Title: Jamaica: University of Tech hosts international hydrogen conference Source:
Jamaica Observer.com URL Source:http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/late ... ernational-hydrogen-conference Published:Nov 4, 2015 Author:Jamaica Observer Post Date:2015-11-05 13:01:57 by Operation 40 Keywords:hydrogen, energy, renewable Views:459 Comments:3
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) Jamaica has joined the international community in a clear thrust towards the advancement of hydrogen as a sustainable energy source for the future.
On Tuesday, the University of Technology (UTech), with the support of the European Union (EU) Caribbean and Pacific Research Programme for Sustainable Development, hosted day one of the first-ever conference in the Caribbean region on the use of hydrogen as a fuel.
The two-day International Hydrogen Conference, themed: The Hydrogen Economy: A Sustainable Energy Diversification Option for the Caribbean, culminated out of a three-year EU-funded research project by UTechs Faculty of Engineering and Computing Energy Unit Research Team (CSEII), on the production of hydrogen as a fuel for domestic cooking.
The $59-million project, launched in 2012, also highlighted the varied use of hydrogen technologies and examined the applications which have relevance to the Caribbean.
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, in his remarks during the opening ceremony, commended UTech for hosting the conference, which included participants from Europe, North America and the Caribbean.
We now have pride of place among the scientists mostly from developed countries, with well-resourced research facilities and long traditions of scientific inventions, he said.
Paulwell noted that the Governments National Energy Policy emphasises the diversification of energy sources, the facilitation of investments in renewables and the promotion and implementation of energy efficiency and conservation measures.
This motivation is reinforced by the prohibitive cost of imported oil and its deleterious impact on the environment It is within this context that the potential of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source, must be recognised and appreciated, he said...snip Full Article: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/UTech-hosts-international-hydrogen-conference
I wonder why Hawaii hasn't jumped on the hydrogen bandwagon in a bigger way that it has to date. They are still a year or so away of completing small scale demo units for the generation, storage and distribution of hydrogen on the Big Island for use in hydrid bus vehicles. Every bit of petroleum products used on the islands is imported into the islands. Hawaii currently has very robust roof top solar utilization, so much so that it is causing major dispatch problems for the electric utility. Hawaii also has some wind generation projects scattered around. If hydrogen from water/to fuel cell has any economical mass applications I would guess that Hawaii would near the top of the list. It has plenty of water, sun and wind reciurces. I guess they just didn't get the memo.
If hydrogen from water/to fuel cell has any economical mass applications
There you have the essence of the question. Hydrogen appeared to show great promise 20 years ago but that promise hasn't been realised. The fuel cell seems to have been bypassed in large scale projects and it's take up in applications such as auto is restricted. We have heard much of electrolysis over a long time with only prototypes emerging. So is the technology being killed off by oil interests? Has it proved to be too expensive for general application? Where there is sun wind and water other technologies can be employed for immediate implementation, solar, wind and wave generation are all proven technologies with known cost and capability and investors need certainty. The development of electric vehicles will mean the fuel cell is only needed for long journeys and very remote applications
Hydrogen appeared to show great promise 20 years ago but that promise hasn't been realised.
I was heraing about an all hydrogen economy back in the mid-60s - as well as nulcear, solar, wind and bio fuels. All have not delivered on the "promise", but hydrogen was never even a reasonable alternative from the git go and may never be.