Using hydrogen as Fuel - Problems



?Driving cars using water
 The hydrogen produced by electrolysis may be used as a fuel but the efficiency of the overall process (synthesis of H2 from H2O followed by oxidation of H2 to H2O) is always well below 100%. Thus the hydrogen produced can never be used to drive the electrolysis that produces it . This fact is governed by the unbreakable laws of thermodynamics but often seems to be ignored by people proposing cars that run on 'water' or 'Brown's gas' (a mixture of H2 and O2 produced by electrolysis ,Generating hydrogen by electrolysis is only (optimally) about 60% efficient and the use of this hydrogen in a car is (optimally) also only about 60% efficient, so two thirds of the energy required is wasted. The only time excess energy may apparently be produced (on a laboratory scale) is when the electrodes themselves react; a important factor that produces artifacts when using some stainless steel electrodes but often ignored. An alternative source of energy in water electrolysis has been proposed. It involves 'cold fusion' (low energy nuclear reactions), a highly controversial theory developed from experiments involving electrolysis of heavy water using palladium (Pd) cathodes and reportedly producing greater heat than could be conventionally explained. This idea has so far received only limited acceptance with the main criticism being a lack of a suitable theoretical basis. History will decide. 

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