Scientists - Hydrogen Wasteful, Better Alternatives Available - Reuters

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AMSTERDAM - Hydrogen, the ultimate clean fuel, may not be very suitable as a conduit of renewable energy because it is wasteful and there are better alternatives, scientists said on Friday. One reason that hydrogen is embraced by politicians like US President George W. Bush is that it promises a source of power for cars and buildings that emits only water.
The drawback is that hydrogen must first be produced, requiring a primary energy source, and this is where scientists see major obstacles.

When environmentally friendly wind electricity is used to generate hydrogen, only one quarter of the energy generated by the wind turbine is eventually used to move a car. The rest is lost during transport and energy conversion, said Ulf Bossel of the European Fuel Cell Forum, which held its annual fuel cell conference in Lucerne, Switzerland this week.

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"Through steam reforming technology we can turn 40 to 50 percent of the original fuel content in the biomass into biofuel. The percentage is even higher for hydrogen, 50 to 60 percent, but we will also have to store that hydrogen, and biofuels are the easiest and most efficient way to store hydrogen," Van Swaiij said.

The carbon particles in the biofuel will not make a net contribution to heating up the earth through the greenhouse effect if the fuel is harvested from biomass, because the plants consume carbon dioxide as they grow, Van Swaaij added. Bossel also said that producing hydrogen, either through electrolysis using nuclear or renewable electricity, or refined from biomass or fossil fuels, requires massive amounts of water. One kilogramme of hydrogen requires nine litres of water.


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http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/37166/story.htm