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Policy Statement

RenewableHydrogen

by Joel B. StronbergJune 2004

Under the Auspices of the Policy Committee

American Solar Energy Society2400 Central Avenue, Suite A

Boulder, Colorado 80301303.443.3130 • Fax 303.443.3212

e-mail—[email protected] • web site—www.ases.org

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American Solar Energy Society

Summary

Hydrogen is only as clean as the ener-gy sources and feed stocks used toproduce it. Because more energy isneeded to create hydrogen than can bederived from it, it cannot be thoughtof as sustainableunless renewableenergy sources are used to make it.

Reducing reliance on fossil and nuclearenergy sources will free the nation fromcostly foreign involvement and improve

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Policy Statement

the health and well being of its citizens. Itwill do this by significantly reducinggreenhouse gas emissions and theamounts of other poisons attributable tofossil and nuclear energy sources in theair, land and water. The American SolarEnergy Society (ASES) believes that thereare no magic amulets when it comes tothe nation’s energy supply. Althoughhydrogen derived from renewable energysources offers an answer to the nation’senergy problems, it is not the answer.

The ultimate answer to the nation’senergy challenge lies in its availingitself of a multiplicity of sustainableenergy options, including increasedenergy efficiency, solar, wind, bio-mass, geothermal and renewablyderived hydrogen. More specifically,sustainable energy solutions mustimmediately become the cornerstoneof a national energy policy—NOW—in order to avoid the looming energycrisis that will inevitably result fromcontinued dependence on fossil andnuclear fuels.

The nation is in need of a nationalenergy policy capable of solving theproblems associated with fossil andnuclear energy sources, includingreliance upon interruptible foreignsources, environmental degradation,vulnerability to terrorist attack andnegative health affects. The courseoutlined by the Administration and theinability of Congressional leaders toenact a sustainable energy plan meansthat the nation is at risk and willremain so until a fundamental shifttowards sustainability is made.

This policy statement is published inan effort to provide public decision-makers and sustainable energy advo-cates with a better understanding ofthe role that should be played byrenewable energy technologies both intheir own right as power sources, andas part of a possible transition to ahydrogen economy.

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Hydrogen Policy Paper

sions from fossil fuels, the Societydiffers with the Administration’s poli-cy proposals on several key points.

First, ASES believes finding newsources of energy that are availabledomestically and do not carry withthem the environmental/political con-sequences of coal, petroleum, nuclearand natural gas is key to the nation’snear-term prosperity, health and secu-

rity. ASES recognizes a transitionfrom the current fossil fuel standardcannot occur overnight. However,allowing fossil and nuclear resourcesto play a large and integral role in ahydrogen economy serves only tomaintain dependence on energysources known to be harmful orunsustainable.

Second, the Society is convinced thatthere are better uses for petroleum andnatural gas than as fuels for trans-portation and electric generation.Natural gas and petroleum are muchmore important to the nation as chem-ical and medicinal feed stocks and forthe manufacture of carbon fiber.

The highest value of 100 gallons ofpetroleum is not as a transportationfuel. 100 gallons of oil can be madeinto $3500 worth of CDs, TVs, cor-rective lenses, medical components,computers, carpeting, clothing, trans-portation components, and thousandsof other things far more valuable thanburning it as gasoline or diesel fuel.Continuing to use these resources forlesser economic purposes defeats the

strength of the pri-vate marketplaceand results in awide-scale escala-tion of energy andproduct prices—ultimately weaken-ing economicgrowth.

“We subsidizeevery segment ofthe nuclear indus-try but get lesseconomical pro-duction of electric-ity and a continu-ing cost penaltyover the next 1,000

centuries for providing expensivesecurity against terrorists or naturalevents such as earthquakes that mightcause releases of these radioactivepoisons. If equivalent subsidies hadbeen provided to renewable energydevelopments in solar, wind, wave,hydro and biomass technologies,” thenation would now be on a sustainableenergy standard. (McAlister, 52)

Third, it is ASES’ judgment—basedupon the testimony of leadingexperts—that President Bush’s pro-posed road map envisions too long ajourney. Waiting 30 or more years forthe nation to free itself from depend-ence on foreign and domestic fossilfuels means the loss of millions more

Introduction

This policy paper is principally basedupon the Renewable Hydrogen Forumconducted in April 2003 by theAmerican Solar Energy Society at theWorld Resources Institute inWashington, D.C. The Forum broughttogether many of the top scientists,researchers, business leaders andeconomists involved in hydrogen andrenewable energy to define moreclearly for public policymakers andsustainable energy advocates the:

• Current and projected potentialfor renewable hydrogen;

• Benefits to society of a sustain-able energy economy thatincludes hydrogen derived fromrenewable energy sources and

• Research and development effortsneeded to maximize the contribu-tion of renewable energy tech-nologies to a hydrogen economy.

The complicated nature of the issues,as well as the variety of ideas present-ed, led to a wide range of perspec-tives and opinions. Although opinionsdiffered on some issues, such as theeconomics of various renewable tech-nologies, there was no disagreementconcerning the need to use cleanenergy sources for the productionof hydrogen, or the necessity andpracticality of moving up the transi-tion timetable.

