Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Aug 19/05) - Increased global greenhouse gas emissions, coupled with concerns about exhausting the world's supply of fossil fuels, have brought alternative energy options to the forefront.

Last week the Aurora Research Institute held workshops highlighting the possibilities of hydrogen and methane fuel cells, giving those in attendance a taste of potential technologies that could be called upon to meet our future energy needs.

According to chemical engineering students Amanda Johns and Mike Rowan - who facilitated the workshops as part of their summer employment at the institute - Canada remains dependent on fossil fuels.

Oil is still the leading fossil fuel for meeting this country's energy needs. Oil, natural gas and coal together produce 75 per cent of our power.

Those concerned about the environmental impact of fossil fuel consumption will take little solace in the fact that hydro-generation squeezed out coal by one percentage point to move into third place, now providing 12 per cent of Canada's electricity needs. Nuclear power came in at 7.8 per cent and the combined renewable energy capabilities of wind and solar-generated power sit at 4.5 per cent.

Hydrogen's positives include the fact it is a totally clean-burning power source. The exhaust from the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is water.

Superior efficiency

However, despite a hydrogen fuel cell's superior efficiency - three times that of a regular internal combustion engine - the price of producing hydrogen and the initial cost of such fuel cells makes it unlikely the technology will be taking over from traditional means of energy production anytime soon. "Currently, a majority of hydrogen is being produced using non-renewable resources (fossil fuels)," said Johns during the presentation portion of her workshop Friday afternoon.

Illustrating hydrogen's environmentally-friendly power creation, Rowan demonstrated the capabilities of a 1,200 watt fuel cell by lighting twelve 100 watt bulbs with the institute's $6,000 demonstration model.

Noise of a small fan

"A large (40 litre) tank of hydrogen will run this fuel cell for about seven hours," he said, while the machine hummed with the noise of a small fan. Rowan also noted the $150 price tag of refilling a 40 litre tank.

Also on display was the institute's direct methanol fuel cell which, like the hydrogen version, separates the hydrogen molecules from the carbon and oxygen elements of methanol fuel. Unlike the hydrogen fuel, in which there is no carbon element, methanol fuel cells produce negligible amounts of carbon emissions.

Both Johns and Rowan noted the cheaper startup costs of methanol have made such fuel cells popular for use in recreational vehicles.