The future of energy Read the text and summarize the fuel’s advantages and disadvantages in a table

The future of energy


Read the text and summarize the fuel’s advantages and disadvantages in a table

Advantages		Disadvantages

The Fuel Cell


Figure 3

The fuel cell is actually quite an old technology having been invented by the

British scientist William Grove in 1843. In this apparatus, electrical power is
produced in a simple yet intriguing way. As can be seen from the diagram, there are two electrodes, the anode and cathode, and in the middle of both there is a membrane ion conductor or electrolyte. Hydrogen gas is fed continuously over the anode while oxygen from the air passes over the cathode. The electrolyte is a partition which ensures that the two gases do not come into direct contact with each other. Through the chemical process in the fuel cell, hydrogen splits into hydrogen ions and electrons. The electrons then pass through an external circuit to the cathode depicted by this glowing bulb. Electrical current is produced in this way.
The hydrogen ions meanwhile pass through the membrane. They and the electrons
then react with oxygen at the cathode to produce water or steam. Thus heat is also
produced, and this too can be utilized.

The electricity produced is direct current, which can be converted into alternating

current if required. In order to create large volumes of power, fuel cells are connected in series to form a stack.

The beauty of the fuel cell is that the only waste product is water, although it

should be stressed that the waste depends on how hydrogen is obtained to begin with.
If it is derived from sources such as natural gas, CO., will also be produced.
Fuel cells can primarily be used in remote areas where there is no connection to
the grid. But developments in this technology could mean that heat and electrical
power from fuel cells will also be harnessed in the future in cities, in decentralized
energy-supply systems for homes, offices and factories. We could even have them in our cellars.

So is this the key to a vision of clean, cheap, plentiful energy supply? Does it spell

the end for the power plant as we know it? This is unlikely as the volumes of power needed cannot be generated by the fuel cell alone. But there will be changes, and in twenty to thirty years' time fuel cells could be common in energy supply as well as in vehicles.


Read the given text on the hydrogen based economy and find out if the sentences below are true or false.


1)Production of hydrogen is comparatively cheap.
2)Greenhouse gases are avoided when hydrogen is produced via electrolysis.
3)The use of photovoltaic cells has no real advantage.
4)Storage of large quantities of the gas presents a major problem.
5)Hydrogen research projects are being well-funded by oil companies.

Hydrogen based economy

Some universities are undertaking R&D into finding a substitute for fossil fuel.

Hydrogen seems to be the best candidate although at present production is quite
expensive. The gas can be obtained from fossil fuels such as natural gas, but in this
process CO2 is released, which is not beneficial. Research is therefore focused on
producing hydrogen from water via electrolysis because the production of greenhouse gases can be avoided in this way. The only products are oxygen and hydrogen. One of the most interesting ways of doing this is to use photovoltaic cells. The current generated from these cells could be used for the purpose of electrolysis.
If we move on now to the possible applications, hydrogen could be used in a
number of ways instead of hydrocarbons. Aircraft engines could be modified to burn the fuel. Road vehicles could also burn hydrogen in internal combustion engines with certain technical changes. The big advantage, again, would be that the combustion process produces no greenhouse gases. Hydrogen could also be utilized to power vehicles with electric motors in conjunction with fuel cells. And, again in combination with fuel cells, hydrogen could be harnessed for electricity production in decentralized energy systems.

Storage of the gas, however, is one of the biggest challenges. It can be stored in

pressurized containers, but the problem is that the quantities needed for practical
application are very large when compared with the fuels we use today. This is
particularly true for vehicles and aircraft. Weight would also pose a problem. But
perhaps the biggest obstacle for this technology is the reluctance of governments and oil companies to support research. So it would seem that whether the hydrogen
economy ever becomes a reality will depend on the market.