Hydrogen Power Blog

David J Hughes


Due to a number of major factors, including the state of the economy, the climate crises and the general higher visibility of environmental issues, renewable energy has become a significant and high profile subject. Now, more than at any time in history, there is a growing awareness of our impact on the planet and consequently a growing movement toward environmental responsibility through the use of renewable energy.

The fundamental shift toward using renewable energy is not just motivated by those who are environmentally conscious and who want to do their part to stabilize the climate. Renewable energy is also attractive to the countless people out there who are interested in saving money on heating and cooling bills by using alternative energy sources. Regardless of the motivation, the result is the same; unprecedented numbers of average people are looking into all types of renewable energy in order to save money on household energy bills. Many have numerous questions about renewable energy. Here are some renewable energy FAQs:

What is renewable energy?

Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that is unlimited in quantity and which renews or regenerates itself without any input from humans.

What are the different types of renewable energy?

Solar power: one of the most popular and reliable forms of renewable energy available, today, solar power is collected by solar panels that have numerous solar cells that store the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity, just like a traditional battery. Solar panels are usually installed on the roofs of structures and are linked together and then tied into the house’s electrical wiring system. Many people find that having a solar power system saves them dramatic amounts of money in heating and cooling bills and some people are even able to disconnect entirely from the electric company and live off the grid on solar power.

Wind power: wind power comes from wind generators that capture the kinetic energy from the wind and translate it into electricity. This is essentially accomplished with propellers mounted on towers. As the wind turns the propellers, electricity is generated. Many electrical cooperatives have built large farms of massive wind generators, but a scaled down version is available for residential use.

Hydrogen furnace: while somewhat different and much more complex than solar or wind power, hydrogen furnaces are just beginning to become proven and reliable technology to create unlimited sources of energy. Essentially, the hydrogen furnace produces energy from waste material by separating the hydrogen molecules. Hydrogen furnaces have posed massive engineering problems for years, but recently there have been breakthroughs that have allowed this technology to become viable.



Can one save money by using renewable energy?

If done correctly, one could save thousands of dollars per year in electricity costs by using renewable energy technology such as solar or wind power. In many places, solar panels can provide the majority if not all of the electricity necessary to power a household every month. The cost of installing a renewable energy system is often recaptured in savings in the first year.

Roger Vanderlely


The capacity to mass produce hydrogen powered vehicles and the fuel required to run them has been available for many years, yet industry experts still estimate that the technology is 10 to 20 years away from being a mainstream fuel supply.  This is not due to a lack of experience by manufacturers in the production of Hydrogen fuel cells, or vehicles that run on them.

The first Hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle was built in the 1960s by General Motors in the United States.  Hydrogen fuel cells were also used in space by NASA in the 1960s.  Given the impressive pedigree and early development of this fuel, why is it not yet a commercial reality?

The facts are that Hydrogen is a very dangerous substance, and these dangers are present not just at the consumer end but all the way through production, transportation and storage.  A tank of pressurized Hydrogen in many ways the same as a time bomb.  Any damage to the structure of the vessel containing the Hydrogen could result in a powerful explosion, even from relatively small tanks like those that would be fitted to automobiles.

There is also the issue of using electricity to produce Hydrogen in the first place.  This itself is quite energy intensive and involves losses of energy at each stage of transformation from one form to another, such as when electrical energy is converted into chemical energy to form the Hydrogen molecules.  Even if this electricity was generated from clean sources such as solar panels, it could be used directly to charge batteries or supply a grid with greater efficiency than for producing Hydrogen.

So what is the future of the fuel cell?  Fuel cells do not have to run only on Hydrogen.  They can be run on many different fuels, including methanol and ethanol.  Both these substances can be produced at a far lower electricity cost than Hydrogen.  These fuels do produce Carbon Dioxide emissions however, though these could be neutralized by use of biofuel crops to produce the fuel in the first place.

Unless we are able to produce virtually limitless amounts of energy the Hydrogen economy is unlikely to emerge.  Our time would be better spent discussing the serious development of the Ethanol economy.  This technology is proven, safe and far cheaper than its Hydrogen counterpart and can be easily mated with current battery powered electrical systems.

Roger Vanderlely

For more information on biofuels, carbon reduction, energy saving ideas, kids activities and solar power facts, visit my website, http://www.green-planet-solar-energy.com.