From: jym@mica.berkeley.edu (EcoNet via Jym Dyer)
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive,alt.activism,sci.energy,talk.environment
Subject: NEWS: Pioneer Project: Solar Hydrogn Power
Date: 24 Jul 92 00:23:59 GMT
Followup-To: sci.energy,talk.environment
Organization: The Naughty Peahen Party Line
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu
Originator: jym@remarque.berkeley.edu

=o= The attached is interesting, but not the first time this
kind of approach has been tried.
    <_Jym_>
================================================================
[From EcoNet ecotopia.news Conference]

Pioneer Project: Solar Hydrogen Power

by Elaine Weinreb

A revolutionary experiment with far-reaching energy implications
is occurring on a quiet hillside in Trinidad.

There Dr. Peter Lehman, HSU engineering professor, is linking
three types of technology in hopes of producing non-polluting and
renewable energy that does not contribute to global warming.

Through the support of a private single benefactor, the Schatz
Solar Hydrogen Project uses photovoltaic modules to capture
energy from the sun and convert it to electricity, which then
hydrolyzes water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel
cell to produce power.

Like other systems using the sun and photovoltaics, the amount
of energy reaching the panels is constantly changing because of
cloud cover and time of day.  ThatUs why energy must be stored
in some way so that it can be used at a steady rate when needed.

Unconventional

The conventional way of doing this is through batteries, which
are toxic, heavy, relatively inefficient and use non-renewable
materials.  In the Schatz system, the electrical energy is used
to separated hydrogen from oxygen.

Hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements on earth, is
lightweight, compressible and can be transported long distances.
When combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, electricity is released
at a 50-60% efficiency rate, far higher than that of the internal
combustion engine.  What's more, the only byproduct is pure
water.

If used as direct fuel, hydrogen has many advantages over other
types of combustibles.  It produces no carbon dioxide and
therefore does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Wonders of Hydrogen

Unlike natural gas, which is a non-renewable resource, hydrogen
can be continually remanufactured from water.  It does not
require refineries or mines or logging, and contains no sulfur
or other polluting chemicals.  It can be burned in an internal
combustion engine, and prototype hydrogen-burning automobiles
have already been manufactured.

The experiment in Trinidad has been underway for about two years.
Lehman said that his first problem was developing a computer
system that could regulate the fluctuating solar energy into the
steady power source needed to operate an electrolyzer.  

Once that problem was solved, Lehman discovered that no hydrogen
fuel cells were available commercially that met the project's
needs.  The engineering professor, along with colleagues and
students, is now working on developing his own fuel cell.

Unlike traditional photovoltaic systems, which best serve small
isolated areas, solar hydrogen would be most economical if
produced on a large scale, with the hot desert areas becoming
major energy producers and exporters.

At the present time, the cost of solar-produced hydrogen is still
about three times the cost of gasoline.  But as petroleum becomes
scarcer and more expensive, and photovoltaics become cheaper and
more efficient, the environmental and political advantages of
having a clean domestically produced fuel supply will become more
apparent.

(From ECONEWS, Newsletter of the Northcoast Environmental Center,
June 1992. Write 879 9th St., Arcata, CA 95521, or e-mail
nec@igc.org, for a free copy.)
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive