Some innovations look silly, some are outrageously awesome & some are just there. Here though is a project that for sure will prove as a milestone in man’s quest to harness energy from nature in a clean & eco-friendly way. We hear so much about solar energy & about wind energy, but we do not really hear much about the growing technology of Hydrogen Cells. Now, this maybe because of the continuous research in the field or due to maybe people fearing that someone will steal their technology. But ask the industry & they will tell you that this is the fastest developing technology in the field of alternate energy.
Hydrogen as a fuel source has an upside to it. Its cheap, being a part of water, its easily available & has a very high calorific value. It also is a very clean source which does not leave any residue behind or emit any greenhouse gases. But the problem with harnessing it is that the process of separating it from water (Electrolysis) is very expensive & tough. It needs current which again is produced most often by burning coal. But here is “The Windhunter” (cool name indeed!). It is a device that has many windmills that produce the current required for electrolysis. The whole set up is placed on the ocean top as obviously water is available there in plenty. The current produced by Windhunter is of 2MW which is ample for production of huge amounts of Hydrogen. So the device looks like a great, clean way to move forward for a better future.
Then, let’s march ahead, you say? Well there are problems still that need to be answered. For starters, the project of building a Windhunter is expensive. More over, it has to be stationed on Ocean surface, which means there might be transportation problems for the gas. I have never been a big fan of transferring Hydrogen in pipes. One little leak, one unfortunate spark & everything will be literally vaporized. I still want to know how they would deal with the off-shore transportation. The technology is in early stages, so lets hope it moves a long way forward.
