A Bit More About Hydrogen

Wow, as of this writing, the price of oil skipped past 142/barrel. That is, again, an all-time high. On this note, stepping back in time a quarter century, I enter my post of today, which is an almost whimsical view on hydrogen from Chapter 2 of "SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR PLANET EARTH" (http://SimpleSoutionsBook1.com):

Paraphrasing Robert Cowen, science editor for the Christian Science Monitor:

o Huckster phrases abound.

o At an American Chemical Society meeting, Gabor Somarjai and his colleagues from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory announced the use of iron oxide (rust, not expensive platinum) as a breakthrough for the sun powered electrolysis production of hydrogen. However, Bruce Parkinson of the Solar Energy Research Institute said that Somarjai was making a big deal out of nothing, for the efficiency was 0.05%.

o Soon thereafter, John Bockris of Texas A&M held a press conference reporting on efficiencies exceeding 10% to produce hydrogen at a cost equivalent of 1/gallon gasoline. Chemical and Engineering News, however, reacted sharply, and the A&M public relations office responded that there were, of course, uncertainties and engineering difficulties between dream and reality.

ALL THIS OCCURRED IN 1983.

Where are we today? Well, Honda said it would market a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid car this coming year. But I'm still wondering if methanol might serve as the better bridge to our energy future.

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