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A Business Model for Hydrogen Fuel and Hydrogen Cars Infrastructure

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DOI: 10.4172/2167-0234.1000313

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DOI: 10.4172/2167-0234.1000313

cial Business & Financial Affairs

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ISSN: 2167-0234

Research Article Open Access

A Business Model for Hydrogen Fuel and Hydrogen Cars Infrastructure

Mordechai Ben-Menachem*
Yeshiva Kever Rachel, Bethlehem, Israel

Abstract
It is clear to any objective observer that in the coming decades – likely by the year 2050 – the use of hydrogen for
energy will be a central global phenomenon – facts on the ground demand it, facts under the ground demand it and
consumers demand it (the latter being the most important). When a Business Model is driven by consumer demand, the
products, as well as the model, must be as responsive as those consumers expect.
Hydrogen will be increasingly needed for automobiles, and this is probably the largest application in terms of quantity
of gas used, but it is also sorely needed for many other applications; industrial but not only large-scale industrial (the
coming decades will also see a large increase in individual manufacturing via printing technologies, as well as greater
emphasis on nanotechnologies, and hydrogen is also very important to both of those).
However, there are two impediments which must be addressed: scaling up and Green Hydrogen (or at least,
significantly “greener”) both of those terms are described below.
This article addresses these two central issues, as well as other less central, issues needed to support that effort.
The project herein described is an actual project (not theoretical) in process of being built. Caveat: Specific Product
names are not used to prevent ethical violations.

Keywords: Hydrogen; Storage tanks; Vehicular hacking; Water pumping, transporting and etc.) are honed and highly efficient. Hence,
electrolysis; Anaerobic digestion; Waste management; Lithium fossil fuels, even when pressured artificially with political limitations
(such as cartels) are fantastically cheap (we disregard here issues
Introduction of “fair pricing” – fairness is neither a political nor an engineering
“The final goal, if you want to be CO2 emission-free, is to produce term). In parallel with this cost however, fossil fuels are also very dirty
hydrogen from sources that do not produce CO2” – Giorgio Zoia, Toyota in both transportations and usage. Tens of thousands (some sources
2017. say, millions) of people sicken and die every year from air, water and
ground pollution resulting from fossil fuels [19,24]. Their cost, plentiful
Nearly ALL hydrogen produced today in the world is produced distribution and high energy content mean they are not going away in
by electricity from a national grid, in other words, the hydrogen the foreseeable future, if ever. Many attempts have been made to make
production process expels large amounts of CO2. This is classed as a case that there just are not sufficient quantities [8], but reality has
“Brown Hydrogen” and is considered significantly of less value than proven this to be simply not the case.
hydrogen produced in a manner which is carbon neutral. Remember
what is stated above in the abstract, consumers are driving this market Withal, and as a result of the costs/benefits of fossil fuels AND
at least as much as are engineering and scientific (i.e., product) needs. alternative fuels, it has become increasing imperative for countries to
Consumers are increasingly demanding Green or Greener hydrogen. have at their command a reasonable level of energy security, as a basic
If there were no practical way to attain this, one could state that this component of national security [5,9]. Energy security today means also
issue is of no or lesser importance. However, the point of this article a certain level of technology, within their culture. In other words, a
is to show that this is NOT the case and that Green Hydrogen can be country that does not command its energy security does not command
produced, efficiently, practically and inexpensively, and this Green its future.
Hydrogen can be used for the entire hydrogen fuel infrastructure. All “alternative energy” sources are good and beneficial, but all have
However, creativity of thought is required. The entire business model limitations, and most of these limitations are generally unknown. Fossil
must be designed from inception for these goals. There are logistical fuels also have limitations. However, the difference is, as stated above,
complexities that need to be addressed intelligently for this system to that humanity has been utilising fossil fuels for thousands of years and
function economically and practically. In any case, when these logistical these limitation have been addressed – we are collectively used to them.
exigencies are well-addressed, the business benefits are far more than
‘only’ economic, and the financial benefits are as large as the market; as
is shown below [1-35]. *Corresponding author: Mordechai Ben-Menachem, Yeshiva Kever Rachel,
Bethlehem, Israel, Tel: 0552259763; E-mail: [email protected]
Alternative energy exigencies
Received January 22, 2018; Accepted January 29, 2018; Published February
Hydrogen energy is known as one of many energy sources that are 03, 2018
called ‘alternative’ because ‘main stream’ energy is generally from fossil Citation: Ben-Menachem M (2018) A Business Model for Hydrogen Fuel
fuels – petroleum, natural gas and/or coal. We need to be clear on this and Hydrogen Cars Infrastructure. J Bus Fin Aff 7: 313. doi: 10.4172/2167-
appellation. Fossil fuels are mined from the earth. There are myriad 0234.1000313
problems with this, including geopolitical issues, as well as engineering Copyright: © 2018 Ben-Menachem M. This is an open-access article distributed
issues; but no matter how many problems that exist with this source of under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
fuel, humanity has been using them for thousands of years and all of original author and source are credited.
the processes that surround them (e.g., search and exploration, mining/

