Slashdot Mirror
World's First Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Island
Albanach writes "According to this article in The Herald Newspaper, the island of Islay, on the West coast of Scotland is set to become the world's first Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered island. Scientests at Napier University wish to use the existing Wave Power Station to treat sea water and store the resulting hydrogen in fuel cells. The first plan is to power a building, moving on to powering the entire island in a decade."
So they're using a completely renuable resource, namely wave power, to separate sea water into O2 and (2) H2.
This is a great idea for any region with significant ocean frontage. Unfortunately, it is only a great idea in such locations. We can't fuel the US gas glutton SUVs via this method, there just isn't enough ocean frontage for all the soccer-moms.
Kudos to a truly self-powered island!
"You worthless post!"
-Shakespeare, 2 Gentlemen of Verona, 1. 1. 147
Hydrogen cells are a mature technology. Ballard makes a nice one.
We all know that when we use hydrogen power the waste is water vapor.
:)
Won't all this vapor make the climate much wetter causing it to rain more and so on?
Plus since from what I've been told the vapor comes from the hydrogen mixing with oxygen in the air. Won't this also lower the oxygen content of the air?
Please tell me I'm completely off my rocker.
Or better yet explain why
Thank you.
I know I'm going to hell, I'm just trying to get good seats.
Someone joked "Won't anyone think about the rotation of the Earth?"
The question has a much more serious ramification than the jokester may have realized:
The Earth is slowing down and will eventually break this system.
The Moon ya see is creating these things called tides that this generation plant is at least partially dependent upon.
The friction of the water being drug across the surface of the Earth by the moon is slowing decelerating the earth. Eventually the Moon will become geosynchronous with the Earth, and the lunar tides will cease.
If lunar tides cease to exist, ocean temperatures will likely equalize a little (less water movement at all), and so winds will become less intense. Lower wind speeds mean lower waves (wind and tides are the major causes of waves).
This may not really be the long term soution they think it is.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Hydrogen is a mobile energy container. Immobile energy containers can be much more efficient. The best thing I can thing of is gravitional energy: pump water to a higher place. Moving up a solid away from the earth is even more efficient, but can't be scaled up nicely. Some sort of huge elevator would be very efficient, but rather small scale.
DNA is the ultimate spaghetti code.
Perhaps the most important and certainly the "cleanest" storage method for H2.
Sodium Borohydride (soap).
Chrysler even made a minivan that uses it. It acts as the H2 storage medium and is easily 're-energized'. Think about it. No explosive H2 to mess with. You get in a wreck and the only thing that leaks out is soap and water. Clean streets!
The existing infrastructure for transporting natural gas is unfortunately insufficient to transport hydrogen gas.
The hydrogen atom is the smallest one around and tends to leak like crazy if given the chance. This is part of the reason why hydrogen power is so expensive. A valve that would stop propane or methane flow looks like a wide open door to hydrogen gas!
Cheers,
Colin