By Mike Johnston
The ongoing development of the hydrogen energy concept is moving forward rapidly across the globe without much of this activity being obvious to the average person. Most of it takes place in research labs, political meetings and corporate boardrooms where all of the funding for the new energy pie is sliced up and divided. Ocassionally though some interesting little tidbit of news sneaks out into the mainstream for the rest of us to gawk at in wide eyed wonder for a moment or two.
Volkswagen recently unveiled their new solar hydrogen fueling station. It is located at the Volkswagen Technology Center in the State of Lower Saxony in Germany. The station was designed and bult in collaboration with the German solar energy firm Solvis.
“I very much welcome the launching of this solar-hydrogen filling station and the advent of the hydrogen age here in Lower Saxony which this launch represents,” commented Lower Saxony Environment Minister Hans-Heinrich Sander.
Photo from Volkswagen
The plant will produce hydrogen alongside "SunFuel" which is a synthetic diesel fuel produced from biomass. The Sun Fuel site above has a virtual lab in which you can plant your own seed and watch it grow and eventually be turned into fuel.
” This facility will enable a share of the fuel needed to run the fuel-cell vehicles and test beds developed there to be produced on location using energy from sunlight. “Viewed over the long term,” says Hartmut Märtens, head of fuel-cell development at Volkswagen, “hydrogen-powered fuel-cell drive will offer the greatest amount of potential for greenhouse-gas reduction – especially if such hydrogen is produced by way of a regenerative solution with the help of solar or wind energy. So we are paving the way for the future.”
The hydrogen produced at this facillity will come from water. The site will use solar panels with a surface area of 50 square metres to generate the electricity that is necessary to release the hydrogen from the water. This release will be accomplished by a process known as Electrolysis in which an electric current is passed through the water with the result that the water is split into it's constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen gasses.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Has Volkswagen mentioned that in tests their fuel cell engine won't start below 0 degrees centigrade?
Dave
2 - enki
Hi Dave,
That can be overcome though. Check out this page for some solutions to the low temp startup problem: http://www.hamburg-messe.de/presse/presse_h2expo/H2Expo2_E_(2).htm
MJ
3 - Dave Nalle
I'll check it out, but I bet we're talking electronic warmers like some diesels used to have. Not a great solution.
Dave
4 - Dave Nalle
I spoke too soon, Enki. I followed the link and found all sorts of fascinating stuff, expecially the Alkaline derived cell technology from Medis Technologies. Very promising stuff. Going to go out and see if I can find one to buy for my cell phone since they appear to already be in production on a small scale. BTW, I just bought stock in Medis.
Now tell me why I can't buy biodiesel at my local gas station.
Dave
5 - enki
Hi Dave,
I dont know where you live but check this link out for availability:
here
MJ
6 - Dave Nalle
That did the trick. Thanks. Turns out the one station in the Austin area is not too far from me - not in any direction I normally travel, though.
Then the next question is whether biodiesel is a cost-effective competitor for regular diesel.
Dave
7 - JAMES BRASELTON
HI THERE SAVE OUR VEHICELS WE NEED VW TO BRING SOME HEAVY SOLAR WIND HYDROGEN TO THE CITY OF BRASELTON GOREGIA IMIDITLY TO ON THE NORTH BOUND I-85 AT EXIT 126 AND EXIT 129 ON I-85 NORTH BOUD THIS BAD FOR OUR TOWN NEEDS TO GET A POPULATION OF 1,234 UP AND RUNNING AND THE GAS,DISSEL,NETRAL GAS, PROPANE ARE ALL CONETED TO THE GULF RIGS THAT THE HURRICAN KARTANA ANALAITED OUR FUEL SUPPLIES WE LOST 12 PIPE LINES OF OTHER FULES 15 MILES NORTH OF MALL OF GOREGIA OR 50 MILES NORTH OF THE ATLANTA HERTSFORD JAKSONON AIRPORT
8 - Eric Berlin
Great piece, fascinating stuff.
Wouldn't it seem to make sense for nations of the globe to make massive investments into fuel-cell technology.
Does anyone have any info on costs and efficiency and mpg and such?
9 - Sylvie Pollard
Solar hydrogen is certainly the energy of the near future! However, I do not know why we need hydrogen cars? The electricity in our houses (powered by the solar hydrogen) would be all we'd need for our electric car. You know, that electric car that runs fast and efficiently, but which was sadly killed off by General Motors!
10 - bliffle
Hydrogen has strong potential as a useful form of energy storage. The problem with plugin hybrid cars is that it increases the burden on conventional electric generation and distribution systems, perhaps necessitating more wires and more dams and more burned coal/natural gas, etc., all of which are obnoxious.
All the energy we need can be supplied by the sun. It already has: the coal we dig and the oil we pump are the direct result of the suns generosity in nurturing plants and the dinosaurs that munched them. The resulting organic decay was stored conveniently all these millions of years for our use. We have to shorten the process by cutting out that 100 million year fermentation cycle.
We can generate energy quickly from a variety of short term processes: solar panels, windmills, tide motors, etc. All that we need every day is bestowed on us by that generous sun.
The problem is to have a better means of distribution and storage, and hydrogen can solve that problem. Direct sun energy can produce hydrogen from water and that hydrogen can be stored in tanks (cryogenically and in hydrides) to be used later or shipped or piped to other locations.
For example, while excess sunshine is falling on your house roof you can convert solar energy to stored energy (possibly a combination of conventional voltaic cells and hydrogen) and then either use it later for your own needs, or pipe it back into the system thru wires or pipes and sell it at prevailing spot price. Your PC will figure out when to sell, when to buy and when to store.
Whether you put hydride pellets, cryogenic hydrogen, recharged cells, or power from the wall plug into your car at night is up to you, probably based on the optimization algorithm you employ in your PC.
Pretty soon arbitrage will force the cost down to transfer and storage costs, which are low.
Homeowners will decide which combination of storage and consumption meets their needs.
Hydrogen is an attractive storage medium because conversion from/to energy is pretty efficient, storage per cubic meter of bulk is high, and storage per kilo of is high.
For decades the American Hydrogen Association has been saying "there's a hydrogen powered car in your future" and they're right.