The Forum was organized both toeducate the energy community and toreflect ASES’ concerns over theAdministration’s proposed hydrogenroadmap. Although ASES applaudsthe efforts of President Bush and theU.S. Department of Energy to pointthe nation towards an energy futurewith reduced reliance on foreign ener-gy sources and fewer harmful emis-

Hydrogen program research team: John Turner, Ashish Bansal, and OscarKhaselev. The splitting of water using a semiconductor immersed into an aque-

ous solution has been termed the Holy Grail of photoelectrochemistry. The prom-ise of this device is that it shows us it is possible to take two of our most abun-

dant natural resources, sunlight and water, and with high efficiency, directly gen-erate an energy carrier, hydrogen, that is non-polluting and totally recyclable.

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lives due to pollution and politics,including respiratory diseases and mil-itary action in the Middle East andelsewhere. The technology needed tomake America a sustainable energynation exists today. What is lacking isthe political will to use it on a largeenough scale to realize recognizedeconomic, environmental, security andhealth benefits. The nation must notwait 30 or more years to solve its cur-rent and future energy problems.

Making the hydrogen economy con-tingent upon the perfection of carbonsequestration technology—in order tooffset the environmental damage of“clean coal”—complicates and delaysthe process unnecessarily. Further, it isquite possible that carbon sequestra-tion may never be successful. It iseven more likely that carbon seques-tration will prove as problematic polit-ically as nuclear waste storage.

The less coal the nation uses, the lessthe need for carbon sequestration. Thebenefits of carbon sequestration canbe better realized by using biomassresources that are available today andby developing a healthy dependenceon other renewable energy sourceslike solar and wind.

Fourth, the Administration is tooreliant upon the willingness ofautomakers, fossil energy companies—coal, petroleum and natural gas—andthe nuclear industry to voluntarilyembrace clean energy alternatives.While recognizing that a culturalchange of such magnitude cannot besuddenly mandated without the risk ofsevere economic consequences, ASESlooks to the historic opposition of tradi-tional energy interests to any transitionas evidence of endemic intransigence.The nation cannot afford to wait.

Twenty-five years of experience withthe development and deployment ofemerging clean energy technologieshas provided the policy expertiseneeded to create and enact a nationalenergy program capable of balancingmandates and incentives. A nationalrenewable energy standard—requiringpower producers to include increasingamounts of electricity generated fromdomestically available clean energysources—is only one example.

Since the ASES Forum, the NationalAcademy of Science’s (NAS) Board onEnergy and Environmental Sciences(BEES) has issued its report on “TheHydrogen Economy and Opportunities,Costs, Barriers and R&D Needs.” TheNAS report confirms much of what wassaid at the ASES Forum about the tech-nology and provided recommendationsand comments on the Administration’shydrogen roadmap. The Academy con-firmed the direction of the U.S.Department of Energy’s hydrogen pro-grams, but it cautioned that “…DOE

should keep a balanced portfolio ofR&D efforts and continue to exploresupply-and-demand alternatives that donot depend upon hydrogen.” (ES-2)

This paper provides an overview ofthe key policy and technology issuesassociated with hydrogen productionand utilization, as well as highlightingthe role renewable energy technologiesshould play in a rapid transition to asustainable energy economy and thenation’s ultimate energy independence.The paper concludes with a series ofspecific recommendations. For moreinformation, readers are encouraged toaccess and download the Forum sum-mary at http://www.ases.org.Additional sources of information arealso listed at the end of this document.

Overview

Hydrogen is the only universal fuelthat can run everything—space ships,a Coleman stove, existing appliances

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in homes and the family automobile.The capability is not new. RudolphErren, a German engineer working inthe 1930s, developed a simple fuelinjection system for internal combus-tion engines costing a few hundreddollars a vehicle. One could flip aswitch to go back and forth fromgasoline to hydrogen. New technolo-gies like fuel cells represent a signifi-cant advancement. Fuel cells for pow-ering buildings, autos and trucks andlaptop computers and other consumerelectronics will play an increasinglylarger role in the energy sector.

Today, natural gas reforming producesmost of the hydrogen in the world.Ninety-five percent of the hydrogen inthe U.S. and about 50 percent in the

world is produced using this process.Reformation is the least expensiveway of producing hydrogen and themost amenable to very large-scaleproduction plants. (Hock, 22)

Hydrogen production, as part of anintegrated petroleum refinery, is thenext most common method in use—accounting for about 30 percent ofworld production. Coal gasificationaccounts for around 18 percent ofworldwide hydrogen production. Nextis electrolysis, which is approximately4 percent of current worldwide pro-duction. This method depends uponthe availability of low cost electricityto be cost-effective. (Hock, 22)

Hydrogen can also be produced from

biomass, using thermal processes likegasification and pyrolysis. Biomass-to-hydrogen processes also result inbyproducts that improve their eco-nomics. Looking toward the future,advanced biological processes, inter-mittent renewables, photovoltaics,wind and concentrating solar power(CSP) will provide the energy neededfor electrolysis. High temperature sys-tems using solar thermal, geothermal,biomass and nuclear energy are alsoon the horizon. Finally, there is directwater splitting—often referred to asthe Holy Grail of hydrogen produc-tion. Although simple in principle, itis a long way off. (Hock, 22)

Wind powered electrolysis is likely tobe the first economical renewable

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Hydrogen facilities and good to excellent renewable energy resources

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hydrogen production system simplybecause the cost of electricity fromwind is currently the lowest of all therenewable technologies. Betweenwind, solar and biomass, the nation iswell covered geographically with theenergy needed to produce hydrogeneconomically using renewableresources. Areas of inadequate solarradiation are often high in wind or bio-mass resources. (Hock, 23)

