Are
utility companies afraid of the hydrogen highway?
Monday,
November 05, 2007
Fuel
cell cars: The greatest fear of power companies?
I've long been a huge fan of hybrid
cars and, especially, of plug-in
hybrid vehicles. For the last several years, I've
believed that plug-in hybrids made fuel cell vehicles and,
more important, the hydrogen highway irrelevant to a new
energy paradigm. In fact, I started to believe that the
hydrogen highway was the quickest path away
from a new, clean and green energy paradigm.
Part of the reason for my disdain of the hydrogen highway
was the way the last Republican-led Congress tried to fund
the hydrogen highway through our current energy paradigm,
which meant that hydrogen would be developed via big oil,
big coal and nuclear power. Hopefully, Democrats will do
better, but they are not off to a good start on energy
policy.
Consequently, I've been very interested in V2G technology
and the partnership between utilities and plug-in hybrids
as a way to usurp the hydrogen and big oil connection.
Many environmentalists have also seized upon the hydrogen,
big oil and coal connection. Thus, not just plug-in
hybrids, but pure electric vehicles have become the
'future' for much of the alternative energy movement, and
electric utilities have seized upon this momentum.
Numerous electric utilities are now involved in programs
that are testing the effects of plug-in hybrids on the
electric grid, and developing distributed energy ideas,
such as V2G. Is this all about altruism, or is there
something else at stake?
Jeremy Rifkin's classic, The Hydrogen Economy notes,
"If just a small percentage of drivers used their
vehicles as power plants to sell energy back to the grid,
most of the power plants in the country would be
eliminated altogether. That is because a
hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered transportation fleet of 200
million vehicles has four times the generation capacity of
the entire national power grid."
Talk about V2G.
Sure hydrogen critics will argue why convert natural gas
into hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles when it can be used
to power battery-powered electric vehicles more
efficiently.
While that sounds like a great point, it loses power when
one considers that many energy analysts believe that peak
natural gas will quickly occur after peak oil - which
might already be happening. Additionally, a significant
percentage of natural gas is found in OPEC countries and
Russia. So, while natural-gas produced electricity could
reduce global warming emissions compared to oil, it would
only reduce foreign oil dependency in the short term.
Quite quickly, unfortunately, foreign natural gas
dependency would become just as dangerous as foreign oil
dependency, especially if China and India were also forced
to significantly increase their use of natural gas.
Moreover, considering that peak natural gas would be just
around the corner, why not focus on a real, long term
solution?
Why not try to lead the world into the next energy
revolution and be the first to develop the products that
the entire world will want and need?
Equally important, the national electric grid is very
exposed and very old - very vulnerable to terrorism.
Imagine how easily our economy could be disrupted if
transportation were added to our already exposed electric
grid.
Of course, I'm sure billions and billions of dollars could
make the grid safer. Again, however, this is a short term
solution. Natural gas and clean coal will run out. Why not
invest billions and billions in a viable long term
solution rather than a short-term band-aide?
And, I don't know about you, but I'd much rather head down
the hydrogen highway instead of the nuclear - ticking bomb
- power path.
Today, natural gas is a good hydrogen kick-starter,
however, the future of hydrogen is renewable. Solar power,
wind power, geothermal power, etc could all be made
significantly more effective via the use of hydrogen and
fuel cells, especially if there are are millions of fuel
cell vehicles on the road. More important, this path of
distributed power generation has the ability to
"democratize" the new energy paradigm in America
and the world.
Inevitably, the hydrogen highway is not a battle of fuel
cell vehicles versus plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles
- all have a place in the energy paradigm. Inevitably, I
believe the best vehicles for the hydrogen highway would
be plug-in hydrogen-powered fuel cell hybrid vehicles, and
many automakers are exploring such technology.
Ultimately, the hydrogen highway can be a battle of
democratized power versus monopolized power controlled by
a couple of big energy companies, and their cronies in
Washington. If pursued correctly, the hydrogen highway is
about far more than just clean transportation, it is about
almost unlimited, clean, green, distributed and
democratized power.
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