An end to global warming

214 Pages·2002·4.287 MB·English

by  Laurence O Williams

PREAMBLE
This image of the Earth is one of 60 frames taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft on
Feb. 14, 1990 from a distance of approximately 4 billion miles and about 32
degrees above the ecliptic plane. This image the Earth is a mere point of light, a
crescent only 0.12 pixel in size. Our planet was caught in the center of one of the
scattered light rays resulting from taking the image so close to the sun.
This picture was downloaded from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory web site.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft image shows the earth as a pale blue dot against the
black of deep space.
Regarding this view of Earth, Carl Sagan said:
Look again at the pale blue dot. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love,
everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out
their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions,
ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every
creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love,
every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, and teacher of morals, every
corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme Leader,' every saint and sinner in the
history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
1 he Earth is a very small stage in the vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood
spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become
the momentary master of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the
inhabitants of one comer of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some
other comer, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another,
how fervent their hatreds.
yJuT posturing, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged
position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our Planet is a lonely
speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark, hi our obscurity, in this vastness, there is no hint
that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
1 he earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in
the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not,
for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
it has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is
perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our
tiny world. To, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to
preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, Random House, Inc. 1994
ISBN 0679438416
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author acknowledges the help of the following persons.
Dr. Stephen Dean
Fusion Power Associates, Gaithersburg, Maryland
For data covering fusion energy.
Dr. Robert Douglas
Private Consultant in Systems Analysis
For encouraging me to develop a patchy concept into a full analysis.
Mr. Peter Hoffman,
The Hydrogen News Letter, Rhinecliff, New Jersey
For data and encouragement.
Ms. Renate Kulik
BMW of North America
For Pictures of the BMW 750hL Liquid Hydrogen Powered Automobile.
Mr. Jay Laskin
Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., Timonium, Maryland
For pictures of Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc. electrolysis equipment.
Mr. Frank Lynch
Hydrogen Components Company, Denver, Colorado
For pictures of hydrogen powered automobiles, refueling equipment and a hydrogen fuel cell buss and
other information on the use of hydrogen as a fuel.
Ms. Loren Mondin
Ballard Power Systems, Bumaby, British Columbia, Canada
For pictures and data covering their fuel cells.
Ms. Sandra NichoUs
The Ford Motor Company
For pictures of the Ford Hydrogen Fuel Cell automobile.
Dr. Frances Oblander
Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio
For reading the draft and making useful suggestions and corrections.
Dr. David Pape
Electronic Visualization Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago.
For maps of Eastern North America showing the advancing sea levels.
Mr. Alexander Stuart & Ms. Kerry Kelly
Stuart Energy Systems, Toronto Canada
For pictures of electrolyzer equipment.
The author prepared all tables and un-attributed pictures
INTRODUCTION
Technology allows citizens of developed nations to live better than medieval kings. Kings lacked
indoor plumbing, automatic heating and cooling, refrigerators, and comfortable methods to travel
from the next town in a few hours or to the other side of the world in a day. Kings could not entertain
themselves or their guests with radio, sound recording, television and movies.
Advanced agriculture technology made it possible for a few percent of the population to feed the
remainder. Medical technology has dramatically improved the chance of survival and doubled the
average life span. Technology has permitted humanity to multiply to over 6 billion individuals.
Technology is now mandatory for earth to sustain these billions. We have become utterly dependent
on the benefits of technology. An even greater application of technology is required for economic
progress by undeveloped nations. However, the unintended effect of technology, environmental
damage, is reducing the earth's capacity to support life, including humanity. Over the years, lack of
foresight has allowed our magnificent technologies to develop an ominous side. Now our dependence
on technology seems to pose a threat. Energy production and use is at the core of the technology's
threat to the environment; yet, energy is crucial in achieving a high standard of living.
Our current energy system was started around 1800 when the world population was less than 1 billion.