Tremendous progress has been madein reducing the cost of making elec-tricity from renewable sources.Making hydrogen from renewableenergy through the intermediate stepof making electricity, however,requires further breakthroughs inorder to be competitive in the market-place.As reported by the NationalAcademy of Science Committee,“Basically, these technology pathwaysfor hydrogen production make electric-ity, which is converted to hydrogen,which is later converted by a fuel cellback to electricity. These steps addcosts and energy losses that are particu-larly significant when the hydrogencompetes as a commodity transporta-tion fuel, leading the committee tobelieve most current approaches—except possibly that of wind energy—need to be redirected. The committeebelieves that the required cost reduc-tions can be achieved only by targetedfundamental and exploratory researchon hydrogen production by photobio-logical, photochemical, and thin-filmsolar processes.” (NAS, ES-3)

Another major challenge of today’sindustrial hydrogen, as well as tomor-row’s, is the high cost of distributingit to dispersed locations. The chal-lenge will be particularly severe in theearly years, when demand is dis-persed. (NAS, ES-3) It is for these

reasons that a National Academy ofScience report states:

“The committee believes that thetransition to a hydrogen economywill best be accomplished initiallythrough distributed production ofhydrogen, because distributed gen-eration avoids many of the sub-stantial infrastructure barriersfaced by centralized generation…During this transition period, dis-tributed renewable energy mightprovide electricity onsite to hydro-gen production systems, particular-ly in areas of the country whereelectricity costs from wind andsolar are particularly low.” ( ES-4)

Section I. Economy,Environment andSecurity—the Need for aNew Energy Model

Lester Brown asks, “Is the environ-ment part of the economy? Or is theeconomy part of the environment? If

we accept the idea that the economy ispart of the environment, then it fol-lows that the design of the economymust be compatible with it. Right nowit is not. It is a highly stressed rela-tionship and becoming increasingly soeach year, as the economy expands.One reads about the stresses in thedaily newspapers—collapsing fish-eries, shrinking forests, expandingdeserts, falling water tables, risingCO2 levels, rising temperature, melt-ing ice, eroding soil, disappearingspecies. These are all manifestationsof the stress between the global econ-omy and the earth’s ecosystem.”(Brown, 33)

Is hydrogen a national security issueor an environmental issue? Accordingto the Assistant Secretary of Energyfor Energy Efficiency and RenewableEnergy, “In fact it’s both, and youdon’t have to look beyond the wordsof the President himself to answer thatquestion. The environmental benefitsof hydrogen are very much on themind of the President. He also has dis-

Air pollution hovers over traffic in Denver, Colorado

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cussed the energy security aspects ofthe energy issue, and changingdependence on foreign sources ofenergy. In addition, [theAdministration recognizes] the U.S.currently has a large amount of energycoming from gas, coal and petrole-um—the energy sources that concernus (the Administration) because oftheir emissions.”1 (Garman, 29)

What would happen if China were touse gasoline at the same rate that wedo? According to Lester Brown“China would need 80 million barrelsof oil a day. The world is currentlyproducing only 76 million and proba-bly will never produce more than weare now. If paper consumption inChina were raised to the U.S. level,China would need more paper thanthe world produces. The bottom line isthat the western industrial economicmodel is not going to work forChina.” (emphasis added)

“If it doesn’t work for China, then it’snot going to work for India, which nowalso has over a billion people. And itwon’t work for the other two billionpeople in developing countries either.In the long run, in an increasingly inte-grated global economy, it will not workfor us either. That’s the bottom line.That’s the context of the issues that arebeing dealt with in this Forum.”(Brown, 33) (emphasis added)

The consequence of what Brown issaying is that no matter how hard theU.S. tries, energy independence isnot possible as long as fossil fuels—particularly petroleum—remain thecornerstone of the domestic energyeconomy. Neither the U.S. nor theworld has sufficient reserves ofpetroleum to meet the needs of devel-oped and developing nations for thenext thirty years.

“Now one of the big questions is:How do we get from here to there?

That’s economics, that’s engineeringand a whole range of other issues.The nation must think in terms ofrestructuring the energy economy toget the market to tell the truth,because right now the market doesnot tell the truth. When we buy a gal-lon of gasoline, we pay for the cost ofgetting the oil out of the ground, get-ting it to a refinery, refining it intogasoline, and getting the gasoline tothe local service station. We do notpay the cost of the air pollutionimpacts like respiratory illnesses. Wedon’t pay the cost of damage fromacid rain. We don’t pay the cost ofclimate disruption. We’ve got to thinkabout how to get the market to tell thetruth. (emphasis added) Capitalismmay collapse, because it does notallow the market to tell the truth.”(Brown, 33, 34)

“We also need to think about restruc-turing the [existing system of] subsi-dies. The World Bank says $210 bil-lion of subsidies go to fossil fuel use.Imagine what would happen to solarcells and wind and geothermal if weshifted that $210 billion to renew-ables. We’d really begin to pick upthe pace. If you think about it, itmakes no sense at all to subsidize fos-sil fuels.” (Brown, 34) (emphasisadded)

If the nation gets its energy at homefrom sustainable sources, $100 billionper year is saved from being sentoverseas. Add to this the monies nowbeing spent to “secure” the MiddleEast, the $100 billion or so that istraceable to the health cost of currentair pollution levels, additional costsfor environmental damage due towater and land pollution. Also addsome valuation of the possible cost tothe U.S. economy of a sudden inter-ruption of fuel supply and the true

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cost of fossil supports, and the casefor investing heavily in renewableenergy and energy efficiency is incon-trovertible. (Scott, 10)

Monies no longer sent abroad as pay-ment for oil, foreign aid or the defenseof oil rich nations could be used to firethe engine of the domestic economyand to pay for such desired public pro-grams as universal health coverage.The annual $100 billion savings inoverseas payments alone would morethan pay for the transition to a renew-able energy economy. It could providethe $87.5 billion needed in support ofthe Iraq war and its reconstruction.

