Published: July 02, 2008 10:11 pm            

Reader says hydrogen solution not so simple

To the Editor:

I read with some hope and more humor Mickey Hepner’s column dealing with the future of hydrogen in America. (“A more secure future with hydrogen,” The Edmond Sun, June 27, 2008) Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see the nation change the majority of its’ motor fuel use from imported gasoline and diesel to hydrogen fuel cells.

The funny part is when he said “Second, hydrogen fuel cells do not generate any greenhouse gas emissions that are linked to global warming. Thus, hydrogen offers greater environmental security for our world.”

While that may be a true statement, the last I checked we don’t have any hydrogen fields to tap into. Water may cover at least two-thirds of the planet, but by definition, that means water is a pretty stable molecule. Ripping the hydrogen atoms away from the water atom is not going to happen without the input of a large amount of energy; as in electricity.

Where’s all this new electricity generation going to come from? If we built 5,000 new wind generators a year it would only be a drop in the bucket. An extra 100 nuclear power plants would be a start, but the courts would have them delayed for years with another six to eight years to build them.

The United States has ample coal and/or shale oil reserves but, once again, the “see no progress” groups would tie them up in courts. We’ve shown that, with enough money, we can produce natural gas from formations and locations previously impossible. But recently, the clean burning natural gas industry has been somewhat tainted by this theory of manmade global warming.

Any of these options, including wind and solar generation, will require a change in priorities for our nation. We will need new steel plants to produce the metal and the pipe, new rights-of-way for the power lines and/or pipelines to move the energy along with new processes to cut the red tape and delays from the regulators and the courts. This is not to say we run roughshod over the planet, but it does mean we use some common sense and speed up the process while cutting out the risk of someone suing you after the fact when you’ve played by the rules of the game and common decency.

So Mr. Hepner, which form of electrical generation are you proposing to make this hydrogen fuel cell work in our lifetime? Nuclear, coal or natural gas? Or are your “greenhouse” fears suggesting that the “benefits of high gasoline prices” (and fewer jobs) is more important than economic security?

My guess is that it will take the national focus of a “Manhatten Project” to work on all methods at once and to provide the infrastructure, materials and change in our court system delays to make things better. One thing is for certain, the longer we wait to start, the longer we are going to be at the mercy of imported oil and gasoline from people who don’t care what we think.



Ronnie Williams

Edmond



RONNIE WILLIAMS is completing a one-year term on The Edmond Sun’s Editorial Board.

        

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