J Bus Fin Aff, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000313

ISSN: 2167-0234
Citation: Ben-Menachem M (2018) A Business Model for Hydrogen Fuel and Hydrogen Cars Infrastructure. J Bus Fin Aff 7: 313. doi: 10.4172/2167-
0234.1000313

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What that means is that fossil fuels are still being used, and will remain sun places at the disposal of these geographies. The comment is neither
so, but are being augmented by alternative sources of energy [30]. As ‘political’ nor biased in any other way – it is observational, quantitative
the sage said, anything done in excess has danger; fossil fuels must be science. If the application needs are minimal, one can simply place
augmented, but the objective need not be total replacement, at this time. another collector panel – if the space permits. In a country like
Zimbabwe, for instance, which is land-locked and has limited access to
Nuclear fossil fuels, of Tahiti (Puerto Rico and other island nations) that have
The first major national/utility-level attempt at an alternative energy ‘easy access’ but fossil fuels’ transport is very costly and prohibitive (and
source was nuclear. This was post-World War II. The attempt to utilise polluting) solar can be a viable option. But Utility-level solar, whether
nuclear reactors for industrial and energy was quite early in the nuclear PV or thermal, needs to be given careful consideration; it should
industry’s development. Unfortunately, the nuclear industry has not, to NEVER be considered as the ‘only’ viable option and clearly sought.
put it mildly, proven its long-term worth to humanity. Entire life-cycle costs are a minimal, but insufficient consideration [12].

