Producing Hydrogen

In discussions about alternative fuels, on of the most mentioned possibilities is Hydrogen power. Hydrogen is combined with oxygen to produce energy, with water and heat as byproducts. As with other alternative fuels, one of the issues at hand is how to produce the hydrogen cleanly and effectively. The ways researchers and engineers are trying to solve this are stated in the article “Renewable Hydrogen Reproduction Technologies,” from the November 2008 issue of Power Engineering.

Hydrogen can be produced from water by electrolysis. While the means to power this cleanly and without emissions is still underway, students can be shown electrolysis at work using one of our electrolysis kits.

According to that article, one of the most promising ways to power electrolysis involves utilizing the hydrogen that is found in anaerobic digester gas (ADG), which is an organic waste product, and methane, in electrolysis. This is already in use in a fuel cell power plant in Yonkers, NY. According to UTC Power, ADG using fuel cells only release 72 pounds of emissions into the environment. This is in contrast to the more than 41,000 pounds from the average oil-fired plant.