Before 1800, energy came from human labor, animals, wind, water or combustion of wood and
animal fats. All these sources were renewed by natural processes. From the Chinese, Europeans
learned that a black rock, coal, would bum hotter than wood. It was discovered that heating coal
would produce oil (coal oil) suitable for lamps. Later it was discovered that lamp oil could be
produced from the oil that seeped from the rocks. This rock oil (petroleum) became the basis for the
oil industry. As a result, an energy technology that exploited fossil fuels proliferated. Unlike the
energy sources used before 1800 fossil fuels are non-renewable finite resources.
From the beginning, no one foresaw a need to predict long-range effects of fossil fuel use. The waste
products were spewed into the air, poured into the rivers or carted out to unexploited land and
dumped. The only people who noticed were the poor who lived in the shadow of the mills, factories
and dumps. At first the remainder of the world seemed untouched. With few people and a modest
level of energy use per person, the environmental damage caused by energy use was repaired by slow
geological and biological processes or simply lost in vacant land. In the nineteen fifties people began
to realize oil fields were becoming depleted and air pollution from fossil fuels was becoming an
international problem. We also became apprehensive about the rapid increase in world population. In
the last fifty years it has become clear, humanity has damaged the world environment.
With today's population and energy used per person, our air and water are polluted and there is little
unexploited land for use as a dumping ground. What was once unexploited land is now someone
else's front yard. The moderate pace of natural regeneration is besieged. The projected growth in
population and fossil energy use will exhaust earth's regenerative capability with dire effects for all
life. If we continue our current path, the only point worth debate is how soon these problems will
overwhelm our ability to cope.
Our 19th century energy technology was not selected, it just happened. At it's beginning, no one
suspected that energy use could affect the environment of the entire planet. Today, our energy system
is indispensable; yet, it appears to be hazardous to the health of all life on earth. The difficulty is not
with technology itself, but is with the selection of methods, and systems exacerbated by lack of
foresight. We must replace our impromptu fossil fuel system with an energy technology based on
environmental concern, close coupled to excellent science and engineering. This new energy
technology must be configured to serve us today and protect future generations.
Humanity requires an energy system that can provide a high standard of living for all without further
damage to the earth. The survival of humanity may depend on how soon and how boldly we act. We
need to follow the advice of Sir Crispin Tickell, former British Ambassador to the United Nations,
when he said, "Scientists (and the rest of us) should be much braver. Caution, in any case, may in
reality be recklessness. We must always look at the cost of doing nothing." {New Scientist March 21,
1992 Page 38, article titled 'The Green Diplomat')
In seeking a solution the technique of systems analysis was applied. Simply stated, this means
looking at problems as if you were an outsider with no preconceived notion concerning where the
evaluation would lead. For example, in analyzing an automobile, you start with the iron, copper and
aluminum mines and follow them through to the auto's final disposal as recycled materials or in a
landfill. Initially, each facet of the problem is examined from many viewpoints and varieties of
solution paths are considered. The analysis must start at the beginning and carry through to the end.
The solution path presented in "An End To Global Warming" was derived in this manner.
"An End To Global Warming" presents the results of the system analysis in a series of chapters.
Chapter 1 reviews our contemporary energy infrastructure and its impact on the earth. This review
provides solid reasons why fossil fuels must be replaced. In Chapter 2, the characteristics of possible
alternative energy sources are examined to determine those most suitable for a benign planetary
energy system. Chapter 3 describes the optimum energy source. Chapter 4 shows that a portable and
storable fuel is required, because the optimum energy source will only provide heat and from heat
electricity. Chapter 5 describes the optimum portable fuel. In Chapter 6, the energy generation and
the portable fuel are integrated into an energy system coupled with the optimum distribution
technology. The manner in which this system will provide zero pollution transportation is described
in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 shows how a by-product of this system will be of great value in eliminating
several forms of pollution that are not derived from fossil fuels. In Chapter 9, a path for
implementation is sketched.
The system outlined in "An End To Global Warming" has the potential to provide humanity with
plentiful energy for hundreds of years without damage to the environment. It will be easily used by
all nations, from the least to the most developed. It will reduce international tensions arising from
competition over fossil fuel reserves.
The nation that undertakes implementation of this system will be gifted with a mammoth surge of
economic activity. This economic surge will be similar to those engendered during the 20* century by
the development of automobiles, the space program and the development of computers. Its citizens
will become optimistic about their future because of the favorable economic conditions and in the
knowledge that they are preserving a healthy world for their descendants.
Critics will argue that implementation of this system will cause disruption of current industries,
financial structures, worldwide society, and the balance of power among nations. The critics will say
that the costs will be large. The critics will be correct.
The alternative to these voluntary disruptions will be disagreeable and possibly devastating. They
will involve the same or greater levels of disruption and cost, driven by degradation of the
environment, escalating energy prices and international conflict over dwindling reserves. These
disruptions will come when the when the world's ability to respond is diluted by the very conditions
we need to correct. However, if we accept the disruption and costs associated with implementation of
this plan it will be accompanied by certain knowledge that we will have an energy system that will not
harm the earth.
The critics will also say that the existing "political/economic system" cannot accommodate this level
of change. In this, the critics are wrong. We are the "system" and this criticism is only an excuse for
inaction.
The twentieth century will pass into history as the century that changed the earth. In the twenty first
century, humanity can choose whether this change will preserve or destroy. It seems prudent to
embark on a course that will have the potential to preserve the planet for all life. The energy system
outlined in "An End To Global Warming" provides the desired course of action.
When you finish this book if you agree, press your government to instigate action to get this plan
under way as soon as possible. If you do not agree come up with a plan of your own and promote it
with gusto. We owe all future generations action in our time.
**The destiny of mankind is not decided by material computation. When great
causes are on the move, we learn that we are spirits, not animals, and that
something is going on in space and time, and beyond space and time, which,
whether we like it of not, spells duty**
Winston Churchill
Rochester, New York, 1941
Laurence O. Williams
February 2002
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laurence O. Williams graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana. Early in his career,
he worked as an Analytical Chemist, in the areas of food, sewage, solid propellants and liquid
propellants. Later he was a Research Chemist in the areas of propellants, explosives and fuels. He has
published 32 articles on propellants, explosives and hydrogen. He has had 13 patents granted, 10 US and
3 Foreign. He was twice voted Lockheed Martin's 'Inventor of the Year' and received NASA's Original
New Technology Application award for his contribution to landing the Viking Space Craft on the surface
of Mars.
In the late sixties, he became concerned about the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As an
avocation, he started studying and writing about the use of hydrogen as a zero pollution fuel. In the mid
seventies, he was one of the founders of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy. He spent
several years with The Aerospace Corporation, a Federal Contract Research Center, consulting for the
United States Department of Energy in the area of hydrogen fuel and other alternate energy technologies.
In 1980 he published "Hydrogen Power", Pergamon Press (ISBN 0 08 024783 0) and in 1994 "Therapy
for the Earth" Applied Energy, (Vol. 47 Nos. 2-3 1994, ISSN 0306-2619).
During his working years, he was a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Institute
for Astronautics and Aeronautics, (Section Chairman for 3 years) and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. He was on the Distinguished Speakers list for both the American Chemical
Society and the American Institute for Astronautics and Aeronautics. He has been on the Editorial Board
of Applied Energy, Elsevier Applied Science, for 18 years. He is an active member of Rotary
International and the Planetary Society.
In 1999, he retired from Lockheed Martin where he held the position of Chief Scientist for their
Ordnance Systems Division. In retirement, he consults with Lockheed Martin Corporation and Atlantic
Research Corporation regarding propellants, explosives and hydrogen.
Today Laurence continues his efforts to promote clean energy systems for the good of humanity. He has
no connection with, or investments in, any corporation operating in the energy production area.
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1.1 CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATION IN THE ATMOSPHEBCE 9
FIGURE 1.2 A SMOOTHED AVERAGE OF PREDICTED TEMPERATURE RISE 13
FIGURE 1.3 NORTH AMERICA AS IT IS TODAY 17
FIGURE 1.4 NORTH AMERICA WITH A 1 METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL 18
FIGURE 1.5 NORTH AMERICA WITH A 3-METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL 19
FIGURE 1.6 NORTH AMERICA WITH A 10-METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL 20
FIGURE 1.7 NORTH AMERICA WITH A 30-METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL 21
FIGURE 1.8 NORTH AMERICA WITH A 100-METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL 22
FIGURE 3.1 A LINEAR FUSION REACTOR 63
FIGURE 3.2 THE ITER TOKAMAK REACTOR 67
FIGURE 4.1 PIPELINE DISTRIBUTION POINT 76
FIGURE 4.2 PIPELINE 76
FIGURE 4.3 ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION POINT 78
FIGURE 4.4 ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION 81
FIGURE 5.1 EQUILIBRIUM COMBUSTION PRODUCTS OF HYDROGEN WITH AIR 95
FIGURE 6.1 SOLID POLYMER ELECTROLYZER 104
FIGURE 6.2 FLOATING ISLAND STRUCTURES 107
FIGURE 6.3 A TELEDYNE-BROWN ELECTROLYSIS UNIT 108
FIGURE 6.4 A TELEDYNE-BROWN ELECTROLYZER 110
FIGURE 6.5 STUART ENERGY SYSTEMS' SOLAR ELECTRIC ELECTROLYSIS MODULE 111
FIGURE 6.6 UNDERWATER STORAGE OF HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN 112
FIGURE 6.7 SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM SOLID POLYMER FUEL CELL 116
FIGURE 6.8 THE BALLARD LINE OF FUEL CELLS 117
FIGURE 6.9 BALLARD MARK 9000 AUTOMOTIVE FUEL CELL 118
FIGURE 6.10 BALLARD ONE KILOWATT PORTABLE FUEL CELL 119
FIGURE 6.11 BALLARD 100-WATT FUEL CELL 120
FIGURE 6.12 BALLARD HOME SIZE FUEL CELL 121
FIGURE 7.1 VACUUM JACKETED CRYOGENIC LIQUID STORAGE TANK 132
FIGURE 7.2 BMW LIQUID HYDROGEN REFUELING SYSTEM 135
FIGURE 7.3 BMW 750HL HYDROGEN POWERED AUTOMOBILE 138
FIGURE 7.4 AN EIMCO MINING & MACHINE CO. UNDERGROUND MINING TRUCK 139
FIGURE 7.5 COMPARISON OF THE GREENHOUSE GAS EMITTED BY AUTOMOBILES.... 141
FIGURE 7.6 STUART ENERGY SYSTEMS' PERSONAL AUTOMOBILE HYDROGEN
RE-FUELER 144
FIGURE 7.7 A GENERIC FUEL CELL POWERED AUTOMOBILE 146
FIGURE 7.8 REFUELING STATION 147
FIGURE 7.9 FORD FUEL CELL DEMONSTRATION AUTOMOBILE 147
FIGURE 7.10 FORD FUEL CELL AUTOMOBILE AT A REFUELING STATION 148
FIGURE 7.11 HYDROGEN-AIR FUEL CELL BUS OWNED BY SUN LINE TRANSIT 149
FIGURE 7.12 A NASA ADVANCED CONCEPT HYDROGEN FUELED AIRPLANE 152
FIGURE 8.1 OXYGEN FIRED INCINERATOR 159
FIGURE 8.2 COMBINED OXYGEN - OZONE WATER TREATMENT PLANT 163
FIGURE 9.1 GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT PER CAPITA VERSUS ENERGY USE PER
CAPITA 169
FIGURE 9.2 SCHEDULE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FUSION HYDROGEN ENERGY
SYSTEM 173
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1.1 FOSSIL FUELS 2
TABLE 1.2 WORLD OIL PRODUCTION WILL PEAK AND THEN DECLINE 5
TABLE 1.3 GREENHOUSE GAS FROM FOSSIL FUELS 8
TABLE 2.1 ENERGY USE IN THE UNITED STATES (2005 & 2010 ARE ESTIMATED) 33
TABLE 2-2A RENEWABLE SOURCES 34
TABLE 2-2B NON-RENEWABLE SOURCES WITH SHORT USE LIFE 34
TABLE 2-2C NON-RENEWABLE SOURCES WITH LONG SERVICE LIFE 34
TABLE 3.1 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS 59
TABLE 4.1 ENERGY HANDLING 86
TABLE 5.1 ELEMENTS EVALUATED AS POTENTIAL FUELS 90
TABLE 5.2 HYDRIDES EVALUATED AS POTENTIAL FUELS 92
TABLE 5.3 UNITS USED IN TABLE 5.4 99
TABLE 5.4 DETAILED PROPERTIES OF HYDROGEN 100