As an example of these difficulties, Mr. Obama promised as part of Furthermore, solar has two additional problems. The first is
his electioneering platform in 2008 to significantly enhance the nuclear directly related to the issue of insolation. The sun provides a given, and
industry in the United States as a long-term replacement for fossil fuels, constant, amount of energy at every geographical location – “X energy
and particularly coal. Instead of that, he closed the Yucca Mountain per square metre of space on the planet surface”. As we saw above, this
Nuclear Waste storage site and five nuclear-powered electricity total sunlight does not always reach the planetary surface. Solar panels
generating plants were shuttered during his eight-year tenure, while have an engineering limitation. The finest solar panels have, at time of
not a single new nuclear plant came on line or was even fully approved. manufacture, a collection efficiency of about 20% of the total energy that
actually reaches the panel (collection efficiency wears down with age
This highlights two critical issues concerning nuclear energy: A) and can reach fifty percent of what it was when new) this consideration
it creates nuclear waste that is exceedingly difficult and dangerous is in addition to dust collection which can chop another 20-25% off the
to control and dispose of safely; and B) alongside a horrible safety collection capacity, if the panels are not well maintained.
reputation in the eyes of the public (which is not totally deserved,
though not totally undeserved) the time to register, regulate, build and In theory, the PV collection capacity should continue to rise as
bring on-line new nuclear-energy electricity plants is exceedingly long, companies’ R&D efforts improve capabilities but, until it rises quite
as well as being highly cost prohibitive [12]. Many countries have lately significantly, by at least half, to 30%, the amount of surface area needed
begun processes of nuclear installations. In most cases, this is more an for solar power is inhibitive. Real estate, even in the ‘worst’ places, is
issue of national pride, then actual economic sanity. costly. The second problem is fascinating, mostly because it has been
hidden from public awareness intentionally. The energy-cost of solar
China for instance, is in process of building a very large number of panel manufacture, from silicon until a working product, is higher
nuclear energy plants. If one calculates the number of existing nuclear than the total amount of energy the panel will produce during its life
plants and the number of new nuclear plants being built, throughout the expectancy. In other words, at a national-grid/utility-level, solar PV can
world today, and then compares this with known uranium deposits one never be a viable solution, except in very limited cases, and even in
quite quickly sees that the planet simply does not possess a sufficient those cases, this is at the expense of the planet, as a whole.
quantity of uranium for all those plants – even with massive retirement
of nuclear plants in Germany and Japan following disasters. Interestingly, solar thermal has about the same efficiency. Data
are not available, at this time, to estimate the energy-cost of their
Approving new ones is, at best, a very expensive exercise in futility, manufacture, though solar thermal, when adequately maintained, does
if not hubris and folly. not wear out over time as does PV. In balance though, it has additional
Solar problems that PV does not, which tend to be beyond the scope of this
paper.
Solar energy sourcing has two types; photovoltaic (PV) and
thermal energy [12,13,20]. Both of these energy sources have numerous Hydrogen as a Clean Energy Source
benefits, but also contain within them numerous problems. Some of
Hydrogen is the fuel of the sun – as far as we are presently aware, it
these problems can eventually be solved with time, but some of them
is the fuel of all stars. Stars use nuclear fusion for their energy. Nobody
can never be solved [24].
today suggests nuclear fusion will be a viable, on-planet, energy source
Solar energy is a superb energy source for many niche applications, within the coming decades. The energy sourced from hydrogen is
and can even be a good source, in certain locales, for general energy derived by combining hydrogen with oxygen, in a controlled manner
needs. However, one needs to be aware that solar energy availability (in other words, a chemical, not a nuclear, reaction). This may be via
(insolation) does not depend upon how warm a climate is, but only “Fuel Cells” or via direct “burning” to combine the hydrogen with
upon availability of direct sunlight [13]. As an example, the nation of oxygen [17]. This produces water (H2O) and has no pollutants, of any
Cameroons has a warm climate, but it also has a high level of cloud cover, kind. However, and this is a critical issue, a large quantity of pollutants
meaning that the total yearly average insolation at the capitol city is only can be created by the manufacture of hydrogen, prerequisite to this.
4.99 hours per day, making it of borderline value for solar installations.
1. Hydrogen ‘types’ by source BROWN H2 – Made from non-
Belize also has only 4.81; Bolivia 3.94; Columbia 3.78; Quito Ecuador
renewable energy (e.g., direct from existing national grid) – H2
has 3.75. These are all countries that are thought of as warm climes. Of
production technology not pure.
course, massive installation of solar in place with cold climes, such as
Germany (insolation of 2.98 in Munich) is simply hubris. 2. GRAY H2 (BLUE H2) – Similar to Brown but slight
improvements (e.g., some pro-portion from solar).
Note that all this does not differentiate between thermal and PV,
because what really matters here is the total amount of solar energy the 3. GREEN H2 – Clean, totally renewable energy, H2 produced

J Bus Fin Aff, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000313

ISSN: 2167-0234
Citation: Ben-Menachem M (2018) A Business Model for Hydrogen Fuel and Hydrogen Cars Infrastructure. J Bus Fin Aff 7: 313. doi: 10.4172/2167-
0234.1000313

