Wind to Hydrogen?
I came across a short, but interesting article at PhysOrg.com yesterday describing a new experimental facility created through a joint venture between Xcel Energy and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The facility will use wind-generated electricity to produce hydrogen.
This sounds like an interesting twist on the usual (energy-intensive, CO2-emitting) methods for hydrogen production. I’ll be curious to see how it stacks up in terms of efficiency. Obviously there isn’t much point in using wind power if it’s going to require a 100 turbines just to produce a tankfull of hydrogen per day. I wonder how it would compare (in terms of energy storage) to using batteries? Hydrogen and electricity are obviously two different beasts, but at the end of the day it comes down to how much useful energy we have for use, whether it be for running our cars, heating our homes or powering street lamps.
Here is an exerpt:
Currently, there are limitations to both wind power and hydrogen. Wind farms only generate electricity when the wind is blowing, which is about one-third of the time in the United States. This creates the need for backup generation, which is usually fossil-fueled. Hydrogen, while the most common element in the universe, isn’t found in its pure form on Earth and must be either electrolyzed from water, or stripped out of natural gas, which are energy-intensive processes that result in greenhouse gas emissions.
“By marrying wind turbines to hydrogen production, we create a synergy that systematically reduces the drawbacks of each,” Kelly said. “Intermittent wind power is converted to a stored fuel that can be used anytime, while at the same time offering a totally climate-friendly way to retrieve hydrogen, to power our homes and possibly cars in the future.”
NREL and Xcel Energy expect to offer a public update on the operation of the project around the middle of 2007. Results will also be shared with the Hydrogen Utility Group, made up of Xcel Energy and nine other utility companies interested in hydrogen’s future role in the utility industry.
I’ll definitely be interested to see how this study pans out!
Technorati Tags: wind power, wind turbine, energy, hydrogen, green power, green energy, electricity, alternative energy, Xcel Energy, department of energy, renewable energy
Written by Bentley on January 10th, 2007 with
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