The H2 Question

by Alternative Voice Staff

In the last few years the technology surrounding hydrogen power sources has blossomed. These advances have allowed a new look at the feasibility of a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is clean-burning, the only byproduct is water, it can be made anywhere (which will eliminate economic co-dependance of countries), and it can be derived from renewable resources. The hydrogen fuel cell—a cell that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity in a reaction opposite that of electrolysis— when used in an automobile to power an electric motor, has efficiency possibilities up to 75%, three times the current efficiency of the best internal combustion engines.

It has all the possibilities of fossil fuels and few disadvantages. So, where is it? Why don't we see hydrogen-powered cars popping up overnight like mushrooms? There is a technical explanation.

Fossil fuels can be pumped out of the ground and refined, then burned as a source of energy. Most of us take oil, gasoline, coal, and natural gas for granted, but they are actually quite miraculous. Millions of years ago, plants grew using solar energy to power their growth. They died, and eventually turned into oil, coal, and natural gas. When we pump oil from the ground, we tap into that huge solar energy storehouse. Whenever we burn gasoline, we release that stored solar energy. In a hydrogen-powered world, there will be no storehouse to tap into —the energy will have to be manifested, or manufactured, in real-time, i.e., on demand.

There are two common sources for hydrogen:

The second option is skewed. You are using fossil fuel as the source of hydrogen. This approach reduces air pollution, but it doesn't solve either the greenhouse gas problem or the dependence problem. When you hear about “fuel-cell-powered vehicles” being developed by the car companies right now, almost all of them plan to get the hydrogen for the fuel cells from gasoline using a reformer. The reason is because gasoline is an easily available source of hydrogen. This is the easiest way to obtain hydrogen to power a vehicle's fuel cell.

The first option could be the core of a hydrogen economy. To have a pure hydrogen economy, the hydrogen must be derived from renewable sources rather than fossil fuels so that we stop releasing carbon into the atmosphere. Having enough electricity to separate hydrogen from water, and generating that electricity without using fossil fuels, will be the biggest change that we see in creating the hydrogen economy.

At present 68% of electrical production in the United States is fossil-fuel-based, 20% is nuclear, 7% is hydroelectric, and 5% is wind, solar, etc. In order for the flow of pollutants going into the environment to stop, we would need to redesign 88% of our current electrical production methods (all fossil fuel and nuclear plants). As well as this, we will need to double our total output of electrical power to sustain the automobiles that must be run by hydrogen that is electrically produced.

These are the technological barriers that must be and can be overcome in order to shift to a pure hydrogen economy, but there are bigger, deeper barriers to overcome— greed and complacency. This is the real reason that you don't see Texaco hydrogen stations in every town. Corporate interests are making the kind of money that they want to make off of fossil fuels. People tend to wait until they get thrown in the water before they decide to learn to swim. We must all look at ourselves in the mirror and take responsibility for our part in our planet's destruction. We collectively have contributed to the world’s problems by passively going along with the norm. We must first want change and then do something about it. Become active, become change agents, and let the “Spiritualution” begin.


Plairen graduated from the Starseed and Urantian Schools of Melchizedek for Children and Teens in 2001 and is a member of Aquarian Concepts Community.

Ours is a civilization built upon fossil fuels. Fossil fuels account for more than 85% of our current global energy supply. This source of fuel meets our transportation needs; energizes our homes and businesses; is the basis of modern food production; transports our food and goods; is the source of material for our plastics and rubber, and even provides us with that “man-made material” to make many clothes and shoes. In fact, the list of materials that use fossil fuels in their production is quite daunting…and disconcerting. Disconcerting because oil is a finite resource, and its finiteness is becoming more and more apparent.

A term you probably haven't yet heard much on corporate media's nightly news, but is being researched more and more on the Internet, is “Peak Oil.” Studies by the oil industry, the government, consulting firms, and others generally agree in their estimations that global oil production would peak anywhere from 2000-2010. (Oil “production,” as author Thom Hartmann states in his book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Waking Up to Personal and Global Transformation, is a nice Orwellian 'newspeak' kind of term: we aren't really producing oil, any more than miners 'produce' silver. We just pump it out of the ground. It was produced from sunlight by vegetation 300 million years ago.”)

Rising Demand for a Diminishing Resource

The peaking of our energy sources does not mean these resources are suddenly going away; however, they will become more and more scarce, especially if the demand continues to rise—which it is, and not just in Western civilization, but in the developing nations as well. The dominant Western culture has been aggressively encroaching into other parts of the world. Developing countries heading in the direction of modernizing the “Western way” will find all the “wonderful technologies” coming into their country are of the types which depend on permanent nursing from a mother (Earth) whose reserves are running dry.

Fuel Food

One of the more serious impacts of declining oil availability on the world will be the effect on the modern-day methods of food production and distribution. Current estimates say it takes approximately 400 gallons of fuel per year to meet the food requirements for each American. The fuel is used for the manufacture of inorganic fertilizer, operation of field machinery, transportation, irrigation, raising livestock, crop drying, and pesticide production. One may think this is a wonderful opportunity to “go organic and eat local foods.” (Great idea! Why didn't we do that in the first place?) Unfortunately, inorganic fertilizers are required to grow food on land that has lost most of its topsoil and been depleted of its nutrients. Soils will need to be nurtured back into a healthy state.