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from pure water, with no carbon released to the atmosphere • Food waste, Sewage sludge (wastewater treatment plants’
during the production of the energy used for the hydrogen by-product that go to a landfill), Manure, Biomass (e.g., tree and grass
production. clippings), Agricultural (e.g., nut shells, corn cobs and other crop waste),
Forestry waste (e.g., lumber, bark, trees). These are a second, lower,
4. Hydrogen uses today: Electronics, Electricity, Oil and Gas,
priority (after dry organic) as they need first to be dried before efficient
Chemistry, Welding, Fuel for Cars, Trucks, Busses and Trains,
utilisation. Municipal solid wastes (e.g., residential, commercial and
Metallurgy, Thermonuclear and Manufacturing.
industrial trash) are a third (lowest) priority, as they need to be both
The usual method of hydrogen manufacture, is water electrolysis; sorted and dried before use.
breaking it into hydrogen and oxygen. If the hydrogen is manufactured
• All wet organic material, both those listed here as priority
by electrolysis fuelled off the national grid, the grid demand produces
two and three, would be used after anaerobic digestion treatment has
the hydrogen while also generating very large quantities of carbon
produced bio-methane. These then need to be dried for utilisation by
released supposed into the atmosphere (in the form of carbon di-
the Thermal conversion process, while the bio-methane can be used as
oxide). This is called “brown hydrogen” (see the side bar).
fuel, in parallel. However, anaerobic digestion is not, at this time, part
Generally, certainly in nature, more energy is needed to break of the project herein described, though it will be at a later time, and in
water than to combine. That is why, for this project, many differing a different venue.
manufacturing techniques and technologies were exhaustively studied
• The conversion process turns these solids into a gas called
[7,14,15,22,23].
syngas, a liquid called syn-diesel and carbon bi-products. The syngas
In other words, if we wish to create hydrogen efficiently and without and the syn-diesel are directly used for energy production – in this
release of carbon di-oxide, we need to both create the electricity in a case, for production of electricity. However, the production of this
carbon neutral manner and use the most efficient hydrogen-production electricity is carbon neutral because the carbon embedded in the base-
methods (equipment) available, while constantly researching products (e.g., the tyres) is completely captured and reused and none is
possibilities of enhancing that efficiency. (As no technology is ever released into the atmosphere. (Note that any release of materials into
‘perfect’, and this issue has ‘anti-pollution’ as a major factor, constant the atmosphere is economically inefficient and would cause the entire
improvement is an imperative, and not an option.) system to be non-profitable, and hence, must be avoided assiduously.)
As our largest application is automobiles, as stated above, the • The carbon bi-products of the System include activated
objective is totally emission-free automobiles. carbon, bio-char and other high energy solid carbons. Combined, these
various forms capture all carbon produced from the organic-materials’
Can hydrogen be produced by purely solar PV means? The answer is
conversion. In other words, all carbon is captured and sequestered
yes, but we have seen that PV is problematical [14]. In the vast majority
for reuse. The bio-char and activated carbon produced are products
of venues (few people live in the Sahara desert, while many people
themselves and are part of the project profit-computation. Bio-char is
live in the Boston-Washington corridor) this is highly impractical. If
a valuable component of fertilisers and other products (fertilisers are
nothing else, this underutilises ground better used to produce food for
products). Activated carbon is used in filtrations systems and many
these people. Something significantly better must be used.
other applications.
The Project Model The Process
The model used by this research begins with collection of dry
The process designed for this system has been designed from the
organic waste matter. This is the logistical challenge mentioned
beginning for “infinite” (unlimited) scale-up. This is critical because
above. The most energy-efficient types of dry organics are used tyres,
for this to be a viable solution, particularly for the automotive market,
plastics and creosoted wood. Efficient collection and transport of these
it must be capable of making hydrogen fuel available anywhere in the
materials is a significant limiting factor. (Transportation can be energy
world, 24/7/365. “Scale-up,” in this context, refers to both installation
profligate, with efficiencies generally decaying as distances grow.) All
size and locale. That is a minimal criterion.
of these are bulky and heavy. They need to be pre-treated for usel pre-
treatment usually consists mostly of granularization (cutting them into Additionally, bio-fuels created (syngas and syn-diesel) can be
pieces that can be efficiently handled). further refined to produce higher grades of synthetic fuels (when not
used for hydrogen production or other electric needs).
The following step is Thermal Conversion of Organic Matter (e.g.,
waste) to clean Electric Power. Generally there are three types of waste: The conversion technology is backed by over thirty years of research
A) inert (e.g., glass, metals and ceramics), B) Dry Organic and C) Wet and development in state-of-the-art energy technology labs and full-
Organic. The first type has no available energy content and hence, is sized operations. It is a system that consists of twenty-seven fully
not relevant to this application, at this time. The most energy-valuable tested and proven, patented solutions to reducing waste and carbon
materials are, as listed above, tyres, plastics and creosoted wood, which emissions, in a proprietary pyrolytic process, relying on controlled
are dry organic. Our productivity estimation is about three barrels gasification, under pressure, dramatically increasing carbonization
of petroleum equivalent for every ton of tyres. Of course, all output speed and quality over other processes; resulting in biomass conversion
equivalences depend upon precise inputs, so exact estimations are not into carbon in thirty to forty minutes, and with 200% more energy
possible in the confines of a paper such as this. The planned processing value than current commercial technologies (Figure 1).
rate of this project, when fully implemented, is fourteen tons of input
This SYNDIESEL has 50% higher energy than fossil fuel diesel
per hour, 24/7/360.
– CETANE rating 60 VS. fossil fuels’ 40 – thus, increasing both
Wet organic materials are many and varied. The following are the efficiency and output. The system then produces electric power from
most common: the SYNDIESEL produced by the pyrolysis subsystem. The 25-35

J Bus Fin Aff, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000313

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Citation: Ben-Menachem M (2018) A Business Model for Hydrogen Fuel and Hydrogen Cars Infrastructure. J Bus Fin Aff 7: 313. doi: 10.4172/2167-
0234.1000313

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Figure 1: Typical thermal conversion system.