TABLE 7.1 AIR TO FUEL (A/F) MIXTURE RATIOS 128
TABLE 7.2 EFFICIENCY OF HYBRID AND FUEL CELL AUTOMOBILES 144
TABLE 7.3 LH2 FUELED PASSENGER TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT 150
TABLE 8.1 A REFERENCE WASTE 158
TABLE 8. IB EMPIRICAL CHEMICAL FORMULA 158
TABLE 8.2 COMBUSTION OF WASTE 159
CHAPTER 1
FOSSIL FUELS
"There is something fundamentally wrong in treating
the earth as if it were a business in liquidation ",
Herman Daly,
World Bank Economist
Science, Vol. 240, pg. 1611, 1989
The recovery, handling and combustion of the earth's finite supply of fossil fuels are damaging the
environment. This damage may ultimately cause many plant and animal species to become extinct. If
we continue to increase our use of fossil fuels for energy production, humanity may ultimately become
one of the species that perish. Some may feel that the potential for human extinction several hundred
years in the future. They assert that this is an inadequate justification to make profound near term
changes in the energy infrastructure. There are, however, two other reasons to stop the use of fossil
fuels as our main energy source. In the short term, as globalization improves world economies there
will be increased competition for the remaining reserves. This competition has the potential to
germinate into open conflict that will be lethal for humanity. In the mid term, justification comes from
the need to conserve the unique substances in fossil fuels for future higher value use as chemical
feedstock. These three drives, one to stop using fossil fuels because they may threaten the survival of
humanity, the second to moderate the potential for international conflict and the third to save the fossil
materials for higher value use constitute powerful motivation to terminate the burning of fossil fuels.
WHAT ARE FOSSIL FUELS
The term "fossil fuels" encompasses a spectrum of mineral organic compounds extracted from the
earth. These are outlined in Table 1.1. They range from solids to liquids and gases. They include
coal, petroleum, shale oil, tar sands and natural gas. Each of the generic names describes a group of
materials, often with widely differing properties. Coal is always a solid. It can be hard or soft and
high or low in ash or sulfur. Many coals contain highly toxic mercury, selenium, arsenic and
beryllium. Petroleum is always a liquid. Its appearance ranges from a straw colored fluid similar to
motor oil to a black tar-like material that must be heated before it will flow. Oil always contains some
sulfur but the concentration range can be very wide. Shale oil and tar sands are liquid petroleum
absorbed in rock or sand. Shale oil and tar sand oil usually have low sulfur content. Gas has various
amounts of methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, butane, 1-butene, 2-butene, isobutane,
carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hehum and nitrogen. Some gas contains such a large portion of
carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium it is hardly a fuel. Some gas is useless because it has a high
concentration of toxic hydrogen sulfide. The common thread is all fossil fuels contain hydrogen and
carbon that react with oxygen from the air to release energy. When a specific type is discussed, the
appropriate common name will be used.
All fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide, a green house gas, when burned. When there is insufficient air
all fossil fuels produce highly toxic carbon monoxide.