" Why are we not hearing much about the stratospheric ozone-depletion crisis these days? We finally woke up and attacked the source of the problem. We outlawed the production and sale of CFCs.
Instead of debating the possibility of a single halogen atom from a CFC being able to destroy hundreds of thousands of ozone molecules, we found alternatives to CFC. Today we are not dealing with an ozone crisis.
We need to take this same approach with global warming. We need to stop burning carbon-based fuels (fossil and biological). We need to look strongly at "zero-emission" alternatives such as hydrogen fuel cells.
Think of all the jobs across America that could be created by developing the infrastructure to support hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles, homes and businesses.
It is time to reclaim the economic power that we give to OPEC.
We could fuel our economy for decades! "
- Ask Congress why the International Renewable Hydrogen Transmission Demonstration Facility did NOT make it into Title VII (research) of the 07 Farm Bill (Click here for an artist's view of the IRHTDF)
Our energy options are many, but a direct hydrogen usage approach should be our goal. Currently, whether we burn fossil fuels or biological fuels produced from crops, we expel carbon oxides (a.k.a. greenhouse gasses) as byproducts, thus expedite global warming. The energy we produce by burning these fuels actually comes from the hydrogen bonds in their molecules. However, hydrogen is not the only element present in these molecules. Fossil fuels and bio-fuels also contain carbon, an element that contributes nothing to the the fuel's energy output. In addition to carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and trace amounts of mercury and other toxic heavy metals are deposited downwind of coal fueled power plants. Atmospheric ozone is another byproduct of fossil fuels. Since the hydrogen burns indirectly when these fuels are combusted, this is an indirect hydrogen usage approach.
Carbon-based fuel pollutants are adding growing costs to our lives:
- Global warming is increasing the severity of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts,...weather related disasters
- Sulfur and nitrogen oxides create acid rain
- Bio-magnification of mercury, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is increasing cancer occurrences
- Atmospheric ozone shortens life spans
Hydrogen combustion and hydrogen fuel cells, on the other hand, use hydrogen directly. Therefore, they are a direct hydrogen usage approach. Water and oxygen are the only byproducts of this approach. Electrolysis of water (via solar, wind, hydro, human/animal power, etc.) yields hydrogen, so the byproduct can convert directly back into the fuel. Microbes can even be harnessed to produce hydrogen. Fuel renewing for direct hydrogen usage can occur in less than a second, as opposed to a growing season for crop-derived fuels and millions of years for fossil fuels. Furthermore, hydrogen is the most abundant element on earth and can be extracted from crops, livestock operations and even fossil fuels.
Read The Phoenix Project: Shifting from Oil to Hydrogen by Harry Braun
