Here are four questions about “green hydrogen energy” project proposals, questions that should be asked at public meetings covering the subjects.
One, how much government grant money are each project businesses expecting to receive?
Two, where is the market and what is the demand for the hydrogen fuel?
Three, how do you justify saying there will be no increased energy cost to the Lewis County Public Utility District customers?
Four, how do you justify the estimated $16 per gallon equivalent cost of the hydrogen energy compared to gasoline or diesel?
Now for my propaganda;
One, federal “green” grant money is “fiat” money, that is it is printed or borrowed money added to our money supply which directly creates inflation of our money, and requires interest payments forever, which never end. (I know that is redundant.) During my adult lifetime, there has never been a serious attempt to pay down the federal debt. As for state grants, state grants are paid for with our taxes and are justified by our state government players thinking they know all about the energy industry, and they don’t.
Furthermore, most projects that propose new unproven industries are mainly created to get the grant money, and often are created for the grant money. The project would not exist without that money. Beware of possible con games.
Two, I am aware of two hydrogen-powered buses coming to Lewis County Transit. They cost about twice the price of conventional buses. Where is the other great market for it? Please direct me toward the current users of hydrogen as a transportation fuel. I assure you it is not airplanes.
Three, our governor assured us that his carbon tax on fuel manufacturers would not pass through to the customer. He said 3 to 5 cents per gallon. It became 50 cents per gallon. We cannot always believe what we are told by someone who will benefit from a lie. Why would a company want to produce “green” hydrogen where the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow? Perhaps because we have lots of, now recently renamed renewable, hydropower. Do you think that if unexpectedly the hydrogen industry runs out of wind power they would want to use our hydropower just a little bit? Do you think an increase in demand for our hydro power would somehow not increase the price of our electricity? The politicians promise us this will not happen, and everyone in Olympia thinks they are energy experts, and we know they always give us the true facts.
Four, I have been told that the cost to produce green hydrogen compared to gasoline or diesel would be about $16 per equivalent gallon. There is a law of physics that is called “The Law of the Conservation of Energy.” “Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, only changed in form.” (This is mostly agreed upon science, thus “law,” not the same as predicting the end of the world in 12 years because of carbon dioxide.) To create a unit of “green” hydrogen, the manufacturer must expend a greater amount (larger unit) of energy in that manufacturing process than the hydrogen will provide for the user. The inefficiency of the electricity source, plus the loss in producing the hydrogen, plus the inefficiency of the final prime mover must be added together to recognize the total energy loss of the “green“ hydrogen fuel system.
I am not against new technology in energy. I wish to present alternate thoughts that may expose possible con games and impossible goals. The government has vast power to use, but the government is not the energy and science expert and the government should not be tipping the scales in favor of certain experimental industries.
Mike Kimbrel
Oakville
