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From time to time we get articles from people around the world. Many of them we publish, as you can see in our articles listing. But we can’t publish everything we’re sent, because our credibility is important to us. There are a lot of environmentalists who tout hydrogen as the future of energy. But have they really analysed the practicality of hydrogen? Here then, is my response to the author of yet another story that touted hydrogen as the solution to all our worldwide energy challenges:

“Thank you for your email. I’m considering publishing this but have some concerns. Having also studied hydrogen, I don’t see in your analysis a treatment of some of the problems with hydrogen. For example, how will hydrogen be stored in a safe and cost-effective manner? Don’t bother with liquified hydrogen, or hydrogen pressurized to 5,000-10,000 PSI, because those methods are NOT practical today, and may never be. And they are very expensive. As for fuel cells, I’ve been in that industry and I don’t think they’re anywhere near ready for mass production. They are still incredibly expensive and they are fragile. The catalysts (which use expensive materials) degrade quickly. Electrolysis units have similar problems.

Why not explore other ways to store electricity? I fully agree with your comments regarding wind and photovoltaic power, I think they are viable now and will only get more viable in the future. But can wind power and PV power be harnessed through load balancing and storage means other than hydrogen? Because if you don’t believe it is easy to store and distribute hydrogen (I don’t) and if you don’t think electrolysers and fuel cells are going to be viable any time soon (I don’t), then what are your alternatives? For example, batteries on-board commuter cars seems like a far more cost-effective way to store electricity. Why doesn’t the electric car get more interest and support? What other methods are available to store electricity?

Your article also mentions things that are not necessarily truisms; I’m not convinced carbon dioxide is the cause of global warming and I haven’t heard a convincing scientific explanation for why it is. I have a phd chemist doing a story currently on global warming and I’ve asked him to debunk author Michael Crichton’s claim that going from 300 to 600 ppm of Co2 will not cause global warming, and he can’t. There isn’t a shred of evidence we’ve found – not one scientific explanation for why going from 300 to 600 ppm of atmospheric Co2 will cause global warming. Find that, and I’ll publish it. In your analysis you also make claims regarding nuclear power which I don’t totally agree with; I don’t have a strong position for or against nuclear power – I think it is much safer today than it was 30 years ago and I’m not sure we should ignore it. I’m not at all convinced nuclear power is not economically viable. Also you mention the sterling motor as a source of energy. We’ve covered this for several years, and have never seen a sterling engine prototype that could deliver meaningful amounts of energy.

What would be really interesting would be a story about ways to store electricity that don’t rely on hydrogen nor are far fetched (such as “ultra-capacitors”); where is the future of the common battery, for example? And where is a good scientific explanation for why Co2 causes global warming? I would think methane, or even water vapor, are far bigger culprits. Sometimes I think the whole hydrogen cause is encouraged by vested interests in the oil industry because they know giving hydrogen lip service distracts activists from trying to get better fuel-efficiency standards enacted or trying to get battery-powered commuter cars back on the road.

Please rest assured I have no axe to grind. My website is so left of right and so right of left that nobody sponsors me. But the readers love it.”

If you want to grow biofuel in the desert, then you have to import water from somewhere. If the canals to transport the water are too big, then build a hundred small ones, with underground pipes moving some cubic meters per minute.

Water irrigates earth which takes sunlight and using the water and minerals in the earth, sustains and creates new life, which is harvested to use as biofuel. How many gigawatt-years, or thermal units, how much potential energy can the land yield in any year?

This pure quantitative measurement defines whether or not any biofuel, or any land, can yield the return you need to grow. Not every land easily can grow a healthy crop of oil palms, but with water nearly all biofuel crops and land grow more.

Irrigation ain’t what it used to be, and green, nurturing and efficient irrigation is more a reality, more affordable than ever. Bring water to the crops, and grow fuel along with food.

Editor’s Note: Will Biofuel Replace Crude Oil?
There is a lot of discussion these days about biofuel, and there should be. Biofuel is an excellent fuel – it burns cleaner than petroleum-based fuels and is easier on the internal combustion engine. Moreover, we can grow biofuel, which means it is totally renewable. But can biofuel completely replace crude oil?

The answer, at least for now, is absolutely not. As the table below shows, even if a fairly high-yielding biofuel crop were planted all over the world, yielding 1,000 barrels of oil per year per square mile, and even if this biofuel were grown on every available scrap of farmland on earth, we would only replace 20% of the energy we’re currently getting from crude oil. The algebra is immutable – about 10% of the world’s land area consists of arable farmland, about 5.7 million square miles. If 100% of that land was planted with biofuel crops yielding 1,000 barrels of oil per square mile, each year that would produce 5.7 billion barrels of biofuel. But world consumption of crude oil currently stands at 85 million barrels per day, which equates to 31 billion barrels per year. Biofuel will greatly supplement crude oil supplies, and is an important part of future energy solutions, but that’s as far as it goes.

CAN BIOFUEL REPLACE CRUDE OIL?

Growing biofuel on 100% of the world’s farmland would only provide about 20% of the energy produced each year from crude oil

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This certainly doesn’t mean we should stop developing biofuels. Much biofuel is grown on land that is too marginal to support food crops. Moreover, biodiesel and bioethanol, both refined from biomass, are renewable, clean-burning fuels; biodiesel fuel has lubricity that actually extends the life of diesel engines. And unlike hydrogen, biofuels can be stored and distributed using existing infrastructure.

