By Brian, Shane, Jeff, and Dustin Hydrogen By Brian, Shane, Jeff, and Dustin

Key terms Hydrogen- lightest and most abundant element in the universe Fuel Cells- a device that uses electricity directly from chemical reaction in specially designed cell. Hydrogen is the fuel and oxidant is supplied.

How hydrogen is used to generate power Can be transported from pipelines and stored in tanks Produced using solar and other renewable sources of energy Burn hydrogen from water to create the fuel cell Electrolysis – process that produces fuel cells by solar or wind power in a carbon free burning process Thermal process is heavily used when steam and CH4 removes carbon Hydrogen is also produced by gasification of biomass

How It Works Fuel Cells have three major parts: the anode, cathode and electrolyte. At the anode, a catalyst oxidizes the fuel (hydrogen) making a positive charged hydrogen ion and a negative charged electron. The electrolyte doesn’t allow for the passage of electrons and forces them down a wire creating a current. This is how electricity is generated. The positive ion passes through the electrolyte to the cathode where it combines again with the electron and another molecule (Oxygen) which creates the byproduct (water).

The History The idea of a fuel cell was first created by a Welsh scientist (William Robert Grove) in 1839. In 1955 General Electric chemist Thomas Grubb slightly modified the electrolytes within the cell while another GE chemist Leonard Niedrach added a catalyst to create what is the modern day fuel cell. (first used by NASA). First use was on NASA’s project Gemini and its first commercial use was in 1959 when British engineer Francis Thomas Bacon developed a 5kW stationary fuel cell.

Where is it used? Fuel cells are typically used on things in remote locations such as space shuttles, wilderness reserves, or some military projects. The technology for the hydrogen powered cars is available, it just isn’t practical. German and Italian navies have fuel cell powered submarines that can remain submerged for weeks. The Boeing research company is working on the possibility of hydrogen powered airplanes.

The Pros The ONLY emission is water. When fuel cells are in ideal conditions they are about 99.9999% reliable. (about one minute of down time every two years) Can be powered by other renewable resources such as solar energy.

The Cons It takes a significant amount of energy to extract hydrogen (typically taken from water). There is no infrastructure to distribute hydrogen to large quantities of people so it isn’t very popular. The Obama administration cut the funding to the hydrogen fuel cell programs so further development is difficult. It requires change so businesses will resist it.

Efficiency Hydrogen fuel cells can be anywhere from 25-70% efficient depending upon the amount of power given to the cell A basic cell converts 50% of energy to electric energy and the other half to heat Also the amount of heat value given to the fuel cell will determine how efficient it will be

Where to build Hydrogen Company in U.S.? By water so electrolysis can still be researched and developed Also where there are fossil fuels Ex. California, South Carolina, West Virginia, Michigan

Hydrogen in NJ? Hydrogen energy can be found in NJ FUKAI in Somerset County Rowan University has started research and development on BlackLight Power

Costs Although there is no exact cost for hydrogen energy, many energies and fossil fuels are used to create fuel cells including natural gas, nuclear energy, wind energy, solar energy, coal and biomass. Trillions of dollars annually to produce fuel cells Aluminum fuel cell $1,500 Iron Fuel Cell $1.50

How is source provided to the consumer? Fuel cell cars and buses are now being used in the U.S., fuel cells are not sold directly to people

How hydrogen energy enters houses and schools? Only 1% of internal combustion is produced, so other places surrounded by fuel cells will not affected

How it effects transportation? Cars can be run electronically through hydrogen fuel cells as well as boats, buses and submarines are powered by fuel cells too

Hydrogen Energy and Pollution Even though 60% of greenhouse gases are emitted, Carbon Dioxide is still emitted into the air by creating fuel cells

Hydrogen and You A switch to Hydrogen power would not bring about much change to the typical American lifestyle. Hydrogen can be transported and distributed in the same way fossil fuels currently are. Hydrogen could be a nice complement to other renewable energy sources like solar and wind since it could provide stability when these sources aren’t readily available.

Working with other energies Hydrogen fuel cells are produced by working with other energies including solar and wind power which when used is converted in to electrical energy.