False optimism for the hydrogen economy and the potential of biofuels and advanced energy storage to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-53).Discussion of the general domestic energy situation addresses the motivations which underlie the push for an hydrogen energy economy. The validity of claims about such a hydrogen economy and the official DOE position regarding such are evaluated, and then discarded as overly optimistic given the inherent physics of the required production and transportation processes. Biomass is then introduced as a potential source of greenhouse gas reduction in both stationary and mobile applications for the near term future (10-25 years). Combined renewable power (mainly solar and wind power) and attached energy storage to buffer the inherently fluctuating supply is also discussed, and recommended as potential zero-emission power generation technology for the long-term depending on the advances in photovoltaics, wind power and pumped liquid electrolyte battery technology.by Rory Foster.S.B