Part of the problem is that “hydrogendoesn’t make any economic sense inthe next twenty or thirty years with-out increasing the price of competingfuels or subsidizing hydrogen—possi-bly both.” Reducing subsidies for fos-

sil and nuclear fuels would introducethe element of truth that LesterBrown finds lacking in the market.According to Henry Kelly “a colossalincrease in the demand for energyservices will occur because of the realpossibility of a doubling world popu-lation and the fact that the per capitaconsumption worldwide is increasingby a factor of two or three. The over-whelming problem is personal vehi-cles.” (Kelly, 40, 41)

Without an historic change in theenergy practices of both developedand developing nations, anenergy/environment crisis of epic pro-portion looms over the world duringthe next 20 – 30 years. Shifting thefocus of subsidies from fossil andnuclear towards renewables andhydrogen now will allow a stable andmeasured transition to occur later.Waiting will not.

When the Administration rolled out itshydrogen vision in 2002 and its strate-gy in 2003, the source of the hydrogenwas perceived primarily to be naturalgas. The developing natural gas short-age however, has precluded thissource from being the primary one.

Other technologies have come forward.Nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewablesare all trying to position themselves toserve as the primary energy resource toproduce the required hydrogen. Amongthese resources, renewables possess somespecial attributes that should make themthe best choice. (Kazmerski, 8)

For example, renewable energysources are becoming cost effective.This is resulting in worldwide growthof the wind electricity generationcapacity at near 40 percent per year.As suggested by this figure, continuedstrong growth will result in renew-

Projected Worldwide Wind Generation Capacity—Worldwide wind generation capacity may exceed nuclear in 9 years.

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ables becoming a major participant inelectrical power generation in thecoming decade. (Scott, 10)

By combining renewables andhydrogen, it is possible to avoid theintermittency problems of solar andwind technology, while providingfuels that can power vehicles andgenerate electricity. Renewablehydrogen, in concert with renewableenergy technology, makes theproverbial “total package.”

The currently higher price of sustain-able energy resources is not an inher-ent attribute of clean energy technolo-gies. Rather, it is a function of theirbeing still in the early stages of com-mercialization and development,

AND the level of subsidies paid to thefossil and nuclear energy industries.Removing subsidies from fossil andnuclear fuels—even without increas-ing those for renewables and hydro-gen—would begin to equalize theprices of sustainable and non-sustain-able energy resources. Technologicalimprovements such as those experi-enced by the wind and PV industrieswill further serve to decrease the costof emerging clean energy alternatives.

In any event, the health and securitybenefits of energy independence areso large as to outweigh the problem oftheir currently higher price in theexisting scheme of things. The realissue is not the price of existing andemerging sustainable energy; it is the

true cost of fossil and nuclear fuels.The price of domestically availableclean energy is coming down, whilethat for natural gas, petroleum, “cleancoal” and nuclear is going up. This isa trend that will not be abated bydrilling in the Arctic, importing liquidnatural gas (LNG), or guardingnuclear reactors from terrorist attack.

Section II. HumanHealth Needs

Energy sources that emit air pollutionhave costs not always reflected inmarket prices. For example, in thecase of coal, if the cost due to the esti-mated 15,000 premature deaths fromchronic obstructed pulmonary disease

Nationwide correlation of power plant emissions and related annual mortality

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attributed to coal were added to theprice, the cost of electricity from coalwould increase by several pennies ona kilowatt-hour basis. (Garman, 30)The addition of several pennies perkWh would make wind, photo-voltaics and biomass energy compet-itive with oil, natural gas, coal andnuclear energy, without the need ofany federal subsidy.

According to the Harvard School ofPublic Health, air pollution from justtwo Massachusetts coal-fired powerplants contributes to particulate mat-ter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxideand ozone exposure over a largeregion. Using a sophisticated model ofhow particulate matter and its precur-sors are dispersed in the atmosphere,the study’s authors, Jonathan Levyand John D. Spengler have calculatedthe consequences of exposing the 32million residents living in NewEngland, eastern New York and NewJersey and the negative impact ofthese older coal plants that are exemptfrom current clean air standards. “Their report estimated that currentemissions from the Salem Harbor andBrayton Point power plants can belinked to more than 43,000 asthmaattacks and nearly 300,000 incidentsof upper respiratory symptoms peryear in the region.” The study sug-gests that on an annual basis, 159 pre-mature deaths be attributed to pollu-tion from these two plants.

According to the study, health risksare greatest for people living closer tothe plants. Twenty percent of the totalhealth impact occurs among the eightpercent of the population that liveswithin 30 miles of the facilities.