Moreover, biofuel crops are basically converting sunlight into energy. As such, in future years it’s possible biofuel crops may be developed that can more efficiently convert sunlight into biomass, creating potentially far higher yields. An excellent website for learning more about biofuel is www.JourneytoForever.org; it includes tables showing the yields of all well-known biofuel crops, as well as information on how to refine biofuel. – Ed Ring

Countless articles have been written on alternative fuels and hybrids, all have major technological and economic hurdles to overcome – especially hydrogen fuel cell cars, but also the popular new hybrids.

Hybrids require heavy batteries that are limited in where they can be placed in the vehicle, which can cause weight distribution problems, and the additional weight of batteries might be better used to strengthen the passenger structure. Batteries also take up valuable space. If one compares the standard 2006 Honda Civic to the hybrid version, the hybrid version has 14% less cargo space than the non-hybrid version. The current average hybrid battery replacement cost: $3,000. Hybrid cars, and, for that matter, 100% battery powered cars, have great potential. But they are not the only answer.

FOOD OR FUEL?

Corn is a major source of biofuel in North America

Whether or not hybrids or battery-powered cars will ever become part of clean, renewable, economical automotive solutions, clean diesel-powered cars are already available worldwide. The USA has been slow to adopt diesels because of the low grade/high sulfur diesel sold here (500 ppm). This will change in the 2nd half of 2006. Beginning on October 15, 2006, low sulfur diesel (15 ppm or less) will be required to be sold at retail outlets throughout the United States.

The diesel engine today is a far cry from the black smoke belching dirty diesel engines of the early and mid-20th century. And in addition to the vast mechanical advances already made to the current clean diesel engines, and the new technologies like particulate filters that will be coming out as standard equipment over the next couple of years, the use of Bio-Diesel fuel substantially improves the reduction of emissions. Diesels now approach the emission standards achieved by ultra-low emission vehicles. They are clean.

It doesn’t end there. Diesels typically last 400,000+ miles before needing any major engine work. That’s over twice as long as a typical gasoline engine. This, along with high fuel efficiency, gives diesels higher resale values than any other type of vehicle.

BARRELS OIL PER SQUARE MILE PER BIOFUEL CROP

There are vast differences in the yield per acre from one biofuel to the next Source: www.JourneytoForever.org

Bio-Diesel fuel has many advantages over traditional fuel:

is VERY clean, environmentally safe, and non-toxic.

has a high flash point making it the SAFEST fuel to handle, distribute, and in crashes!!!

is inherently an excellent lubricant, making the already durable diesel engine last far past the typical 400,000+ miles.

can be entirely manufactured in the USA and greatly reduce dependence on a foreign supply of vehicle fuel.

can be made from many things, including wood chips, used restaurant grease, coal waste (which cleans up existing environmental pollution), seeds, grains, Jatropha, etc., and even from algae (ref: Motor Trend, Jan 2006, page 42)!

creates thousands more US jobs

Jatropha is especially interesting in that not only can it be used for producing Bio-Diesel, it has the additional benefit of restoring previously degraded and unfertile land.

A common criticism of biofuel is that large-scale production of biofuel crops will displace commercial food crops. But like many bio-fuel crops, growing Jatropha will not use land currently being used to grow food – it grows on marginal lands that won’t support food crops.

We already have the infrastructure to distribute and dispense Bio-Diesel. No expensive infrastructure to build from scratch, such as would have to happen with hydrogen. The requirements of hydrogen, which must be either frozen into a liquid or pressurized to at least 5,000 PSI in order to be stored in meaningful quantities, have never been fully acknowleged by hydrogen advocates. The costs of building a hydrogen storage and distribution infrastructure are staggering.

Bio-Diesel is gaining popularity: New diesel Jeeps are being shipped from the factory with a 5% Bio-Diesel blend. (Chrysler Group Touts Benefits of Modern Clean Diesel)

Minnesota requires a minimum of a 2% Bio-Diesel blend in diesel that is sold in the state, which started September 29, 2005. Minnesota also has three Bio-Diesel production facilities producing 63 Million gallons of Bio-Diesel a year. (Minnesota’s 2% Biodiesel (B2) Program)

According to Edmunds.com, diesels will outsell hybrids 2-to-1 in the US by 2012, with hybrids having a limited future. (Compared to Hybrids, Diesels Show Remarkable Potential)

Brazil is requiring a 2% Bio-Diesel blend for the entire country, and the government is investing $34.5 Million in a Bio-Diesel Production plant. In addition, Petrobras (a Brazilian company) is investing $167.8 Million in additional Bio-Diesel production. (Brazil to Invest in Biodiesel Plant)

India is also heavily investing in Bio-Diesel production. (Bio Diesel – The Next Generation Sustainable Fuel [India])

Some additional sites:

Hawaii’s Proven Alternative Fuel

ADM and Volkswagen Celebrate National Ag Day With Landmark Biodiesel Announcement

Northwest Biodiesel Network – Why Biodiesel

D1 Oils plc (UK based)

Bio-Diesel links in German:

Biodiesel, Schont unsere Umwelt

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Qualitaetsmanagement Biodiesel e.V.

Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG

Lurgi realisiert in Sachsen-Anhalt weltgrosstes Biodieselprojekt

There are also many articles on Bio-Diesel in Spanish, Portugues, and French.
Bio-Diesel is growing in popularity worldwide as the most viable alternative to gasoline currently available.

Bio-Diesel is made from renewable sources, offers high performance, and is the safest of any alternative fuel.