Des Moines Register
12-10-06
Look ahead to Hydrogen Economy
Iowa leads the nation in renewable fuels. But what if ethanol and biodiesel are
just an early phase in the energy revolution, with bigger changes over the
horizon?
What happens when ethanol is superseded by hydrogen?
Futurists expect it to happen. Books have been written about it. There's even a
name for it: the Hydrogen Economy.
Experts at the National Research Council and National Academy of Engineering
say it is possible for hydrogen to totally replace gasoline within 50 years.
If gasoline becomes obsolete, so might ethanol.
In striving to become "the renewable energy capital of the world," Iowa must look
beyond ethanol.
There are some interesting possibilities involving Iowa and hydrogen. The state
needs to invest in them to ensure a position as a significant player in the
Hydrogen Economy.
Hydrogen can be burned, like natural gas, or it can be combined with oxygen in a
fuel cell to produce electricity.
Either way, the only byproduct is water vapor. Hydrogen could not only free the
nation from imported oil, it could eliminate tailpipe pollution and reduce to near
zero emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Despite the dazzling possibilities, several barriers stand in the way of a switch to
hydrogen. It can be produced in a number of ways, but the best way of doing it
renewably and cost-effectively hasn't been figured out. And unless it is stored
under extreme pressure, enough hydrogen to give a car adequate driving range
can't be carried onboard. Moreover, fuel cells, at this stage of their development,
are too costly and short-lived for everyday use.
Research is under way on better ways to produce and store hydrogen and to
bring down the cost of fuel cells. Experts expect breakthroughs to occur - and
then we can kiss imported oil goodbye.
At least two possible major breakthroughs involve Iowans.
Bill Leighty, a Waterloo native and Stanford-educated engineer who now lives in
Alaska, has conceived a pilot project in Iowa that would demonstrate the
feasibility of transporting hydrogen long distances by pipeline.
Norm Olson of the Iowa Energy Center at Iowa State University is promoting
research on a surprising solution to hydrogen storage problems: ammonia.
Ammonia contains three atoms of hydrogen and one of nitrogen (NH3). Like pure
hydrogen, it can be burned in a modified engine or it can produce electricity in a
fuel cell. It's denser than pure hydrogen, so a tank of it could give a car a
reasonable driving range.
The two ideas might work well together.
Leighty is working on the problem of "large stranded renewables." That is,
renewable energy that is stranded far from where it is needed - such as the
strong winds that blow on the Great Plains.
Leighty has presented papers at several scientific conferences suggesting that
wind-generated electricity could be used to make hydrogen (by electrolyzing
water), then transported via pipeline to distant markets. There, fuel cells could
transform the hydrogen back into electricity.
This elegant electricity-to-hydrogen-to-electricity cycle will be the key to the
Hydrogen Economy.
Hydrogen is regarded not as an energy source but as an energy carrier, like
electricity. Hydrogen pipelines could someday replace electric transmission lines.
Leighty has suggested that sponsorship of the International Partnership for the
Hydrogen Economy should be sought for an Iowa demonstration project.
Hydrogen would be produced from wind at Fort Dodge, then put into a pipeline to
Ames. The project would test pipeline technology as well as hydrogen
production.
On arrival in Ames, the hydrogen could fuel the municipal bus system. Or the
hydrogen could be made into ammonia to test the feasibility of Olson's ideas.
A project like that would put Iowa in the forefront of progress toward the
Hydrogen Economy.
Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley should be enlisted to secure federal
research funding for the pipeline demonstration, and the Legislature should make
sure the Iowa Energy Center has the resources to follow through with ammonia.
The promise of hydrogen is too great for Iowa to sit out the revolution.