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Cost of Secondary Energy $/gigajoule
Electricity from Nuclear Power 10-12
Electricity from Coal-Fired Generation 15-18
Cost of Producing Hydrogen
Hydrogen from coal/gas/oil ~5
Hydrogen from coal/gas/oil minus CO2 8-13
Hydrogen from biomass 12-18
Hydrogen using nuclear power 15-18
Hydrogen using wind power 15-30
Hydrogen using solar power 25-50
Cost of Conventional Motor Fuel
Gasoline, Diesel 4-6
Summary of the Pros and Cons of Hydrogen as a Portable Fuel
We see that the dramatic proposal to use hydrogen as a transportation fuel entails certain benefits, hazards and costs. A short summary of the benefits is as follows.
- Hydrogen can be made from water using electricity.
- Hydrogen, unlike electricity, can be stored in large quantities.
- Energy contained in hydrogen can be transported via pipelines more efficiently than the energy contained in electricity via long distance transmission lines.
- Hydrogen does not form GHGs when used to make power.
Hydrogen is therefore a natural partner of electricity in the distribution and use of energy in a modern world. However, the hazards are also significant.
- Hydrogen must be stored under high pressure (>3500 psi) or at very low temperatures (< - 400�F).
- Hydrogen leaks more easily than other gases through containers, valves and fittings used in storage and transportation.
- Hydrogen is explosive with air over a very wide range of concentrations, 4% to 72% at 1 atm. pressure.
- The combustion of hydrogen in fuel cells will produce water, with unknown consequences on local microclimate and driving conditions.
- The release of vast amounts of pure oxygen at the electrolysis plants will have unknown but potentially damaging consequences.
There are other problems, but the greatest of all is that a massive infrastructure for the generation, storage, distribution and use of hydrogen as an energy source needs to be put in place. This will be expensive and will take a long time. We will have to weather this lengthy transition and arrive at a very different energy supply configuration to do it. It will even take a major change in our mindset. This is where the question of how to double US electrical power generation using non-polluting technologies comes to the fore.
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Nuclear technology lies at the heart of the solutions to our energy concerns. Nuclear power is presently the only technology that offers the potential for satisfying our base-load energy needs for the long term. Nuclear reactors are completely free of GHG emissions, and do not contribute to pollution or to global warming. Nuclear reactors do not require imported fuels. Nuclear reactors will be absolutely essential for the long-term needs for both stationary and mobile energy.
Tragically, fears of nuclear accidents and concerns about long-term storage of spent fuel have led to closure of existing nuclear plants and delayed the introduction of new nuclear technologies, both in the United States and elsewhere. Granted, commercial nuclear power generation technology does need to be updated from its currently-implemented versions, to make it more cost effective, to further reduce the risk of accidents, and to rationalize the disposal of spent fuel elements. However, this work is already well advanced, and it is high time we started to implement it. Unfortunately, further progress in developing and implementing this technology has been held back by groups who oppose nuclear power for ideological reasons and propagate unfounded concerns over safety. There are nevertheless some real obstacles to the renaissance of nuclear power, including:
- the need to upgrade current nuclear plant technology;
- the high capital cost of nuclear plants;
- concerns over health and safety aspects of nuclear plant operation;
- concerns over the storage of spent nuclear fuel;
- local political support for competing fuels, particularly coal;
- global political positions, exemplified by the Kyoto Treaty;
- lack of realistic cost/benefit comparisons with the various alterna-tives.
Solutions to all the technical problems are known, and mostly well in hand. The political concerns, on the other hand, have remained unchallenged for decades. Home