The researchers also analyzed thepotential health benefits of reducingcurrent emissions to the lower levels

that would be reached by using thebest available control technologyrequired for newer power plants sincethe 1977 Clean Air Act and requiredby the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency as retrofit on some olderplants. An estimated 124 prematuredeaths would be averted per year,along with 34,000 fewer asthmaattacks and 230,000 fewer incidents ofupper respiratory problems.2

Years of exposure to the high concen-trations of tiny particles of soot anddust from cars, power plants and fac-tories in some metropolitan areas ofthe U.S. significantly increases resi-dents’ risk of dying from lung cancerand heart disease, according to a studyfinanced largely by the NationalInstitute of Environmental HealthSciences. The study was conducted byscientists at Brigham YoungUniversity, Provo, Utah, theUniversity of Ottawa, Ontario, theAmerican Cancer Society and NewYork University School of Medicine,Tuxedo, N.Y.3

Arden Pope, professor of economics atBrigham Young University in Provo,Utah, the study’s co-leader, said, “Wefound that the risk of dying from lungcancer as well as heart disease in themost polluted cities was comparable tothe risk associated with nonsmokersbeing exposed to second-hand smokeover a long period of time.”

The study evaluated the effects of airpollution on human health over a 16-year period. Previous studies havelinked soot in the air to many respira-tory ailments and even death, but thenew findings “provide the strongestevidence to date that long-term expo-sure to fine particulate air pollutioncommon to many metropolitan areasis an important risk factor for car-

diopulmonary mortality,” as well aslung cancer deaths.

The findings of the study’s researcherscorroborate what pathologists likeTony Delucia, MD know to be thecase. Dr. DeLucia is the immediatepast chairman of the board of theAmerican Lung Association. TheAssociation was an active partner inthe 2003 Renewable Hydrogen Forum.According to Dr. DeLucia, environ-ment plays a major role in determiningthe health of an individual. Althoughnot as determinative as lifestyle, envi-ronment is as important as genetics andmore important than the frequency andquality of healthcare.

The health impacts of ozone include:

• Swollen and reddened living tissue.

• Coughing.

• Shortness of breath.

• Increased asthma.

• Increased susceptibility to infection.

Increasingly, reliance on fossil fuelsfor power generation and as a trans-portation fuel is leading to a higherfrequency of smog alerts. It is nolonger unusual to hear media warningsabout air quality in metropolitan areaslike Washington, D.C. Those that suf-fer the most from ozone and other air

Factors determining health andindividual mortality

Lifestyle 51%Genetics 20%Environment 19%Healthcare 10%

Source: DeLucia presentation ASES H2 Forum

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pollutants include the unborn, chil-dren, the elderly, asthmatics, peoplewith heart disease and diabetes andpeople who exercise or work outdoors.Air pollution from fossil fuels dimin-ishes the productivity of the growingnumber who are susceptible. Whenconsidered in relationship to otherhealth trends in the U.S.—obesity anddiabetes related to weight and diet—air pollution may be seen as an expe-diter of today’s major health problems.

Section III. KeyTechnical Issues

Determining the feasibility of hydro-gen technology involves a carefullook at the entire system. Lookingonly at production means overlookingother core issues like resource avail-ability, demand, upstream energy con-sumption, and delivery costs. Co-product opportunities such as carbonfibers and grid interaction are alsoimportant considerations, as they canadd significant cost benefits. Taking asystems approach provides a muchmore solid foundation for determiningthe most cost-effective options forbuilding out the hydrogen production,delivery and end-use infrastructure.(Mann, 48) Asuccessful transition tohydrogen is a very integrated processthat must involve plans for production,delivery and end use. (Kartha, 48)

Technical innovation—as well asenlightened public policy—is neededto lower the capital costs, improveprocesses for purification and separa-tion of hydrogen, increase productionefficiency and make sound judgmentsconcerning the best feed stocks, theiravailability and location. Distributedgeneration versus centralized produc-tion of electricity and fuels is anothermajor consideration. It still has not

been determined whether it is morecost effective to deliver electricity orfuel. Similarly, codes and standardsfor transporting and handling mustalso be drafted and implemented.Hydrogen is a safer fuel than gasolineand others, but without the right mate-rials and designs safety can become aproblem. (Goswami, 7)

Technical and policy decisions forhydrogen should not be made in avacuum. Recent blackouts in the east-ern U.S., the ravages of a particularlyviolent hurricane season and home-land security concerns are causingCongress and the Administration toconsider significant investment andchanges in transmission systems.

Extant electric lines could carry onlyan insignificant fraction of the poten-tial renewable production. About 400new 36-inch gaseous hydrogen (GH2)pipelines or about 900 of the largestpossible new electric lines would beneeded to get all of the potential pro-duction to market. (Leighty, 16)

As Congress considers passage ofnational energy legislation and otherresponses to recent events, it shouldunderstand that large investment inthe status quo does little to preparethe nation for the required transitionto a sustainable energy economy. Ifnew pipe and transmission lines mustbe built, ASES encourages Congressand the Administration to makeinvestment decisions that reflect thefuture and not the past. Building outthe nation’s energy infrastructurewithout an accommodation forrenewable hydrogen and centralizedand decentralized renewable energysystems is unwise and places thenation at great risk.

Section IV. The Role ofRenewables in theHydrogen Economy

Processes using solar energy technolo-gies can be used to decarbonize fossilfuels via cracking, reforming, or gasi-fication prior to use for power genera-tion. These are high-temperature high-ly endothermic processes.

