C3- Getting energy from Hydrogen

C3- Getting energy from Hydrogen

1. Hydrogen and oxygen react to produce water.

   • This isn't a pollutant.
   • This is exothermic as it releases energy.
   • You can get energy by reacting these for things such as a combustion engine or in a fuel cell.

2. Hydrogen gas can be burnt in oxygen as a fuel in the combustion engines of vehicles.

   • This is very clean
   • It needs a special, expensive engine. It is also hard to store hydrogen safely - it's very explosive.

3. Fuel cells use fuel and oxygen to produce electrical energy.

   • A fuel cell is an electrical cell that's supplied with a fuel and oxygen and uses energy from the reaction between them to generate electricity.
   • Fuel cells don't run down or need recharging from the mains. It will produce energy in the form of electricity and heat as long as fuel is supplied.

4. Fuel cells are used to replace petrol/diesel engines.

   • Don't produce any conventional pollutants (greenhouse gases, sulphur dioxide). The only by-products are water and heat
   • Helps countries become less dependent on crude oil.
   • Not likely to mean the end of power stations/fossil fuels becuase hydrogen takes up more space to store than petrol,it's very explosive,uses electricity to make (hydrocarbons) which uses fossil fuels.