Hydrogen Production - Green Algae as a Source of Energy
Hydrogen gas is thought to be the ideal fuel for a world in which air pollution has been alleviated, global warming has been arrested, and the environment has been protected in an economically sustainable manner. Hydrogen and electricity could team to provide attractive options in transportation and power generation. Interconversion between these two forms of energy suggests on-site utilization of hydrogen to generate electricity, with the electrical power grid serving in energy transportation, distribution utilization, and hydrogen regeneration as needed. A challenging problem in establishing H2 as a source of energy for the future is the renewable and environmentally friendly generation of large quantities of H2 gas. Thus, processes that are presently conceptual in nature, or at a developmental stage in the laboratory, need to be encouraged, tested for feasibility, and otherwise applied toward commercialization.
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Hydrogen use in applications such as fuel cells, chemical processing, refining, petroleum recovery, and others is anticipated to grow considerably throughout the forecast period. This is due to enforcement stringent environmental regulations. Moreover, chemical processing as well as refining industries are the major consumers of hydrogen. Also, Oil & gas refineries demand hydrogen to lower the sulfur content of diesel for reducing sulfur content. Furthermore, chemical processing industry uses hydrogen to process methanol, ammonia, as well as other chemicals in a petrochemical complex. Also, fuel cells are evolving technologies that are currently used as a source of heat and electricity in buildings as well as commercial sector. The demand for hydrogen by these industries are bolstering the growth of the market.
Producing “Clean” Hydrogen
To ensure that this new energy carrier is “green” — meaning that it emits little greenhouse gas (ghg) — hydrogen production has to be as clean as possible.
Reforming produces few greenhouse gases when combined with carbon capture and storage processes; however, these significantly increase costs.
Today, 95% of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels
Gasification is another option, because it covers the entire solid biomass pathway: many types of organic matter can be burned to produce biogas . Although wood (in the form of charcoal) is the main feedstock used, plant waste such as straw is also suitable. Because biomass sources can be replanted, the carbon footprint is low.
Electrolysis also produces clean hydrogen when “green” electricity is used. But to overcome the issue of cost-competitiveness, large amounts of inexpensive electricity are needed year-round. Prototypes are under study, especially in Germany, to use intermittent production spikes from wind and solar energy. But for now, the cost of electrolysis is still prohibitive.