There is lots of talk about hydrogen cars these days. Toyota is introducing their Mirai fuel cell car this fall. Proponents tout hydrogen as the best way to fuel environmentally-friendly cars.
The issue is how to make hydrogen a carbon-free fuel. The most economical way to produce hydrogen is to extract it from natural gas, but the byproduct of that process is carbon dioxide. Hydrogen made in this way is not really a green fuel.
Recently, the world’s largest eco-friendly hydrogen plant has come online in Germany. Known as Energiepark Maintz, the facility produces hydrogen by splitting water in a process called electrolysis. The electricity to perform the process comes from four nearby wind parks.
The new facility has the capacity to produce enough hydrogen for around 2,000 fuel-cell cars. This first industrial scale hydrogen plant that uses renewable energy for electrolysis will be a crucial learning facility. Plants like these are essential if hydrogen cars are to proliferate and are to truly be green vehicles.
Germany has installed enormous amounts of solar and wind power in recent years and has already reached the point at which solar and wind power stations have to be switched off at certain times if they produce too much energy for the grid. The new plant can use this excess electricity to produce hydrogen, which can then be stored and used when it is needed.
Skepticism about hydrogen cars is often centered around the availability and the source of hydrogen fuel. The new Energiepark in Germany is a step toward addressing the issue.
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Web Links
World’s Largest Eco-Friendly Hydrogen Plant Opens In Germany
German Wind-to-Hydrogen Plant Takes Car-Fuel Battle to Tesla
Photo, posted June 25, 2010, courtesy of Martin Abegglen via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.