HYDROGEN ENERGY
Environmental benefits
- Many scientists believe that the fuel for the future is hydrogen gas. When hydrogen gas burns in the air or in fuel cells, it combines with oxygen gas to produce non-polluting water vapour and fuel cells directly convert hydrogen into electricity. Widespread use of hydrogen as fuel would greatly reduce the problem of air pollution and danger of global warming because there will not be any CO2 emission.
- Hydrogen may be a clean source of energy but getting large amount of pure hydrogen for commercial purposes is a problem because hydrogen is present in combination with other elements such as oxygen, carbon and nitrogen thus hydrogen has to be produced from either water or organic compounds like methane etc. requiring large amounts of energy that is hydrogen as a fuel has to be produced using energy present. This is a very costly proposition.
Production challenges
- Producing hydrogen from algae in large scale cultures will be a good idea. You have studied about the process of photosynthesis where green (plant) cells break down water molecule in the presence of sunlight to produce oxygen gas and hydrogen thus produced go to reduce CO2 to carbohydrate. Hydrogen produced via photosynthesis. CO2 will not emit. Carbon dioxide in future it may be possible to control photosynthesis so that green algae are able to produce hydrogen through the process of photosynthesis.
Algae-based H₂ production
- Hydrogen is a pollution free, cost effective manner and if technologies such as fuel cells can be made cost effective, then hydrogen has the potential to provide clean, alternative energy for diverse uses, including lighting, power, heating, cooling, transportation and many more.