Advantages And Disadvantages Of Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant chemical element in the universe. Widespread use of hydrogen as a fuel would eliminate most outdoor air pollution problems that we face today. It would also greatly reduce the threat of projected climate disruption, because it emits no CO2 (as long as the H2 is not produced with the use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. Hydrogen provides more energy per gram than does any other fuel, making it a lightweight fuel ideal for aviation. There are three challenges to using hydrogen as a fuel. Firstly, there is hardly and hydrogen gas in the earth’s atmosphere, it is chemically locked up in water and in organic compounds such as methane and gasoline. It takes energy and money to produce H2 because it is not an energy resource like coal or oil. It is a fuel produced by using other forms of energy, which makes it have a negative net energy yield. It takes more energy to make it from other sources like methane found in natural gas, gasoline molecules, and through the chemical reactions of coal, oxygen, and steam than the energy we get by burning it as a fuel. Secondly, fuel cells are the best way to use H2 to produce electricity, but fuel cells are expensive. Finally, the amount of air pollution and CO2 produced by hydrogen based energy systems is dependent on how the H2 is produced. In the 1990s, Amory Lovins and his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Institute designed a light, safe, efficient hydrogen powered car. Larger fuel cells could provide electricity and heat for commercial and industrial users. In 2010, Bloom Energy in California began selling fuel- cell stacks to power buildings. However, they use natural gas to provide the hydrogen gas, and the company depends greatly on government subs...

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...e measures increase government revenues, encourage improvements in energy efficiency, reduce dependence on imported energy, and decrease the use of energy resources that have limited supplies.

The energy market is failing. A healthy market is competitive, transparent and open to new sources. Currently the energy market is lacking competition and liquidity. Certain energy sources are suffocating the market to the point where consumers are unaware of why the prices of energy are as low or as high as they are. The industries and the government work together to manipulate the use and costs of energy resources to make them high, and lower, hiding the environmental costs of the source.

9) Greatly improving energy efficiency

Using a mix of renewable energy resources

Including environmental costs of energy resources in their market prices

Emphasizing consumer education