Researching hydrogen for the bigger picture
UW professor studies fuel cells while promoting energy diversity: "Researching hydrogen for the bigger picture
UW professor studies fuel cells while promoting energy diversity"

As energy consumption and the environment become increasingly important issues, ideas such as hydrogen cars become more plausible as real-world solutions. That's good news for Dr. Xianguo Li, a mechanical engineering professor at UW. He and his team of post-doctorate graduates are working with hydrogen fuel cells to make their design cheaper and more suited to the demanding conditions of real-world driving. And while Li feels his work alone isn't the answer to the energy problem, he sees it as a very important part of the solution.

"Energy diversity with local resources," Li told Imprint in an interview, "provides the best and last solution available, optimizing the energy system for sustainable development and energy security."

For his part, he looks at the more common problems associated with hydrogen cells, such as their use of electrolytes to transfer charged particles from one electrode to another. His research proceeds in stages, starting on the nanoscopic level. "We use the results obtained from nano-scale analysis as a sub-grid model for our micro-scale model," said Li, "and the results from the micro-scale model are used as the sub-grid model for our macro-scale model, which is the scale for practical applications."

Li's team works in collaboration with DaimlerChrysler, a situation that is beneficial for both parties. Through DaimlerChrysler, Li's work can be tested in U.S. government labs with specialized equipment, such as an X-ray like scanner, that fires neutrons through the hydrogen cell, allowing researchers to see inside the cell as it works. Although Li's team may not operate the equipment, they are allowed to accompany their work to these labs to observe the tests as they are carried out. DaimlerChrysler, in turn, is allowed first dibs at buying the patent and intellectual property rights for anything significant to come out of Li's research and development.

While Li's work is fascinating, his thoughts on the future of energy are equally as compelling in their insightfulness. An advocate of energy diversity, Li developed his understanding of the energy issue over ten years ago, when he was studying in Victoria, B.C. He originally worked with gasoline and diesel engines, but switched his studies to hydrogen fuel cells when he became attracted to the promise they held. "Over 10 years ago, when we started working on this type of fuel cell," he said, "we were the only mechanical engineering faculty members in Canada."

But Li soon realized that simply converting everything that ran on oil over to hydrogen was not as clear-cut an answer as it seemed. "There is no 'perfect' solution to this problem," Li said. "From the fundamental theory, energy utilization and environmental impact go hand in hand."

That "fundamental theory" is the law of thermodynamics, a set of founding principles for the study of energy. "By the second law of thermodynamics," Li said, "any energy utilization process will be accompanied with energy degradation, and degraded or waste energy is dumped into the environment like garbage, which is the impact on the environment. When a single energy system dominates, the impact accumulates and once beyond the tolerance limit of the environment, permanent damage occurs."

Such would be the case if hydrogen was touted as the only replacement option for gasoline engines. Li estimated that in a situation where hydrogen was used in a manner similar to gasoline, 10-15 per cent of the fuel would escape into the atmosphere by various means, including storage, and at fueling points, where small amounts would "leak" out while filling up a car. In addition, because water is the by-product of hydrogen combustion, the amount of water created in high-density traffic would increase the humidity in those zones. Li could only speculate as to what the environmental consequences in either case would be.

"Hydrogen ... will participate in the atmospheric chemical reaction that can destroy the ozone layer. Hydrogen is a nutrient for micro-organisms, and the escaped hydrogen would increase the hydrogen concentration in the soil and water, potentially increasing the micro-organisms' population and changing the local eco-systems. High water vapour concentration in the air is very corrosive, potentially damaging man-made structures. All of this could happen when hydrogen reaches dominance or a monopoly in the utilization of energy."

Aside from the effects of hydrogen use, problems also exist where the creation of hydrogen fuel is concerned. Electricity can be used to hydrolize water, but this means that extra electricity must be generated. Natural gas is currently the cheapest way of extracting hydrogen, but this process relies on hydrocarbon fuel sources, just as gasoline or diesel does. "With today's technology," noted Li, "hydrogen produced from natural gas through steam reforming is more energy efficient and most economical," noting that the most energy-efficient means of fuel generation would nonetheless be from electricity generated by renewable sources, such as wind or solar power.

Few of the problems associated with hydrogen can be completely eliminated, but encouraging diversity in the sources of power used, according to Li, will be the least damaging to the environment, and could possibly even be harm-free. Li explained that different energy sources impact the environment in different ways, and that diversifying energy sources will lessen the impact each source will have. If their impact is slow enough, the environment may actually be able to continually recover from the damage being done to it. Li strongly advocates that the best way to pursue diversification would be if every locality or local region relied primarily on their own natural and alternative resources.

"The use of local energy resources," he says, "such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, ocean waves, etc., will provide energy security ... (and) will increase energy efficiency. Further, jobs will be created and kept in local economy."

Li is optimistic about the role his work will play in a future such as this, even if that future isn't the idealized solution some people picture. "All solutions are evil," he says. "So we might have a 'lesser evil' solution at best."