PROPOSED RESEARCH TOPIC WHY THE WORLD SHOULD SWITCH FROM THE USE OF COAL TO HYDROGEN RESEARCH PROPOSAL BY MAATLA RALENYENA ID 20001007 COURSE CODE ALSS 201 TO MR MOGOTSI GROUP C DATE 28 November 2021 Contents 1 BACKGROUND 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 4 PROBLEM STATEMENT 5 RESEARCH DESIGN 6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 6 OBJECTIVES 6 USES OF HYDROGEN 7 ADVANTAGES OF HYDROGEN 8 DISADVANTAGES OF HYDROGEN 8 USES OF COAL 9 ADVANTAGES OF COAL USE 10 DISADVANTAGES OF COAL USE 10 CONCLUSION 11 References 12 WHY THE WORLD SHOULD SWITCH FROM THE USE OF COAL TO HYDROGEN 2 BACKGROUND Hydrogen unlike coal is not a primary energy source When hydrogen is combusted with oxygen it becomes an energy carrier that can be used in internal combustion engines or fuel cells while emitting almost no greenhouse gases The only significant emission is water vapor Offer et al 2010 Hydrogen can be produced using carbon free or carbon neutral energy sources or using fossil fuels with CO2 capture and storage sequestration As a result the use of hydrogen may result in the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector in the long run From a variety of fuels fuel cells produce efficient and clean electricity Hames et al 2018 They can also be placed near the point of use allowing the heat generated during the process to be used However unlike coal hydrogen s role is more similar to that of electricity in that it must first be produced using energy from another source and then transported for future use where its latent chemical energy can be fully realized Fernandez et al 2018 Hydrogen can be produced using a variety of renewable hydro wind wave solar biomass and geothermal and non renewable resources coal natural gas and nuclear It can be stored as a fuel and used in transportation and distributed heat and power generation systems via fuel cells internal combustion engines or turbines with the only by product being water at the point of use The ability of hydrogen to replace fossil fuels in transportation could help to solve one of the world s most serious environmental issues Jacobson et al 2005 Automotive exhaust emissions are one of the most significant single sources of air pollution in the world today particularly in urban areas and they also contribute significantly to global carbon dioxide emissions Hydrogen can also be used as a storage medium for electricity generated from intermittent renewable resources such as solar wind wave and tidal power this solves one of the major issues of sustainable energy namely the perplexing problem of supply intermittency If the hydrogen is produced from non fossil fuel feedstock it is a truly green fuel Eriksson et al 2017 Furthermore locally 3 produced hydrogen allows for the introduction of renewable energy into the transportation sector as well as potentially large economic and energy security benefits and the advantages of a new infrastructure based on distributed degeneration This critical component of hydrogen s energy storage capacity serves as a powerful link between sustainable energy technologies and a sustainable energy economy which is commonly referred to as the hydrogen economy Muradov Veziroglu 2005 LITERATURE REVIEW Research has been performed on hydrogen as an energy source alternative According to Alaswad et al 2016 Hydrogen has been widely promoted as a future energy carrier Its use as a fuel has several advantages It can serve as a renewable energy storage facility from year to year it can be used as a transportation fuel reliant on the world s deterioration oil reserves its combustion produces less byproducts which are water as well as a trace of nitrogen Hydrogen offers a range of benefits as a clean energy carrier if produced by clean sources Creating a large market for hydrogen as an energy vector offers effective solutions to both emissions control and the security of energy supply Hydrogen is emission free at the point of final use and thus avoids the transport induced emissions of both CO2 and air pollutants Hydrogen could further be used as a storage medium for electricity from intermittent renewable energies such as wind power Rezk et al 2021 Hydrogen as a clean and low carbon new energy can help the difficult to decarbonize industry to achieve the goal of carbon emission reduction hydrogen energy has enriched the way of renewable energy storage at a lower cost which can help renewable energy to regulate energy fluctuations and promote energy diversified structure and security of energy supply At present fossil fuels are the main raw materials for hydrogen production which brings problems such as high cost of hydrogen production and environmental pollution caused by carbon emissions The necessary conditions for the hydrogen production process are clean and efficient without 4 pollution Hydrogen raw materials are gradually developing from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources Kikuchi et al 2019 It was further explained by Kikuchi et al 2019 that the use of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels for hydrogen production will be the future development trend of clean and efficient hydrogen production In the four links of production storage transportation refueling and application of the hydrogen energy industry chain hydrogen production is the leader To select the hydrogen production process path scientifically and rationally we must start from the source and take environmental protection economy safety and efficiency as the goal to achieve the supply of hydrogen energy Li et al 2020 Obtaining hydrogen energy from renewable energy sources on the one hand solves the unreliable factors such as low energy density and poor stability of renewable energy sources on the other hand it solves the insecurity of grid connection and the disadvantages of traditional batteries that cannot be stored for a long time It is of great significance to realize unnecessary waste and local consumption of renewable energy PROBLEM STATEMENT Natural greenhouse effect normally traps some portion of heat in such a way that our planet is safe from reaching freezing temperatures while human enhanced greenhouse effect leads to global warming Shaegh et al 2012 This is due to burning of fossil fuels which increase the amount of greenhouse gases carbon dioxide methane and oxides of nitrogen present in the atmosphere Coal use is important but it contributes to air pollution the excessive use or burning of coal leads to an increase of carbon dioxide methane and oxides of nitrogen