The arrival of Hydrogen cars will cause Climate Change
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The use of bio-fuels as source of energy is corollary to overuse of water on global scale or depletion of regional/local water resources. The production of bio-fuels require greater input of energy and water than the energy that is available in their use or expenditure. It is believed and accepted by most people working on this issue that global climate changes play a significant role in the water cycles and natural production as well as accumulation of surface and underground water resources. Also, these same people attribute global climate changes to increasing greenhouse gases caused by “human activities” such as from fossil fuel-based transportation, various industries, and generation of electricity and heat from fossil fuels. In depth discussion of the validity, causes, and the science of global climate changes are beyond the scope of this post. Nonetheless, research, development, and production of renewable and sustainable sources of energy are envisioned to reduce and/or reverse global climate change trends.
In this light, the deployment of hydrogen cars as mode of transportation by various fuel cell technologies fits into this correction model. As you may know, hydrogen cars don’t yield emitting carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases purportedly linked to global climate change, yet produce water in either gas form (steam or water vapor) or liquid form that is released to the air by the tailpipe of such cars or through some other means. However, further analysis of hydrogen-based technology for human transportation leads to two obvious questions.
In order to produce and use either gaseous or liquid hydrogen as fuel for these cars, lots of energy is required to produce, transport, and store it. At the present time, sources of energy used to produce hydrogen are fossil fuel-based processes. For example, methane or natural gas can be used to make hydrogen, but both processes can produce carbon dioxide emission and hence are not considered “clean” or green energy. Is producing hydrogen as fuel source going to reduce climate change or greenhouse gases? Even if technological advances are made to produce, transport, and store hydrogen from clean or green or renewable sources of energy, a central problem still remains.
Let’s say if there is global government mandate to have hydrogen cars on the road, hydrogen-using cars will produce large quantities of water either as water vapor or liquid released in the air. See Iceland for very small example.
What happens to the global climate when its nature composition of air (~78% nitrogen gas, ~21% oxygen, ~0-4% water vapor among other very small quantities of gases) is altered by water-yielding hydrogen cars that are deployed worldwide en masse? Will great amounts of water in the atmosphere change the Earth’s climate, water cycles, weather patterns, etc. due to “human activity” of driving clean, green hydrogen cars that are free of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide? So are hydrogen cars used to address one problem going to cause whole set of other problems that affects Earth’s climate?
It is best to think or plan for the long-term effects and potential benefits versus costs of technological advances before they become central strategies to address a problem that can lead to unintended consequences. Just one person’s food for thought related to water overuse and its deficits in many parts of the world.
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