Can the reader imagine that a motor vehicle can generate water as combustion waste in place of common polluting gases such as carbon dioxide and monoxide? Jules Verne was not wrong when he mentioned in his work, The Mysterious Island, that "Water will be the coal of the future", is getting closer and closer to being a reality, or is it already? we'll see.
Since the successful multilateral treaty of the Montreal Protocol in 1987 for the reduction of ozone-depleting substances, whose weakening and destruction has been worrying since then and which, after the signing of the agreement, has a favourable projection of gradual recovery; it is also advisable to focus efforts towards the decarbonization and reduction of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) to avoid global warming and to limit the increase in the planet's temperature to 2°C established by scientists (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC), which if not achieved, puts at risk the progress in global health achieved so far, among many other affectations. This will be achieved primarily by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promoting an energy transition towards alternative sources of power generation that set aside fossil fuels used for this purpose in most economies.
Commitments against global warming have been brewing since the creation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established in 1992 and thereafter in the successive meetings of the Conference of the Parties – COP -, from number 1 (COP1) held in Berlin, through the promising Kyoto protocol at COP3 in 1997, of an importance that lay more in initiative and intention than as ratification and implementation (only until 2008 when it entered into force). The convention also leaves us with the important Paris agreement (COP21) enormously celebrated, with clearer goals and commitments, and we will be waiting for the Glasgow summit, postponed by the pandemic for the second half of 2021.
Almost three decades full of ups and downs in commitments, but with many initiatives where alternatives in favor of decarbonization take force, timidly enters the panorama the production of sustainable hydrogen and its contribution to the environment, according to the international renewable energy agency -IRENA-, of the 120 million tons produced globally, there is no significant production of hydrogen derived from renewable sources (such as wind or photovoltaic energy).
A form of hydrogen production starts from a process called electrolysis, where the two hydrogen molecules and oxygen molecules are separated using an electric current that circulates in water (H2O) and a proton exchange membrane, through which this separation is carried out to finally obtain hydrogen. If such electric current is generated from a renewable source, the hydrogen produced is known as "green."
Hydrogen currently serves as a fuel, in the case of a vehicle for example, locomotion would be given by the combustion of hydrogen that would make the reverse process of electrolysis by joining with oxygen molecules, and water vapor would be obtained as waste. It is surprising that the exhaust pipe of a vehicle produces water, a wonder derived from an electrochemical process. Toyota, Honda and Mazda have been working on it for a while.
But it is not the only use of hydrogen, it can be used for the production of Ammonia (NH3), which Japan wants to become a world leader and use as the main source of energy in relation to the panic generated by the Fukushima disaster, derived from the use of nuclear energy. In general terms, the use of hydrogen can occur in the steel industry, chemical industry, transport sector (air, land and sea), heating and the aforementioned generation of electrical energy. If so, GHG emissions would be gradually reduced.
In Latin America, Chile has taken advantage in the company of the multinational Siemens, who deserve congratulations for the project that takes shape in the Atacama Desert, making use of climatic conditions typical of the region for the production of green hydrogen, which will be sent to Japan from Antofagasta.
Every day there is more inclination and initiative for renewable sources as an energy alternative. Oblivious to an irresponsible position in favor of conspiracy theories regarding the appearance of the virus that has caused the current pandemic, I do not have that judgment, there is its possible appearance as a result of the displacement of ecosystems that we invade when as human beings, we are limited in space and we intend to expand it disrespecting nature, altering the balance of ecosystems, thus promoting climate change. We humans suffer from the effects of COVID-19, or on the contrary we are the virus that affects the planet, which, convalescingly, tries unsuccessfully to limit the increase in feverish temperature to 1.5°C due to the devastating effect of industrialization.
* Author: Félix Andrés Paternina Ordoñez. Mechanical Engineer, Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá D.C. Specialization in management, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogotá D.C. Commercial Manager Ingeservip SAS. Email: [email protected]
