Issue Briefs
Renewable Hydrogen Fuel and Energy Security
Hydrogen fuel burns clean emitting only water and it can be made from virtually all renewable energy resources without significant pollution. New technology allows renewable hydrogen fuel to be mixed with traditional fuels to create "Hy-Boost Fuels", mixtures that lower pollution, improve engine efficiency and provide conservation of significant volumes of oil. They also facilitate replacement of oil without major infrastructure changes and enhance energy security and independence.
Renewable hydrogen combines the "abundant energy" of most all renewable energy resources into one clean burning fuel that can readily access major oil and energy markets allowing renewable, clean fuel competition to oil and OPEC. This is especially important in cities where overcoming pollution is so critical.
Existing gasoline and diesel powered internal combustion engines (ICEs) burn roughly 70% of the world's oil output. They are the largest burners and wasters of oil and provide the greatest opportunity to conserve and replace oil as needed to relieve "Peak Oil" hardships and obtain energy security and independence.
A versatile, well proven, and efficient "Transition Technology" for ICEs exists. It is "Stratified charge", "direct cylinder, spark injection". This technology provides the best aspects of diesel engine technology to gasoline engines to increase fuel efficiency by as much as 20% and enables the use of hydrogen and other fuels in existing engines. It also improves diesel engine efficiency by about 5% while allowing all ICEs to run efficiently on renewable hydrogen or Hy-Boost fuel mixtures of virtually any ratio of hydrogen with conventional fuels.
When retrofitted to existing ICEs, the efficiency feature of this technology provides payback of conversion costs in fuel savings and immediately begins significantly reducing oil consumption. The use of hydrogen or "Hy-Boost Fuels" in these converted engines further reduces and ultimately replaces gasoline and diesel fuel.
The opening of world energy markets to renewable energy will attract the capital needed to mass produce these fuels, improve and expand "Transition Technologies" and provide essential competition to oil and OPEC ------We must do this to achieve real energy security and independence.
Stationary ICEs and centrally fueled fleets of vehicles and marine vessels could use hydrogen fuel with minimum infrastructure changes. Hy-Boost Fuels can access ICEs and begin replacing the petroleum content of gasoline and diesel fuels in the near term. Renewable hydrogen will fuel the new energy era without significant pollution or greenhouse gas releases. Sustainable solar, wind, wave, and biomass energy will replace oil wells and provide real energy security.
Each day earth receives more solar energy than all the energy that was ever contained in all the oil on earth (14.7 x 10 18 BTU) . Nature delivers vast amounts of this energy in wind, waves, and biomass and distributes high concentrations of direct solar energy across the sun-scorched deserts of the world. Each of these abundant energy resources presents an opportunity to tap high volumes of clean energy using safe, non-polluting technology. Harvesting less than one fifteenth of one percent of this daily availability of energy and converting it to hydrogen fuel could replace the 30.6 billion barrels (1.3 Trillion gallons or 4.9 Trillion liters) of annual oil consumption.
Widespread engine conversions to "stratified charge", "direct cylinder spark injection" systems could stop the exponential growth in oil consumption and reduce it to late 1990s levels with a 10% conversion of existing ICEs. The use of Hy-Boost Fuels and hydrogen fuel when available would further reduce oil use, pollution and greenhouse gas production.
Leaving energy policy decisions to oil barons and oil rich dictators is like expecting sharks to use their great swimming skills to protect bathers. "It ain't gonna happen!"
A world energy policy that designates renewable hydrogen fuel as the preferred replacement for oil will quickly bring order and direction to the transition to clean renewable energy and further encourage investments required for sustainable energy independence.
You can take back our energy future from those who seek "Peak Profits" from "Peak Oil" and expanded world power from oil shortages. Please to sign petition in support of the Declaration of Energy Independence and start a real debate on renewable energy [click here to see declaration and Four Principles]. ---Thanks much, Bill and Roy