So far, President Trump and his energy secretary, Chris Wright, are right about one thing: under the previous administration, the Orwellian-named Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law wasted $9.5 billion in funding green hydrogen projects.
Fortunately, on his first day in office, Trump halted the use of government funds for green energy and clean H2 projects. And Wright has signaled his ambition to “unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore our energy dominance.” The administration has their work cut out for them.
Once someone learns how “green” hydrogen is made, they will hardly need critical thinking skills to know there is something wrong. There have recently been a number of hydrogen project cancellations; notably, BP and Shell canceled 18 projects to save $200 million annually. In addition to its many other drawbacks, green hydrogen is an incredible waste of money. It costs at least five times more to make than other energy sources it is meant to replace.
Other Biden forced “green” energy sources, like offshore wind, cost five times as much as natural gas electricity. This will cause electricity bills in New York and Virginia to skyrocket, adding to inflation. Paul Martin, chemical engineer and member of the Hydrogen Science Coalition, tells us, “every time you involve hydrogen, you get not small losses, but large, substantial losses. The root of the problem is that hydrogen is too small and volatile a molecule to be safely or effectively transmitted, distributed, or used with existing gas pipelines, turbines, boilers, cooktops, or burner jets. That reality would translate into huge retrofit costs, and likely serious energy efficiency losses.”
Green hydrogen requires ten times more water than hydrogen. It is water intensive. Sea water can be used, but desalination is an added cost. Pure water is heated to 2,000° F and electrocuted. The hydrogen is then chilled to 420° F below zero. Turning it into a liquid. Then it is compressed to 10,000 psi, about three times the average scuba tank compression. Without this chilling and compression, hydrogen has one third the energy per volume as natural gas. A compressed kilo of liquid hydrogen has the energy equivalence of about a gallon of gas.
Dealing with liquid, near zero, compressed hydrogen is tricky. It likes to escape. It is the smallest molecule, escaping normal pipelines and embrittling metals, causing them to crack sooner. This hydrogen also explodes easily and violently in any confined space, even at low levels of concentration.
Making green hydrogen requires industrial activities at large scale, operating all the time. Giant hydrogen factories can’t be turned off and on as the wind blows or the sun fades. The hydrogen can’t be green unless it is made with wind and solar energy all the time. Which isn’t possible.
Climate fanatics often suggest making green hydrogen as a first and easy talking point. This costs 35% of the energy yielded. Then, if stored in giant salt caverns, some will leak. Much of this stored hydrogen will just be used to make second generation green hydrogen when there is no supply of wind or solar electricity. Second generation hydrogen made this way will cost 70% of the energy it creates. Two times more energy is required than is yielded.
Putting hydrogen hubs in places that are short of water is just plain dumb. Yet, southern California, Utah and Houston, Texas, all get the honors of the federally subsidized hydrogen hubs. Where will all that water come from?
Especially in Utah, on the edge of the desert, and only 2% of their electricity comes from wind and solar. And dry Californians don’t want to desalinate the Pacific Ocean, because the extra salt would somehow cause harm and cost more.
European energy expert Samuel Furfari sums up green hydrogen as follows: “ The main use of hydrogen is the production of ammonia, which is used to produce fertilizer to feed the world’s growing population.” And “It’s like – to stay with the luxury goods analogy – burning Louis Vuitton handbags for heat.”
Trump must continue to end these billions wasted on green hydrogen. Slowing the waste of our tax dollars on money losers. Spending prevented will not be added to our $36 trillion national debt.
Trump should be able to do it without Congress.
Frank Lasee is a former Wisconsin state senator and former member of former Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s administration. The district he represented had two nuclear power plants, a biomass plant and numerous wind towers. He has experience with energy, the environment, and the climate. You can read more energy and climate information at www.truthinenergyandclimate.com which Frank leads.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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