Alberta is geographically lucky.
From the fertile croplands of the prairie region, to the verdant landscape of the northern boreal forest, underneath the province’s geographic strata is an abundance of hydrocarbons, coal, oil, natural gas, and bitumen.
The Western Canadian sedimentary basin encompasses almost the entire province and provides us with this substantial array of natural resources.
Most regions of the world are not so fortunate.
Nations that lack large supplies of natural resources have to import their entire hydrocarbon requirements, as well as deal with the byproducts of combustion in dense populations; these situations drive their motivation for research into alternatives.
The hydrogen economy has been the much touted energy scheme, which some proponents claim will save modern society.
But the hydrogen economy, a term first coined by John Bockris in 1970, is turning out to have some very tough problems that restrict its rapid advancement.
One of the biggest hurdles stems from the two most common production methods of hydrogen, 30 per cent of which is from oil, 18 per cent from coal, and both create serious environmental issues.
With solar or wind production, using electrolysis, the major obstacle is cost.
Where coal can produce hydrogen at a gallon of gas equivalent (GGE) of $1 gallon (U.S.); photovoltaic generated hydrogen works out to about $9.50 per cent gallon.
Enter artificial photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process plants and trees use for converting sunlight into carbohydrates for energy.
In 2008, researchers at Monash University in Australia developed a process to produce hydrogen from sunlight using only manganese, sunlight, and an electrical potential of 1.2 volts to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water.
They coated an anode with a couple of micrometers of Nafion, a synthetic polymer discovered in the 1960s, which then acts as a host for the manganese clusters. Combined with the aforementioned components in the correct ratio, the reaction forms hydrogen.
In Atlanta, Ga., in 2010, scientists at Emory Bio-inspired Renewable Energy Center (EBREC) developed the most potent homogenous water catalyst known, in efforts to mimic nature’s ability to convert sunlight into energy.
The next step is to incorporate the catalyst into a water-splitting process to generate hydrogen using sunlight.
In 2011, at Oak ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, scientists worked on a bio-hybrid photo-conversion system that uses the interaction of photosynthetic plant protein with synthetic polymers.
The proteins of the “light harvesting complex II” can self-assemble with the polymers into a synthetic membrane that can produce hydrogen when a catalyst, such as platinum, and sunlight are supplied to make the reaction happen.
This year found Stanford University researchers pursuing the concept of combining electrolysers and solar panels.
Protecting the anodes from rapid corrosion with the application of a micro layer of nickel, the researchers are seeing impressive improvements in anode operating life and durability.
The goal of this research, by these facilities, is the economical production of hydrogen with sunlight, for the replacement of hydrocarbons.
Countries that have faced soaring energy costs may someday be able to reduce expenditures by producing their own homegrown supplies.
Lorne Oja is an energy consultant, power engineer and a partner in a company that installs solar panels, wind turbines and energy control products in Central Alberta. He built his first off-grid home in 2003. His column appears every second Friday in the Advocate. Contact him at: lorne@solartechnical.ca.