If it does, releasing it would cause the exact same problems releasing fossil fuels has caused.
Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
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Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#12So maybe there's a lot, maybe there's not. One quote from the article, though, is so typical:
“We have the concept, we have the tools, the geology. … We only need people able to invest.”
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#13Is hydrogen really more renewable though? It releases energy when combined with Oxygen to make water, and it requires energy to split it from water (electrolysis). In this sense, it's not fundamentally different from fuel, which releases energy and carbon when burned, but requires energy (sunlight) and carbon (CO2) to re-create via photosynthesis. The involvement of carbon is a difference, but either way it's a 2-way…
The article talks about how they believe natural processes are constantly refilling the reservoirs. So in this context renewable means potentially not a limited source.
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#14If it does, releasing it would cause the exact same problems releasing fossil fuels has caused.
There is one fewer problem, which is that burning hydrogen for fuel doesn't cause global warming.
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#15Is hydrogen really more renewable though? It releases energy when combined with Oxygen to make water, and it requires energy to split it from water (electrolysis). In this sense, it's not fundamentally different from fuel, which releases energy and carbon when burned, but requires energy (sunlight) and carbon (CO2) to re-create via photosynthesis. The involvement of carbon is a difference, but either way it's a 2-way…
The story is about natural hydrogen produced through water-rock reactions.
This means it can be extracted 'for free' like natural gas and is naturally continually renewed.
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#16Yeah, in natural gas deposits
Surprisingly, they are talking about actual hydrogen deposits, in one case 98% pure.
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#17Carbon free is not renewable, isn't it?
Wasn't the plan for renewables?
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#18I was hoping to see in the article -- but didn't -- an analysis of the CO2e per KJ produced from natural hydrogen. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas and it'd be important to do the math to see how much better it is vs. other alternative fuels. (I expect it to be better, but how much is the question.)
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#19I thought it was a really captivating and well written article. News on hydrogen often seems to swing between too expensive to produce and its the future. Out of the blue, news in the UK this week says hydrogen will be added to the natural gas supply from 2025.
Re: Hydrogen: Does Earth hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel?
#20Is hydrogen really more renewable though? It releases energy when combined with Oxygen to make water, and it requires energy to split it from water (electrolysis). In this sense, it's not fundamentally different from fuel, which releases energy and carbon when burned, but requires energy (sunlight) and carbon (CO2) to re-create via photosynthesis. The involvement of carbon is a difference, but either way it's a 2-way…
The main engine of natural hydrogen production is now thought to be a set of high-temperature reactions between water and iron-rich minerals such as olivine, which dominate Earth’s mantle. One common reaction is called serpentinization, because it converts olivine into another kind of mineral called serpentinite. In the process, the iron oxidizes, grabbing oxygen atoms from water molecules and releasing hydrogen.
So we might run out of olivine at some point, but it's going to be a long time.