back on its electric cars. It's a hopeful thought given the importance of transportation.
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My idea of "future friendly" energy ideas
Canada's SHEC Labs announced preliminary plans to move ahead on a demonstration project that would involve as many as 30 prototype solar units tapping landfill-generated methane for solar powered hydrogen production. The company has been developing a dish-style solar thermal concentrator for the production of electrical power and hydrogen production.
According to the Saskatoon-based company, their prototype solar hydrogen generator has now operated for approximately 1,200 hours with no noticeable coking or degradation of the catalysts. Hydrogen production is near the theoretical maximum at approximately 66 percent in the product gas stream with a 98.2 percent mol conversion of the feed methane. The estimated maximum hydrogen production with the unit is approximately 3,500 kg per year with minor modifications to the operating pressure and reactor configuration and an increase in the solar mirror area.
...Solar hydrogen production provides a net energy gain when converting methane into hydrogen since the energy used to drive the process is from the sun, says SHEC. Since SMR is not typically cost-effective at small to moderate production levels, SHEC's technology is particularly attractive for smaller and distributed hydrogen production. The environmental benefits of generating hydrogen using renewable energy include significant greenhouse gas reductions, and the reduction of smog precursors, acid gases, and mercury as a result of reduced local need for oil, coal, and natural gas....
It does not seem that the collection of the methane is that energy intensive a prospect which would be the only major potential drawback I see. This looks good.
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... Norway be the experimental lab for hydrogen for transportation.
It seems to me that as an energy source, hydrogen is a poor one. It always takes energy to get the fuel, the only bonus of this method is that the energy input is "free" -- being solar. But it has a niche application so this seems to be the best way to go about producing it.
Still, I can't help but wonder, if they're going to "harvest" methane from landfills to make hydrogen -- which is more difficult to store, etc., and harness a bunch of solar power to do the conversion, why not just look into ways to make methane as cleaner direct fuel source (it's pretty clean already) and use all that solar power to light a few homes vs. converting one fuel to another? I'm sure there has to be some method to this madness, but sometimes I do wonder if some just get too hyped on an idea that sounds good and keep going with it even knowing its limits?
We've, THANKFULLY, all but abandoned the notion of the all-electric car for now. Not that it might not be a viable option down the line, but in many ways it seemed too many were stuck on that idea and it hampered development of the hybrids. After all, hybrids are all the rage now, but they are a failure at that greenie goal of eliminating the combustion engine by 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020, 2030 .....
Hybrids seem like a good step forward, but there are many factors that could render them an economic or even an environmental disaster. Only time will tell.
Evie 
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