiber wound tank reducing weight competitively, maintained 1,500 psi during saturation and an operating pressure of 300-500 psi, timeout at eight minutes for refueling with a goal of reaching five minutes, and a storage capacity of 3 kilograms of hydrogen.
Hydrides slow down fast moving neutrons. Hydrides release and absorb hydrogen at different pressures: Hydrogen under higher pressure than equilibrium is absorbed into the metal and is in solid form and gives off heat; Hydrogen under lower pressure than equilibrium releases and heat must be added. To release hydrogen the gas pressure is simply lowered.
The new ECD carbon fiber tank offers huge advantages over a “steel tank” which can weight 25 times as much for the same carrying capacity of hydrogen. The lighter weighting tank overcomes one barrier towards accepting hydrogen as the alternative fuel to oil. In 1997, transportation consumed 54% of the oil consumption, of 18.6 million barrels of oil a day. The second barrier to overcome will be too solving the refueling time lag, reducing refueling times to five minutes or less. More doubt seems to be direct at fuel cell technology. China seems down on fuel cell technology viewing the technology as too expensive for developing countries. More optimism seems to be swinging towards Internal combustible engines running hydrogen.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Mynameisthis on January 19, 2010 - 1:48 pm
This is a good book as an introduction to hydrogen and its’ potential uses in many aspects of our lives. However, I disagree with the author’s conclusion that it would take decades to replace the existing infrastructure. That may be the case in a socialistic economy but in the U.S., if there is a need and a desire, we can do it in just a few years.
The fact is that we have a huge need to get out from under the yoke of OPEC. We are forced to be heavily involved in mid east politics just to insure a constant flow of oil to support our everyday lives. Meanwhile, we have put ourselves in the crosshairs of the Islamic extremists who want us out of the mid east and to moderate our policies in Israel. If we want to prevent any further terrorist actions against us, then the best thing to do is develop hydrogen power and nuclear power and divest ourselves from mid east politics as fast as possible.
Write your Congressman and U.S. Senators and demand that we move quickly on this technology.
Rating: 4 / 5
#3 by Anne on January 19, 2010 - 2:10 pm
Tomorrow’s Energy is a thorough discussion of a topic that is rapidly gaining importance – hydrogen. The book proposes hydrogen as the energy of the near future. It includes the history of hydrogen as a fuel, and what measures are currently being taken to produce hydrogen-powered automobiles, air and space craft, homes, and offices. Hoffmann describes in detail how hydrogen fuel is produced and used, and why hydrogen is a better choice than fossil fuels. The book discusses what must be done in order for non-polluting hydrogen to overtake fossil fuels, and the prospect of a “hydrogen community.”
This book, though obviously in favor of hydrogen energy, provides a detailed and, for the most part, many sided report on hydrogen’s possibilities. It has a lot of numbers but is generally easily understood by the layman, though it assumes that the reader has a basic knowledge of chemistry. Hydrogen is an interesting and exciting thing, and this book provide a good understanding of its past, present and future. Stylistically, the book is a bit dry, but has sharp and occasionally witty quotes to lighten the tone. I would recommend “Tomorrow’s Energy” to anyone who wants to learn more about this promising subject, as long as the reader uses the information to form their own opinion.
Rating: 4 / 5
#4 by Hubstermeister on January 19, 2010 - 2:44 pm
A nice vision, and not a new one, but is it practical and realistic? I don’t know but I think that fuel made from yeast or algae fed from CO2 from fossil fuel plants can close the carbon cycle and may be much easier to implement within today’s infrastructure…but I just flip burgers what do I know? The one big gripe I have with this book is that it doesn’t describe the pitfalls of hydrogen, the technical breakthroughs that are required (and the likelihood of success), and what other competitors may be out there that can make hydrogen never get off the ground (yes I know it’s lighter than air but can you say greenhouse gas?).
Rating: 3 / 5
#5 by Emmanuel Lambert on January 19, 2010 - 5:33 pm
This book contains lots of valuable information and is certainly worth reading. But at the same time, I had expected more of it. It describes too many factual details about the history of hydrogen’s use in various applications and gives too few technical information about hydrogen as a fuel. The book does not give a very thorough analysis of how a hydrogen economy could be established, how those massive quantities of hydrogen will be produced in a way that is both environment friendly and realistic, why or why not to use nuclear power to do so, etc.
Rather, it leaves a lot of open questions and does not give answers to the issues that really matter (e.g. if hydrogen is produced through reforming of traditional carbon fuels, what to do with the carbon then at the production plant).
Nevertheless, the book is certainly worth reading… I think it’s one of the only serious books on hydrogen at this time.
Rating: 3 / 5