To the editor: Kudos to Sammy Roth, as normal, for an important article on hydrogen, however let’s cease speaking about hydrogen as a gas. We don’t have a lot free hydrogen on Earth — it’s created by splitting water, which takes power. So it might be higher to speak about hydrogen as a storage medium — suppose a battery.
Phrases matter. As fossil gas pursuits attempt to survive, referring to hydrogen as a gas makes it look like we’ve got a supply of fresh power available. Considering of it as a battery focuses us rightly on the place the unique energy comes from. So keep in mind: On Earth, hydrogen is a battery, not a gas.
David Lappen, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Roth’s article on hydrogen makes good arguments however misses the purpose.
Skepticism round gasoline corporations’ motives for embracing hydrogen is comprehensible, however we must always acknowledge that these corporations function infrastructure very important to decarbonization. “Inexperienced” hydrogen is one of the best answer for a lot of robust carbon issues. Scaling this new power useful resource requires collaboration with the gasoline sector. Vilifying will solely gradual transition.
Mixing inexperienced hydrogen into gasoline is just not the tip sport, however it’s a crucial step in scaling inexperienced hydrogen to switch gasoline fully. Inexperienced hydrogen is likely one of the few viable instruments to decarbonize infrastructure industries and might even assist decarbonize our grid. Moreover, heating in chilly seasons can’t be served by renewable electrical energy.
Renewable hydrogen is an important decarbonization instrument. The gasoline business is finest positioned to transmit, retailer and distribute it. They’ll and must be part of the answer if we need to transfer rapidly.
Raffi Garabedian, San Carlos
The author is CEO of Electrical Hydrogen and former CTO of First Photo voltaic.
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To the editor: No, the gasoline firm’s hydrogen proposal isn’t the reply. Because the article states, hydrogen is now “produced from fossil fuels in a extremely polluting course of,” and it generates “lung-damaging oxide air pollution.” If we get “inexperienced” hydrogen, it will likely be produced from water, which we want for different functions. Creating the infrastructure will price billions and can substitute solely an estimated “25% of the gasoline” that SoCalGas delivers at this time, as reported.
A a lot better reply can be to position a community of underwater turbines alongside our very lengthy shoreline. Simply past the surf line, our ocean pulses powerfully to create that surf. It might generate clear electrical energy 24/7, whatever the climate: no want for poisonous batteries to retailer energy for when the solar doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.
Will probably be pricey, however so will the hydrogen proposal, and so will large quantities of rooftop photo voltaic, photo voltaic farms and wind farms (onshore and offshore). Not like offshore wind farms, it received’t intrude with boat or ship site visitors or mar our lovely ocean view. Not like onshore wind and photo voltaic farms, it received’t occupy massive swaths of land or intrude as a lot with birds and animals.
This different received’t bail out the gasoline firm, the oil and gasoline drillers or the coal mines. That’s OK. It’ll, nevertheless, profit the electrical utilities. They need to get behind this.
Bob Gerecke, Claremont
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To the editor: You possibly can put lipstick on a pig, however it’s nonetheless a pig. Calling hydrogen inexperienced doesn’t make it so. As your article states, so as to be “inexperienced” hydrogen have to be produced from water and clear power sources. Most hydrogen at this time is produced from fossil fuels. SoCalGas is within the enterprise of manufacturing and transporting pure gasoline, i.e. methane, which can be utilized to provide the hydrogen, releasing the remaining carbon into the environment. As soon as the hydrogen is within the pipe, it will likely be inconceivable to inform whether it is “inexperienced” or not.
Murray Zichlinsky, Lengthy Seashore
