POSITION PAPER

Hydrogen Fuel as an Alternative Energy



Position Paper

Introduction

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Represents, by weight, 92% of the known matter, the rest, 7% is I and only 1% left for other items. On our planet is the 10th most abundant element in Earth's crust We found combined in the form of water (the most abundant compound, covers 80% of the planet's surface), living matter (carbohydrates and protein constitutes 70% the human body), organic compounds, fossil fuel (petroleum and natural gas, etc.). Hydrogen is a constituent of a very large number of compounds containing one or more other elements. These compounds include water, acids, bases, most organic compounds and minerals. Compounds in which hydrogen is combined with another element only are generally called hydrides.

Discussion

The most important use of hydrogen is in the synthesis of ammonia. The use of hydrogen is increasing rapidly in the oil refining operations, like the breaking of hydrogen (hydrocracking) and hydrogen treatment to remove sulfur. Consumed large amounts of hydrogen in the catalytic hydrogenation of unsaturated liquid vegetable oils to obtain solid fats. Hydrogenation is used in the manufacture of organic chemicals. Large quantities of hydrogen are used as rocket fuel, in combination with oxygen or fluorine, and as a rocket propellant nuclear-powered (Winebrake, 2004).

As we said before, hydrogen is the simplest and most common element in the universe, is the energy of the century, according to a report just released by the World Watch Institute, a leading independent environmental research, interest is growing in hydrogen worldwide (Morgan, 2008). Climate change caused by burning fossil fuels and energy security are two reasons behind the investigations about this item. Another reason is the increasing development in recent years fuel cells that use hydrogen to generate electricity and produce only water vapor as a byproduct. A technology driven mainly by automobile multinationals, which are spending billions figures for research and development of fuel cells. So, Daimler-Chrysler will invest 200,000 million pesetas in ten years and Toyota has announced it will start selling a car that uses fuel cells in 2003(Rau, 2010).

To Seth Dunn, author of the report of the World Watch Institute, "the key question is not if did not direct a world based on hydrogen as energy, but how to get to it and how long it will take us." Today, the 99% of hydrogen produced in the world is extracted from ...