It’s a debate that probably should have taken place when Henry Ford began mass-producing motor vehicles and when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in the early 1900s. Given that we have a growing number of people who own cars in more parts of the world and then a finite resource in oil, crises in various forms were inevitable. Of all the technological challenges our world faces that affect our daily lives, this energy source dilemma, along with perhaps cancer treatment, might be the greatest. The question is what are your alternatives to things like oil and coal and how far along are we in finding a viable alternative. The short answer is yes, there are alternatives, but how far we are on the road to making them a reality depends on who you ask.
One of the main options when it comes to alternative fuel to power things like cars is a hydrogen fuel cell. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water and, in the process, produces electricity. Basically you are producing energy in the form of electricity and the only by-product is water, which is good for the environment. This process has the potential to be up to 80% efficient, which means that 80% of chemical resources can initially be converted into energy. Compare this to gasoline for your car, which is only 20% efficient. Hydrogen fuel cells were one of the power sources for Apollo 11 to land on the moon in 1969, so it is not a new concept, but it is an expensive one.
Furthermore, since hydrogen and oxygen are not limited to one or a few regions of the world like crude oil, political conflicts over this important resource can also be eliminated. What are the current problems with fuel cells? Well, although 90% of our universe is made up of hydrogen, it is currently not available in any useful way for this technology. Furthermore, the current methods used to extract hydrogen do not give a pure form, which means that the energy efficiency drops to approximately 30-40%. This also increases the cost of the cell. Of course, oxygen is available in our atmosphere.
A recent discovery in Saturn’s rings of all places could be the breakthrough for this technology. Scientists have discovered that as water leaves the rings, hydrogen is lost and oxygen leaves. The method is called electromagnetic bipolar separation; a method used in laboratories that can be used deep within the earth’s core using the earth’s own electromagnetic field. If the method can be refined, hydrogen can be separated from nearly free water. If hydrogen can be obtained for free, we can have an abundance of energy at almost no cost and then the resulting water or steam is totally free from contamination.
In short, we could have very cheap energy, eliminate fossil fuels like oil as a source of global political and social conflict, and clean up our environment. If this is the end result, we should all want something to happen now.