Hydrogen is the fuel of the future. From state of the
union speeches to environmentalists web sites to get rich quick scam junk stock web sites, everyone is talking about hydrogen. Hydrogen burns clean but ultimately, still comes from fossil fuels... or does it?
Contemporary wisdom says electrolysis is unreasonable because the electricity is still generated from fossil fuels and that there is no way have enough windmills, hydrodams, or solar cells to keep up with demand because each of these
things take up space and falls victim to the "not in my backyard" syndrome (we don't even want to get near the whole nuke plant discussions).
What if, we floated a windmill on a buoy? It need not be near land so, it need not be in anyone's "backyard". This buoy floats free in the ocean busily whirling away generating electricity; which then is used to make hydrogen from the sea water it floats in. Once a week or once a month depending on how effective these devices prove to be, onboard tanks hold the processed hydrogen. On board sensors activate a GPS unit to signal the "buoy herders" that the tank needs harvested.
There are even submersible generators that take advantage of water currents to generate electricity. As a secondariy method of power generation. Another possiblity is exterior of the structure could be covered in photovoletic cells adding even a third power generation possiblity.
A decentralized system like this would even be more secure from terrorist attacks. Even if three units were needed for every man, woman and child on the planet to make it work; our oceans are VAST and the over all cost should still be quite managable.
The benefits of the water by product alone in some nations would be a great incentive. In place of large energy consuming desalination plants, hydrogen burning power stations generate fresh water by the gallon. Imagine places like the Middle East, Africa or the American Southwest, where fresh water and abundant power are both plentiful.