Using solar energy for process heatoffers a three-fold advantage—the dis-charge of pollutants is avoided, thegaseous products are not contaminatedand the calorific value of the fuel isup-graded by adding solar energy inan amount equal to the enthalpychange of the reaction.

These processes offer viable and efficientroutes for hydrogen production and CO2avoidance. The mix of fossil fuels andsolar energy creates a link betweentoday’s fossil-fuel-based technology andtomorrow’s renewable energy technolo-gies. It also builds bridges between pres-

Hydrogen ProductionTechnologies

Steam reformation (SMR)

Thermal cracking

Partial Oxidation (POX)

Coal gasification

Biomass gasification (BG)

Electrolysis

Solar photovoltaic

Solar thermal power

Wind

Photochemical

Photo-electrochemical

Thermochemical

Nuclear

Biological production

Thermal decomposition

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ent and future energy economies becauseof the potential for clean, domesticallyavailable energy technologies to becomethe nation’s primary energy sources. Thetransition from fossil fuels to solar hydro-gen can occur smoothly. (Steinfeld, 27)

Any new hydrogen production tech-nology will be compared againststeam methane reformation when itcomes to commercial investment. Theeconomics of some of the alternativesare compared in the figure above.

As shown in this figure, the costsbased on fossil fuels are going up andthe costs based on renewable energyproduction are coming down. In fact,the cost for steam methane reforma-tion has gone up within the last year.4

Although not explicitly included,wind would be part of the mix rightnow. This analysis does not consider

any environmental penalty for fossilfuels. It can be reasonably argued,however, that the environmental costper gigajoule when using coal as afeedstock is $15, for petroleumaround $13/GJ and approximately$9/GJ in the case of natural gas.(Goswami, 7)

Wind and Solar Driven ElectrolysisThe promise of wind and PV/electrol-ysis stems from their versatility inproviding both fuel and power. Wind,solar and biomass technologies canprovide power when those resourcesare available. Excess power generatedat these times can be used to producehydrogen via electrolysis. When thewind is not blowing and the sun is notshining, stored hydrogen can be usedto run electrical generators, whilevehicles are able to run on wind- orPV-generated hydrogen. (Scott, 11)

BiomassBoth the U.S. and the world have sig-nificant biomass capability. Biomasscomplements wind and solarresources, since there is little overlapin regions where a resource is highest.(Overend, 13) The pulp and paperindustry has a long history of produc-ing energy from biomass. Biomassharvested to produce pulp and papersimultaneously produces black liquor.Black liquor is an energy form as wellas a chemical recovery system in thepulp and paper industry. Today, post-consumer biomass materials—in theform of municipal solid waste, landfillgas and industry waste—represent avery rich resource which is alreadyfully concentrated and does not needto be harvested. (Overend, 13)

Current biomass-to-hydrogen technol-ogy is based on gasification and

Economics of hydrogen production processes (February 2003 $US)

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pyrolysis. Gasification is a very flexi-ble technology being developed invarious biomass and bioenergy pro-grams around the world. In terms ofeconomics, the costs to producehydrogen via biomass pyrolysis canbe brought down to the range of $1.50per gasoline gallon equivalent.

By about 2020 the hydrogen potentialsfrom biomass are estimated to be 29 tera-grams of hydrogen from approximatelyseven exajoules of biomass. This isequivalent to 40 percent (+/-) of today’svehicle fleet. In terms of harmful emis-sions, gas savings translate to about 84million metric tons of carbon equivalentfuel. High yielding energy crops wouldreduce the cost of biomass and theamount necessary by about 25 percent.The nation would be able to access moremarginal land with adapted crops; bio-mass offers American farmers an oppor-tunity to add another cash crop to theiroperation. New cash crops help to pre-serve the family farm and an agriculturalway of life. Particularly important is thefact that U.S. biomass crops would befairly immune to cheaper imports, astransportation costs would be prohibitive.

Hydrogen can also be produced frombiomass, using thermal processes likegasification and pyrolysis. Biomass-to-hydrogen processes produce byprod-ucts, which can significantly improvethe economics of these systems.

Concentrating Solar PowerConcentrating solar power (CSP) isyet another proven renewable powerproducer. The main CSP technologiesare power towers, parabolic troughs,concentrating PV and roof-integratedsystems. CSP is a solar power tech-nology particularly compatible withthe current centralized grid system.Significant cost reduction will resultthrough economies of scale. CSP is

successful in some commercial set-tings and has a decade’s operationalhistory—producing 354 MWe.(Cohen, 12) Like all renewable energytechnologies, its price can be reducedthrough economies of scale.

ComparisonsOf all the currently available renewableenergy technologies, wind electrolysisis likely to be the first economicalrenewable hydrogen production system,simply because the cost of energy fromwind right now is most often the lowestof the renewable technologies. (Hock,23) Like biomass, wind offers farmersanother cash crop. Rental incomes fromwind machine sites are unaffected byagricultural commodity prices ornature’s inconsistencies. Between wind,solar and biomass resources, the coun-try is well covered. (See NREL renew-able resource map on page 5)

It is important to recognize that “onesize does not fit all” in the case ofrenewables. Different regions havedifferent attributes. ASES believesthat diversity both in resources suchas wind, solar and biomass, and indistribution systems such as pipeline,central grid or decentralized, will pro-vide maximum opportunity for theoperation of market forces and serveto strengthen national energy policy.Diversity is important for maintainingthe health of economic and environ-mental systems, as well as in reducingtargets of terrorist opportunity.

