Re: Energy Policy

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 05:20:01 -0500, asa-digest wrote:

>Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 12:03:21 -0500
>From: "Al Koop" <koopa@gvsu.edu>
>Subject: RE: Energy Policy
>
>This information comes from the book, Tomorrow's Energy Hydrogen Fuel
>Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet, by Peter Hoffmann.
>
>The world produces about 40 million tons of hydrogen commercially per
>year. It is used in many industries as a chemical raw material,
>especially in the production of fertilizer, but also in making dyes,
>drugs, and plastics. It is used in the treatment of oils and fats, as a
>fuel for welding, to make gasoline from coal, and to produce methanol.
>It can be stored as a high-pressure gas, as an integral component in
>certain alloys known as hydrides, and in around and on microscopic
>carbon fibers.
>
>It is produced commercially in almost a dozen processes. Most of them
>involve the extraction of hydrogen from hydrocarbons. The most widely
>used, least costly, process is steam reforming in which natural gas is
>made to react with steam, releasing hydrogen. Water electrolysis, in
>which water is broken down into hydrogen and oxygen by running an
>electrical current through it, is used where electricity is cheap or
>where high purity is required.
>
>Hydrogen is stripped out of hydrocarbon fuels, typically natural gas, in
>a method in which natural gas reacts with steam at about 1500-1600
>degrees F with the help of a nickel catalyst. The result is a mixture
>of hydrogen, carbon monoxide,, carbon dioxide, steam, and unreacted
>methane. This mixture is cooled down to about 750 F and reacted further
>over a water gas shift catalyst producing more hydrogen and converting
>the CO to CO2. The CO2 and other impurities are removed by a process
>called pressure swing adsorption.
>
>Another method has been developed by a Norwegian oil/gas firm where a
>plasma torch originally used for incinerating hazardous wastes converts
>natural gas into hydrogen and commercially saleable carbon black without
>the CO2 side product.
>
>Apparently even the optimists think that for the near future most
>hydrogen will be produced from fossil fuels or municipal solid waste.
>
Thanks for the info, Al. So it seems that any method of generating hydrogen
will require electricity. Using municipal solid waste seems like a good idea.
Does it have a downside? Perhaps other by-products of the process?

/Gary
Received on Fri Dec 19 09:20:07 2003