What happens if our oil reserves run out? This valuable energy source is finite and takes many millennia or longer to replenish. At some point in the next fifty to a hundred years, experts believe our oil reserves will be depleted. While there’s ongoing debate about the remaining timeline of our oil reserves, unless the oil replenishes faster than our current consumption, it will eventually diminish. Some experts project peak oil production will occur between the years 2030 and 2050 before reserves and discovery begin to taper off. If these estimates are true, we have time to right the ship, but we shouldn’t ignore the possibility.
What can we do about this impending issue? Is there a solution?
The answer lies in preparing for the future without imposing overly strict regulations or price controls on our energy sources. Long-term, the solution could lie in the development of advanced molten salt reactors or MSR’s, a concept dating back to the 1950s. Recent research indicates that salt reactors could serve as a viable interim energy solution. These reactors do have one key downside. They produce a small amount of rather harmful waste product, like their traditional predecessor. This obstacle has historically prevented construction of new nuclear fission reactors. However, the U.S. Congress recently displayed a surprising bipartisan agreement on this topic. It’s important to understand the perceived importance of legislative momentum if this technology is to be implemented at scale.
Further behind in development are various nuclear fusion reactors. Initially the most popular of these new systems was the Tokamak nuclear fusion reactor, although current engineering challenges make them impractical for now, progress is ongoing. Another fusion reactor design that is showing recent promise is the test unit from Helion. This unit bypasses the traditional approach of generating energy in the form of waste heat in favor of direct power generation via its magnetic field. This reactor is much cooler than other designs too, heating the plasma to a mere million degrees or so.
You might be thinking, “Nuclear technology poses risks, is unproven, and raises concerns about nuclear waste disposal.” These challenges are expected to be addressed over the next fifty years. In the meantime, what should we do? Should we continue relying on hydrocarbons? Yes. Should we also explore and adopt alternative fuel sources? Absolutely. From my perspective as a facility engineer in the oil and gas sector, the most efficient and effective solution to meet our energy demands without burdening taxpayers is hydrogen fuel.
You might be concerned about the safety of hydrogen, but when managed properly, it’s no more hazardous than current fuels like gasoline. To be certain, hydrogen has a vapor density that is fifty seven times lighter than gasoline vapor. This means it disperses much more rapidly in the open atmosphere, making it much more difficult to develop a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen at the Lower explosive limit.
With firsthand experience designing systems for hydrogen production, I believe we can scale up hydrogen production while leveraging existing fuel sources and developing new energy alternatives.
Why do I favor hydrogen? While its clean combustion is a significant benefit, I appreciate it more for its compatibility with our existing natural gas infrastructure. By producing hydrogen at scale and integrating it into natural gas pipelines, we can utilize our current delivery systems and gradually transition to greater hydrogen usage, all while extending the lifespan of our natural gas resources and infrastructure.
This approach minimizes the cost and complexity of transitioning to alternative fuels, providing businesses with a scalable solution for powering their operations. Hydrogen, the fuel of the future in the infrastructure of today.
I’m not alone in this view. Many technology companies are racing to develop scalable and environmentally friendly technologies like green hydrogen. For instance, Siemens is constructing a new Gigawatt factory in Berlin that leverages their innovative Electrolyzer technology. Green hydrogen, a term used by environmentalists, prioritizes sustainable fuel production methods, unlike grey hydrogen, which is the current norm.