Section V.EnvironmentalConsequences of aRenewable HydrogenEconomy

Under any scenario a renewablehydrogen economy will be better for

Wind power, solar power towers, parabolic troughsand biomass are among the renewable technolo-

gies that can be used to produce hydrogen.

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the health, safety and economy of theU.S. than continued reliance on fossiland nuclear energy sources. Bluntly, fossil and nuclear energysources are bad for the health andwelfare of the nation—whether useddirectly or as a source of hydrogen.

It is useful to ask and answer thequestion: How much of differentresources would be needed to supplyhydrogen in large amounts?According to Susan Hock, Director ofthe Electric and HydrogenTechnologies Center at the NationalRenewable Energy Laboratory(NREL), “If we want to fuel abouthalf of our current light duty vehiclefleet with hydrogen, that’s about 100million vehicles—and we assumewe’re using fuel cells, which are twiceas efficient as current engines—wewill need 40 million tons of hydrogena year to fuel those cars.

“Now, to produce 40 million tons ofhydrogen, it will either take 95 mil-lion tons of natural gas, which wouldbe about a 20 percent increase overour current consumption; 340 milliontons of coal, which is about a 30 per-cent increase over current consump-tion; 400 – 800 million tons of bio-mass, which is roughly equal to the

residue and wasteand some dedicatedcrops that are cur-rently available; thewind capacity justfrom North Dakota;or 3,750 squaremiles of solar pan-els.” (Hock, 24)

Producing hydro-gen from biomass,rather than coal,offers the opportu-nity to sequester

carbon while simultaneously produc-ing energy. There is also the oppor-tunity to produce metals, steam, alu-minum, glass and all of our buildingmaterials. Every pound of biomassused represents CO2 that has comeout of the atmosphere and been con-verted into a useful product or com-ponent. (Day, 12)

For roughly every million BTUs ofhydrogen produced from biomass,somewhere between 91 kilograms –150 kilograms of carbon dioxide willbe sequestered, depending on the typeof biomass used and fertilizer made.(Day, 12) With biomass, there is noneed to develop new, expensive andunproven carbon sequestration method-ologies such as injection in the earth.Nature has already developed the tech-nology, and it is available today.

It must be noted that carbon sequestra-tion is an unknown quantity. Althoughtheoretically possible, it is unclearwhether carbon can be pumped intothe earth and safely stored for a hun-dred or more years. Finding out ifsequestration is possible will provecostly in terms of dollars—costs thatwill not be reflected in the prices offossil fuels but paid by taxpayers.

As important as the technical feasibili-ty is the issue of public acceptance.The not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY)syndrome that has dictated the debateand indecision in the case of nuclearwaste is likely to be exhibited again inthe case of carbon sequestration. Thefact is that few, if any, people want tolive around concentrated levels ofharmful pollutants. The best answer topollution is to avoid its production inthe first place.

All renewable technologies bring withthem significant environmentalimprovement over the nation’s exist-ing energy strategy. It is estimated that100 percent of America’s current elec-tricity needs could be supplied withsolar electric systems built on the esti-mated 5 million acres of abandonedindustrial sites in our nation’s cities orthe rooftops of buildings already con-structed.5 When combined with astorage system, or in tandem withrenewably derived hydrogen fuel,“solar” systems can meet all of thenation’s energy demands 24/365.

Questions have been raised concerningthe impact a renewable hydrogen econ-omy would have on other naturalresources such as water and land.Assuming 12,000 miles per year and 60miles per kilogram of hydrogen, a fuelcell car will need between 3 – 4 gallonsof water per day. These are life cyclecalculations so they include upstreamwater usage for manufacturing the plantor the wind turbine, as well as the waterusage during the hydrogen productionphase. (Mann, 43)

Wind electrolysis uses more waterthan steam methane reforming, partlybecause steam methane reformingproduces half of its hydrogen from thefeedstock itself. Water is the source ofhydrogen in the case of wind electrol-

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ysis. Based on the amount of waterthat is reported to be availablethroughout the world, the percentagethat might be used for hydrogen pro-duction can be estimated.

In the U.S., four gallons of water perday, per car, represents about one-halfof one percent of the available watersupply. Even in very water stressedregions of the world, like NorthAfrica, four gallons amount to lessthan one percent of the water used inthe regions.

It is also important to recognize thatwater is used in current transportationand energy systems. To make a gallonof gasoline from crude oil in a refin-ery takes 18 gallons of water. (Braun,50) In power plant systems, about ahalf a gallon of water per kilowatt-hour is used.

A transition to renewable hydrogen,therefore, would actually use less waterthan the amount used in today’s energysystems. Water systems throughout theworld are already showing signs ofstress. The value of a transition to anenergy economy based on renewablehydrogen is increased by the benefits ofwater conservation.(Mann, 43)

Section V. Specific ASESRecommendations

On the basis of the presentations atthe Renewable Hydrogen Forum andthe experience of ASES members, thefollowing recommendations representthe minimum steps needed to changethe nation from one that is dependentupon foreign energy supplies andreliant upon fossil and nuclear fuels toone that is reliant upon domesticallyavailable clean energy technologiesand hydrogen produced from them.

