The fuel of the futureRuth Ballesteros, professor of the Master's Degree in Sustainable Environmental Management and of the Official University Master's Degree in Management of Occupational Risk Prevention, Excellence, the Environment and Corporate Responsibility at Bureau Veritas University Center, speaks to us in this post about the energies of the future after the White House released a report published this May on the consequences of climate change.
"Climate change, once considered a problem for the distant future, has now firmly entrenched itself in the present ," says the report, compiled over four years by more than 300 scientists, overseen by the US government and titled the National Climate Assessment .
According to the US report, the only certainty about future bank data energy systems is that they will be different from today's , but in ways not yet known. Many financial, economic, regulatory and technological uncertainties will affect private and public consumption and investment in decisions about the fuels selected to provide energy, the infrastructure and systems used.
All nations , regardless of their level of development, are trying to develop and apply technologies that will enable them to use renewable energy sources in the most efficient ways .
The problems of global warming, climate change and energy security are the forces that drive the fossil fuel-based energy system towards renewable and sustainable energy, according to an article published in February of this year in the journal “Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews”.
If demand were to shift towards biomass as the main energy source , it would imply an increase in the consumption of a raw material that is limited by future climatic conditions. However, the main disadvantage of biomass is its low energy yield . Because of this, large transport and storage systems would be needed. In addition, biomass crops compete with those intended for human consumption, which could lead to an increase in the price of basic foodstuffs.
On the other hand, despite their efforts to be “green,” hybrid vehicles still use fossil fuels as their primary energy source , and fully electric vehicles use toxic batteries.
Given the above, hydrogen as a clean energy carrier is believed to be the most promising source to replace fossil fuels.
Major automakers, such as Honda and GM, are betting on and adopting hydrogen fuel cell technology over batteries and hybrids because they are cheaper on a cost per vehicle basis, and they are also more efficient. As their only byproduct is water, hydrogen fuel cells produce no pollution. On top of that, fuel cells are safe, reliable (they have very few moving parts), and they use the most abundant element in the universe as a power source.
However, as was already introduced at the beginning, there is no certainty as to the fuel of the future. BMW and Volkswagen and its Audi brand are focusing their efforts on introducing electric vehicles around the world, especially in China , the world’s largest car market. A big advantage of electric cars is that they can be charged at home. Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen of America said that “ You can find a power outlet much easier than a hydrogen filling station .” Mercedes-Benz, however, has invested in hydrogen fuel cells. The B-Class F-Cell small car has a range of about 400 km.