In a column featured in the 2019 issue of Windsor Engineering (WE), Ofelia A. Jianu, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, argues that Windsor is well positioned to become the “green” hydrogen generation hub.

Here is an excerpt:

Hydrogen can have a significant role in providing better environmental sustainability as it combusts clean in the presence of oxygen and the output is water. Sounds great, right? So, why are we not using hydrogen as fuel yet?

Well, although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, filling stars and gas planets, it seldom exists in its natural free state on Earth. Hydrogen strongly bonds to other elements, such as oxygen, to form water and vast amounts of energy are required to separate it. Additionally, hydrogen is only as clean as the method used to produce it.

Currently the most common methods of hydrogen production are reforming fossil fuels in the presence of steam in processes such as steam methane reforming, coal gasification, and partial oxidation of heavy oil.

At the University of Windsor in the Alternative Fuels and Energy Laboratory (A-FuEL), we are striving to create “green” hydrogen: the purest, cleanest hydrogen produced using sustainable methods not based on fossil fuels.

This hydrogen research performed in A-FuEL is especially beneficial to Windsor considering Ontario’s and USA’s efforts to adopt hydrogen as a clean fuel. As a border city, Windsor is well positioned to become the “green” hydrogen generation hub, connecting the Greater Toronto Area and the United States. In A-FuEL, we produce the fuel of the future, so your wheels can keep on turning.

Read the full article in the 2019 issue of Windsor Engineering (WE).