An Inconvenient Truth - and a Convenient Answer

It really is a debate that probably must have been taking place when Henry Ford started mass producing automobiles so when Thomas Edison invented the lamp around the first 1900s. Considering that we have an increasing number of men and women owning cars in more places across the world and a finite resource in oil, it was inevitable that crisis of varied forms would eventuate. Of all technological challenges facing the world that affect our day to day lives, this power source dilemma along with maybe cancer treatment may be the biggest. The question is are their alternatives to things such as oil and coal and then how advanced are we to find a viable alternative. The short answer is yes there are alternatives but what lengths our company is down the an eye on making them possible would depend on who you ask.

Among the major options when it comes to alternative fuel for powering things such as cars is a hydrogen fuel cell. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and along the way it produces electricity. So basically you are producing energy by means of electricity and the one by product is water which is wonderful for the environment. This technique gets the potential to depend on 80% efficient meaning 80% of the resource chemicals primarily could be changed into energy. Compare this with petrol for your vehicle which is merely about 20% efficient. Hydrogen fuel cells were one of the sources for Apollo 11 achieving the moon in 1969 so that it is not really a new concept but it was expensive.

Also as hydrogen and oxygen aren't limited by one or a few parts of the earth like crude oil, political conflicts over this important resource can even be eliminated. What exactly are the existing problems with fuel cells? Well, while 90% in our universe comprises of Hydrogen, it isn't easily available in any type of useful way currently because of this technology. Also current methods employed to extract hydrogen don’t provide a pure form meaning the efficiency drops to about 30-40%. This also increases the price tag on the cell. Oxygen is of course easily available inside our atmosphere.

A recently available discovery on the rings of Saturn of most places may be the major breakthrough because of this technology. Scientists have learned that as water comes from the rings, the hydrogen is lost from it, leaving the oxygen. The technique is named electromagnetic bipolar separation; a way found in the laboratories and may be employed deep in earth’s core using the earth’s own electromagnetic field. If the technique can be perfected, it can separate hydrogen from water almost free. If Hydrogen can be acquired cost free, we can have abundance of energy with minimal cost and then your resultant water or steam is very pollution free.

In short we're able to have really cheap energy, remove fossil fuels like oil as a way to obtain global political and social conflicts and tidy up the environment. If this is actually the final result then we ought to all want something to occur now.