A new clean energy source could be the single most significant news story of the century. Unfortunately, eco-activists are not interested.
Three researchers at the University of Nebraska may have discovered enough energy to end the world’s dependence on oil. The critical element is hydrogen gas, and massive ready-to-use deposits may run through the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Kansas.
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On top of it all, hydrogen is naturally generated when water meets the volcanic rock deposits about a mile below the surface, so the gas could be tapped forever without being exhausted. The world will never run out.
History Repeating Itself?
Others have made similar fantastic claims in the past, only to have them come to nothing.
On the other hand, sometimes, these claims change the world. In the mid-1850s, farmers in Western Pennsylvania were disgusted by a foul-smelling black fluid that contaminated the groundwater. Then Samuel Kier figured out how to refine the stuff into kerosene that people could use to light their homes. Demand for the Kier’s raw material was such that Edwin Drake built a well to pump it out of the ground. Between these two men, the oil industry was born. Conceivably, hydrogen could supplant oil.
Hydrogen is the third most abundant element on earth, after oxygen and silicon. It is highly combustible in its pure state. Unfortunately, it easily combines with other elements, such as oxygen, as in H2O. Isolating it for use as a fuel has proven difficult. The most striking fact about the hydrogen in the Midcontinent Rift is that it is, apparently, already isolated.
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Hydrogen fuel cells can also generate electricity through generators small enough to be placed in a home or car. Therefore, they do not drain the electric grid like battery-powered cars or heating and air conditioning systems.
A God-Given Resource
Like the oil in western Pennsylvania, the hydrogen deposits appear naturally. National Park Service geographers and historians working out of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Keweenaw National Historical Park believe the deposit was formed due to a geologic anomaly known as the Midcontinent Rift.
The Rift formed at a time when the North American continent was splitting apart. During this time, vast amounts of lava poured out of the earth’s crust and buried elements and gases under thousands of feet of sediments.
Among the elements lying 3,000 to 5,000 feet below the land surface is hydrogen—a lot of it. In fact, SciTech Daily quoted the researchers at the University of Nebraska as saying that it has the “potential to produce renewable, carbon-free hydrogen, possibly meeting energy needs for centuries.”
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Researchers are not the only people who make such claims. The same article quotes the U.S. Geological Survey speculating that “there might be enough accessible natural hydrogen under the Earth’s surface to meet global energy needs for thousands of years.”
Hydrogen deposits are not limited to the United States. Similar rifts exist in France, Germany, Russia and Africa. The size, depth and extent of hydrogen deposits in those locations are, as yet, unknown. However, successful hydrogen extraction in North America augurs well for duplication of those efforts in other locations.
Mass Optimism
Of course, discovering hydrogen resources is only the beginning of the task. Many difficult questions about pumping and storage still need to be answered.
The potential uses of hydrogen are already well established. The U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, pointed out that “Clean hydrogen is a game changer. It will help decarbonize high-polluting heavy-duty and industrial sectors, while delivering good-paying clean energy jobs and realizing a net-zero economy by 2050.”
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Nor is the excitement around hydrogen limited to optimistic government bureaucrats. ExxonMobil says it is already “Scaling up production of low-carbon hydrogen.” The company explains, “Hydrogen produces zero greenhouse gas emissions at its point of use. It’s also versatile—suitable for power generation, trucking, and heat-intensive industries like steel and chemicals. We are scaling up production of low-carbon hydrogen to reduce CO2 emissions in our own facilities, and helping others do the same.” The company currently has a facility to extract hydrogen from natural gas under construction in Baytown, Texas. They expect a production of one billion cubic feet per day.
Of course, if useable hydrogen already exists in the Midcontinent rift, the need to refine it from another substance would be largely superfluous.
If hydrogen can be produced, stored and transported at a reasonable cost, the effects could be amazing.
Heat, Light and Motion
The technology that could enable consumers to heat their homes with hydrogen is in its infancy. According to Time Magazine, there are “early deployment of various domestic hydrogen heating trials in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Japan….The Dutch government has even tasked the grid operator Gasunie with developing a national hydrogen grid by 2030.”
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However, much of the work necessary to produce a hydrogen-powered car is already done. The car’s motors are similar to those on a modern electric vehicle, except that the battery would be replaced by a hydrogen fuel cell connected to a small generator. As early as 1966, General Motors experimented with a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle called Electrovan. Much research has gone on since then. The two significant obstacles are similar to those for electric vehicles using batteries—cost and the lack of a fueling infrastructure.
Will hydrogen eventually replace the consumption of so-called fossil fuels? Not in the near future. However, the not-so-near future may not be as far away as it looks.
Massive and Unforeseen Consequences
Of course, the political and economic effects of cheap hydrogen fuel will be felt worldwide. The economies and political clout of oil-producing nations in the Middle East would deflate faster than a leaking balloon. Hydrogen-fueled home-generating systems could render the electric grid obsolete. Silent, clean and cheap heat and transportation will effect massive—and unpredictable—social change.
The only people who do not seem overly enthusiastic about development are eco-activists. Many call hydrogen a leak-prone gas with a potent warming effect. Their lack of support makes it evident that their opposition is much more ideological than ecological. The most radical proponents of their agenda are in favor of human extinction, not human prosperity.
Photo Credit: © Juanamari Gonzalez – stock.adobe.com