essay on electricity production from hydrogen energy
Answers
Answer:
Use of hydrogen
Nearly all of the hydrogen consumed in the United States is used by industry for refining petroleum, treating metals, producing fertilizer, and processing foods. U.S. petroleum refineries use hydrogen to lower the sulfur content of fuels.
Rocket fuel is a major use of hydrogen for energy
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began using liquid hydrogen in the 1950s as a rocket fuel, and NASA was one of the first to use hydrogen fuel cells to power the electrical systems on spacecraft.
Hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The hydrogen reacts with oxygen across an electrochemical cell similar to that of a battery to produce electricity, water, and small amounts of heat.
Many different types of fuel cells are available for a wide range of applications. Small fuel cells can power laptop computers and even cell phones, and military applications. Large fuel cells can provide electricity for backup or emergency power in buildings and supply electricity in places that are not connected to electric power grids.
As of the end of October 2020, there were about 161 operating fuel cells at 108 facilities in the United States with a total of about 250 megawatts (MW) of electric generation capacity. The largest is the Red Lion Energy Center in Delaware with about 25 MW total electric generation capacity, which uses hydrogen produced from natural gas to operate the fuel cells.
Hydrogen use in vehicles
The interest in hydrogen as a transportation fuel is based on its potential for domestic production and use in fuel cells for high efficiency, zero-emission electric vehicles. A fuel cell is two to three times more efficient than an internal combustion engine running on gasoline. Hydrogen use in vehicles is a major focus of fuel cell research and development.
In the United States, several vehicle manufacturers have begun making light-duty hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles available in select regions such as Southern and Northern California where there is access to hydrogen fueling stations. Test vehicles are also available in limited numbers to select organizations with access to hydrogen fueling stations.
Most hydrogen-fueled vehicles are automobiles and transit buses that have an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. A few of these vehicles burn hydrogen directly. The high cost of fuel cells and the limited availability of hydrogen fueling stations have limited the number of hydrogen-fueled vehicles.
The refueling challenge
Production of hydrogen-fueled vehicles is limited because people won't buy those vehicles if hydrogen refueling stations are not easily accessible, and companies won't build refueling stations if they don't have customers with hydrogen-fueled vehicles. In the United States, there are about 46 hydrogen vehicle fueling stations and nearly all are in California. The State of California's Clean Transportation Program includes assistance for establishing publicly accessible hydrogen vehicle fueling stations throughout California to promote a consumer market for zero-emission fuel cell vehicles.
Electrical energy is the most convenient form of energy because it can be easily controlled, transported and converted into heat and work at very high efficiencies. The only shortcoming of electrical energy is that it cannot be stored in large quantities. Alternative energy of future is hydrogen energy which can also be easily stored in addition to other qualities of electrical energy.
But is highly inflammable and special handling precautions are needed during its production, transportation, storage and utilization. Hydrogen is a secondary fuel that is produced by utilizing energy from a primary source. Water and solar energy are freely and abundantly available in nature on earth. Hydrogen can be produced from water by using solar energy. All plants and hydrocarbons (fossil fuels) are sources of hydrogen.