Re-evaluating “Needs”

So, besides impacts to the transportation, food, and energy industries, how else will we be affected? The cost of fossil fuel energies will inevitably increase to the point that many items which we take for granted may become too expensive to produce—items such as:
Air conditioners, ammonia, anti-histamines, antiseptics, artificial turf, asphalt, aspirin, balloons, bandages, boats, bottles, bras, bubble gum, butane, cameras, candles, car batteries, car bodies, carpet, cassette tapes, caulking, CDs, chewing gum, combs/brushes, computers, contacts, cortisone, crayons, cream, denture adhesives, deodorant, detergents, dice, dishwashing liquid, dresses, dryers, electric blankets, electrician's tape, fertilizers, fishing lures, fishing rods, floor wax, footballs, glues, glycerin, golf balls, guitar strings, hair coloring, hair curlers, hearing aids, heart valves, heating oil, house paint, ice chests, ink, insect repellent, insulation, jet fuel, life jackets, linoleum, lip balm, lipstick, loudspeakers, medicines, mops, motor oil, motorcycle helmets, movie film, nail polish, oil filters, paddles, paint brushes, paints, parachutes, paraffin, pens, perfumes, petroleum jelly, plastic chairs, plastic cups, plastic forks, plastic wrap, plastics, plywood adhesives, refrigerators, roller-skate wheels, roofing paper, rubber bands, rubber boots, rubber cement, rubbish bags, running shoes, saccharine, seals, shirts (non-cotton), shoe polish, shoes, shower curtains, solvents, spectacles, stereos, sweaters, table tennis balls, tape recorders, telephones, tennis rackets, thermos, tights, toilet seats, toners, toothpaste, transparencies, transparent tape, TV cabinets, typewriter/computer ribbons, tires, umbrellas, upholstery, vaporizers, vitamin capsules, volleyballs, water pipes, water skis, wax, wax paper. (From WolfAtTheDoor.org)

If anything, life will get a lot simpler, and Wal-Mart may have a hard time finding so many cheap, junky, and excess items to stock its shelves with.

No Replacement in Sight

We may want to optimistically look at alternatives as replacements, but in reality, at this time there is no way we could easily convert to a solar, wind, or hydrogren-based energy economy. Solar and wind depend on weather conditions. The manufacturing of hydrogen currently requires more energy than it creates. The reality is our current means of energy has been fairly easy to acquire, transports easily, and almost all technologies have been designed around it. Change to sustainability within the industries isn't happening—nor encouraged by the government.

George Bush, Sr. is infamous for stating, “The American lifestyle is not negotiable.” Well, it looks like he forgot to first consult with Mother Nature. Since the demand for oil is increasing in this country as well as all over the globe, it makes one wonder that if there are any real leaders in the world, they must not be in power, because, it seems that those in power have profited by gorging in petroleum extraction and global dependency. Why else do we have gas-guzzling vehicles, energy-inefficient homes and buildings, minimal public transportation, and petroleum-dependent agriculture? (Now…who says we're not in Iraq because they've got one of the largest oil reserves left in the world?)

How did we get into this mess in the first place?

What is within the nature of humankind that allows greed and conspicuous consumption to dominate the planet? Why haven't there been any effective world leaders to provide direction in humankind's progress? The problem goes way back. The URANTIA Book and The Cosmic Family volumes (Fifth Epochal Revelation and Continuing Fifth Epochal Revelation respectively) tell of the Lucifer Rebellion 200,000 years ago. The “war in heaven” (which also affected the planet) was not the barbarous battles we know as war. It was a battle of concepts—concepts which today are the basis for all the suffering and greed on the planet. Lucifer's proclamation that mortals “should enjoy the liberty of individual self-determination” (The URANTIA Book, p. 604) may initially sound harmless and even exciting, but this type of individualism and self-determination has given license to rampant materialism, oppression of others, plundering of the planet, etc. On the contrary, Jesus, the Creator Son of this universe of Nebadon, who so masterfully portrayed the true nature of God, taught the concept of “it is my will that the Father's will be done.” And then He was crucified by the powers that be.

What's Next?

Good question. In a lecture long-time oil industry expert C.J. Campbell concluded that peak oil is indeed a turning point for humankind. He states we will see the end of 100 years of easy growth, and the transition to a different type of society will come with great tension. He predicts we will see a peak or even a diminishment in world population. But, he also predicts priorities will shift to self-sufficiency and sustainability, and we will end up in a better world.

Ultimately a better world depends on the choices of each and every individual. As individuals we can initiate a change for the better by waking up to the reality of our responsibility to one another and to the planet—and who can foretell what benefits will manifest when we operate from higher motives. Doing the will of God (or the Creator, or the First Source and Center—whatever you choose to call Him) does not diminish one's free will. It means choosing the highest, the most perfect way. And we sure could stand to move towards perfection.

Sources and further reading:

The Party's Over by Richard Heinberg
From the Wilderness Publications (www.fromthewilderness.com)
Wolf at the Door (www.wolfatthedoor.org.uk)
C.J. Campbell, “Presentation at the Technical University of Clausthal” (www.energycrisis.org)
ASPO, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (www.peakoil.net)