Enact a national energy policy thatis premised upon the need fordomestically available clean energytechnologies—including energy effi-ciency—and improves the nation’ssecurity, environment and health.

Launch a major systems-basedrenewable hydrogen initiative thatneither gambles on the perfectionof “clean coal” and carbonsequestration technologies norencourages expansion of the useof natural gas and nuclear power.

Key elements of the proposed initia-tive would include:

Recognizing the existence of glob-al climate change, the leadershiprole that the U.S. must play in theclean-up of the world’s environ-ment and the need to becomereliant on domestically availablerenewable energy resources with-in the next 20 years;

Enacting a national “no exemp-tions” standard for power plantsto clean our air and improve ourhealth;

Enacting a national RenewableEnergy Standard requiring powerproducers to generate an increas-ing percentage of power usingdomestically available renewableenergy technologies andresources;

Expanding and expediting fuelcell research;

Increasing auto and truck fuelefficiency standards and decreas-ing emission levels;

Supporting consumer education;

Directing the National RenewableEnergy Laboratory (NREL) todevise a national profile of the

The U.S. Department of Energy has teamed up with other sponsors to challenge more than 200 of the bestand brightest students from 15 universities in the United States and Canada to re-engineer full-size SUVs tomeet the needs of the future, producing green, efficient transportation that has the performance, utility, and

affordability that customers expect. Virginia Tech engineering students competing in FutureTruck 2000equipped their Chevy Suburban with hydrogen fuel cell power.

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key renewable hydrogen resourcesin each part of the country, esti-mate their near-term hydrogenproduction capacities and devisea plan for their earliest possibledeployment;

Reducing subsidy levels for fossiland nuclear energy sources;

Increasing research funds andincentive levels for both renew-able hydrogen and hydrogen’sclean energy alternatives, such asadvanced extended-range electricbatteries and biofuels for next-generation hybrid electric vehi-cles;

Identifying and investing in ener-gy infrastructures that supportrenewable hydrogen and otherrenewable energy technologiesand system including hydrogenpipelines, electric transmissionlines, decentralized networks,non-discriminatory grid intercon-nection rules and,

Promoting good science. The sci-entific process used to evaluatethe various hydrogen productionoptions must be conducted in afair, open and competent mannerand all data, assessments,methodology and findings must bemade public.

Section VI. Conclusion

Hydrogen offers a bright new energyera for the U.S. and the world. Althoughplentiful, hydrogen does not exist on itsown in nature, but in combination withother elements such as water (H2O).

The energy sources used to crackhydrogen from its attachments includ-ing renewables, coal or nuclear, andthe feed stocks used as its source suchas biomass, natural gas or coal, deter-mine whether hydrogen is a clean ordirty energy source.

The American Solar Energy Society doesnot believe that the transition to a renew-able hydrogen economy needs to wait forthe development of fuel cells, carbonsequestration methodologies to reducefossil fuel emissions, or the acquiescenceof automakers to the need for less pollut-ing vehicles. The know-how needed toimmediately begin the transition to a sus-tainable energy economy is here today.

By combining hydrogen with renew-able energy technology it is possibleto avoid problems like intermittencyand to free up fossil resources to ful-fill their higher economic purpose—chemical feedstock for medicines, forinstance. Renouncing reliance uponoil, natural gas, coal and nuclear ener-gy sources will result in a cleanerenvironment and a healthier society.As importantly, reducing the need forforeign petroleum and natural gassupplies will reduce the nation’s needto become politically involved in theMiddle East and elsewhere.

The nation has the technology tomake the journey to energy independ-ence in years instead of decades. Inconducting the Renewable HydrogenForum and making the above recom-mendations, ASES hopes to providethe information needed to re-assessthe Administration’s hydrogenroadmap and to shorten the time whenthe U.S. is truly free of dependenceupon energy sources that have proventhemselves too costly to support.

Notes & Footnotes

All parenthetical notations throughout thisdocument refer to the author and page num-ber of the final published report on theRenewable Hydrogen Forum. This documentis available in its entirety at www.ases.org.

1 (pg 6) ASES Renewable Hydrogen Report,p. 29

2 (pg 10) HSPH press release, Thursday,May 4, 2000

3 (pg 10) National Institute of EnvironmentalHealth Sciences, http://www.niehs.nih.gov/Brigham Young University, www.byu.edu/University of Ottawa, www.uottawa.ca/American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org/New York University School of Medicine,www.med.nyu.edu/

4 (pg 12) This analysis assumes that newdevelopments in solar thermal power andphotovoltaics will continue to reduce theircosts.

5 (pg 14) NREL, January 2003, “MythsAbout Solar Energy,” Better Building Series.DOE/GO-102003-1671

*Figure, page 4 Sherif, S., T. Veriziglo, andF. Barbir, 1999, “Hydrogen EnergySystems,” pp. 370-402, Wiley Encyclopediaof Electrical and Electronics Engineering,vol. 9, J. G. Webster, (Editor), John Wiley &Sons, New York.

Additional Information

www.ases.orgThe American Solar Energy Society’sweb site features the complete text ofthis and other ASES Policy Statementsas well as other links and information ofinterest to sustainable energy enthusiasts.

Joel B. Stronberg is ASES’ representative in

Washington, DC. He can be reached through

the JBS Group, 15605 Ashbury Church

Road, Purcellville, Virginia 20132,

phone—540.668.6865.

e-mail—[email protected]

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