Everyone is concerned about dwindling fossil fuel resources and current levels of petroleum consumption but pressure to shift to more sustainable energy sources has led to lobbyists and bigger government programs, not a better environment.
The best approach may be suited to regional conditions - some areas may use solar, some wind or geothermal, some nuclear. There won't be a knockout technology that is a good fit for everyone.
What wind, solar, and geothermal power need to be useful to the masses is conversion into appropriate forms for distributing electricity. Electric power can already be distributed efficiently but conversion is necessary for use in automobiles and large-scale storage is problematic.
Keith Promislow of the Michigan State University and Brian Wetton of the University of Vancouver say the answer may be ...
PEM Fuel Cells
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells, also called Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells, take hydrogen and oxygen from the air to create electricity, typically for automobiles. When pure hydrogen is used as a fuel, these fuel cells emit only heat and water as byproducts, eliminating concerns about air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, fuel cells have the potential to replace the internal combustion engine in vehicles and provide power in stationary and portable power applications if they are energy-efficient, clean, and fuel-flexible.
Direct heat may not be better than indirect heat from greenhouse gases so how much heat is involved in PEM cells? For that you need ...
Numerical modeling
PEM fuel cells are good examples of energy conversion systems that have several levels of interacting functional structures. The interactions range from proton exchange at the nanoscale level to interactions at the macroscale level among the layered media of which the cells are made.
Accurately simulating the resulting multiscale interactions requires carefully constructed mathematical models that faithfully represent the physics at the various scales. Modeling and analysis of PEM fuel cell structures, their construction, performance, and degradation also requires the development of new mathematical solutions and highly structured and highly adaptive numerical techniques.
Mathematical analysis and scientific computation will play a large role in the resolution of these important issues and as a result will affect the progress of PEM fuel cell research and development.
Article: Keith Promislow,Brian Wetton, 'PEM Fuel Cells: A Mathematical Overview', SIAM J. Appl. Math. Volume 70, Issue 2, pp. 369-409 (2009), http://dx.doi.org/10.1137/080720802
(PEM) fuel cells—also called Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells—are
the type typically used in automobiles. A PEM fuel cell uses hydrogen
fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity.
How thw fuel cell works is as follow:
1
hydrogen fuel channeled through fild flow paltes to the anode on one
side of the fuel cell, while oxygen from the air channeled to thte
cathode on the other side of the cell.
2 At the annode, a catalyst causes the hydrogen to split into positive hydrogen ions(protons) and negatively charged electrons
3
The PEM allows only the positively chrged ions to pass through it to
the cthode. The negatively charged electons must travel along an
exernal circuit to the cathode, creating an electrical current.
4 At
the cathode, the electrons and positively charged hydrogen ions combine
with oxygen to form water, which flows out of the cell.
Most fuel cells designed for use in vehicles produce less than 1.16 volts of electricity-far from enough to power a vehicle. Therefore, multiple cells must be assembled into a fuel cell stack. The potential power generated by a fuel cell stack depends on the number and size of the individual fuel cells that comprise the stack and the surface area of the PEM. We are able to save enough money without worrying about cheap loans.