HYDROGEN HERE!

[Captain]

Please discuss. I'm interested and want to know more. Please provide facts and theories and don't forget links. Show me what's possible.

Thanks in advance,

 

[Jim Logajan]

Hydrogen is a means of energy transport, not a source of energy. As a means of transport, it's not a particularly good one.

Agreed. Of the carbon neutral means of energy transport, NH3 is one better alternative. Combustion of ammonia yields products already in the atmosphere that should not affect the climate:

4 NH3 + 3 O2 -> 2 N2 + 6 H2O

Down side is about half the energy density of carbon fuels, but really a lot better than most of the other alternatives, especially molecular hydrogen.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Don't know much about making ammonia Jim, except that it occurs naturally, is it really readily combustible??

Lots of stuff on the net on the subject - search using keywords "ammonia economy".

 

[Jim Logajan]

“Right now, the way we get hydrogen primarily is from reforming gas. That's not an ideal source of hydrogen...The other problem is, if it's for transportation, we don't have a good storage mechanism yet. What else? The fuel cells aren't there yet, and the distribution infrastructure isn't there yet. In order to get significant deployment, you need four significant technological breakthroughs. If you need four miracles, that's unlikely. Saints only need three miracles.” -- Physics nobel prize winner Steven Chu.