Chena Hot Springs (Alaska) eyes hydrogen as energy source

[jpak]

http://newsminer.com/2007/07/08/7829

Now that its ground-breaking geothermal project is up and running, the Chena Hot Springs Resort is looking to the next big thing.

By next month, the resort will begin using hydrogen to replace propane for cooking and in clothes dryers and gas fireplaces, the resort’s energy expert, Gwen Holdmann, said Friday.

It also plans to rely on hydrogen for the vehicles it uses to bring passengers and supplies the 60 miles from Fairbanks, though maybe not by August.

The hydrogen projects would make Chena Hot Springs the first in the state to use hydrogen energy, according to David Lockard of the Alaska Energy Authority.

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[flyingfysh]

1. hydrogen is NOT an energy source

It is a medium for energy transmission. If thie project is to use geothermal energy to produce hydrogen, then that makes sense. But normally it takes energy from some other source to produce hydrogen.

[kestrel91316]

3. Fossil fuels aren't an energy source either, BTW. They are just media

for storing solar energy of millions of years ago and moving it around the world and into cars and such for use.

Silly non-argument, IMHO.

Yes, hydrogen has to be produced by energy inputs. But so did fossil fuels. As long as the energy used is from a renewable source, what's the problem?????

[depakid]

5. The headline is misleading, but the article is cool

The hydrogen projects will rely on surplus electricity generated by the resort’s two geothermal plants and an electrolyzer from a defunct University of Alaska fuel cell project, according to Holdmann. At low pressure, the hydrogen will be mixed with propane and used for cooking and drying. Compressed, it will be used in vehicles.

In essence, the hydrogen will "conduct" energy from the geothermal site into transportation and other uses.

[applegrove]

2. And let us be thankful that CO2 levels will likely not affect what goes on

underground re: these hot springs as the energy source that starts it all.

I cannot believe I just said that..let us be thankful we still have the core of the earth.

[Trillo]

4. Hydrogen doesn't work well for gas powered ovens,

or so I have read. Rather humid.

I would think the same issue would be true of a clothes dryer.

[Bread and Circus]

6. Steam injected ovens are great for baking artisan bread !!

[razzleberry]

7. this story is rubbish

around the world,
one place in a million has surplus electricity