As a side note, the electrolysis process that breaks down water,

Waste Input of course, produces oxygen, as well [7,22]. However, at this time,
the oxygen produced is not intended to be captured for use or sale
as that adds an additional complexity that is unnecessary for project
profitability.
TCOM of Electric Plant Thermal
Organic Matter Hydrolyser Conversion Power demands grow constantly and steadily, both in developed
and in less developed countries, all over the world. This growing power
demand, coupled with global interest in CO2 emissions reduction,
H2 Transfer stimulates renewable energy sources implementation [22]. With this,
Station intermittent power disruptions are common in renewable energy
sources (wind does not blow equally, all day, every day; the sun does not
Figure 2: H2 production system overview. shine at night). Hydrogen also utilises stored energy for when needed
most [16,23].
MEGAWATTs power the HYDROLYSER and the excess runs the Hydrogen Fuelling: fuel-cell powered vehicles are becoming
remainder of the facility. By using totally “Green fuel” for all generating increasingly more prevalent among consumers; both private
equipment and an advanced Hydrolyser producing pure hydrogen, automobiles and commercial vehicles [1,27]. There is a sore lack
the hydrogen provided will be of the highest quality and free from however, in fuelling infrastructure for these vehicles, which is what
contaminants, while also avoiding all environmental impacts. this project addresses. This lack of widely-available infrastructure
has emphasised the elevated demand for hydrogen fuel. Converting
Our plan is to purchase and install a large number of generators to
energy from renewable sources into hydrogen via polymer electrolyte
provide power 24/7/365, running continuously with multiple backups
membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, on-site gas generators produce
and “infinite” redundancy. Thus, maintenance is no longer an issue and
green hydrogen to drive carbon-free emission objectives.
catastrophic breakdown becomes a near impossibility.
It is important to note that, while PV decreases in production
In any case, safety and system security have also been given high
capacity with age, the polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis
priorities [4]. However, explicit description of these methods and cose
process (PEM) does not (Table 1) [29,35].
are out of scope of this paper – and public revelation of the terms and
methods used would tend to be counter-productive (Figure 2). Future power
Hydrogen – the end product Asking Google: “What percentage of potential energy in petrol is
actually used” Elicits four million responses: “HUH!?”
As stated, the hydrogen produced by this project is primarily
intended for use by automobiles [1] and other motorized vehicles, such The US Department of Energy together with California Energy
as military vehicles and airplanes [17,21]. That is the main reason why Commission publishes a site with consumer “advice” where they
the purity of both the end product and the processes to produce that supply some quantification of energy density for automobiles [31-
end-product are imperative. Nothing can be allowed to compromise 34]. They claim that about fifteen percent of the energy poured into
this state of purity – product and process. the automobile actually is used and the remainder is inefficiencies.

J Bus Fin Aff, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000313

ISSN: 2167-0234
Citation: Ben-Menachem M (2018) A Business Model for Hydrogen Fuel and Hydrogen Cars Infrastructure. J Bus Fin Aff 7: 313. doi: 10.4172/2167-
0234.1000313

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  Weight Gas Liquid

  Pounds (lb) Kilograms (kg) Cubic feet (cf) cu meters (m3) Gallons (gal) Litres (l)
1 Pound 1.0 0.4536 192.0 5.047 1.6928 6.408
1 Kilogram 2.205 1.0 423.3 11.126 3.377 14.13
1 cf gas 0.00521 0.00236 1.0 0.02628 0.00882 0.033
1 m3 gas 0.19815 0.08988 38.04 1.0 0.3355 1.27
1 Gallon liquid 0.5906 0.2679 113.4 2.981 1.0 3.785
1 Litre liquid 0.15604 0.07078 29.99 0.7881 0.2642 1.0
Table 1: Unit conversion data for hydrogen.

[Consumer Tips; “Energy Losses in a Vehicle” [6]]. This includes some observation of these “suggestions” indicates that they are all possible,
sixty-two percent lost in the engine. The US Department of Energy but are today blocked by our continued dependence upon ridiculously
puts this number at fourteen percent – the difference is statistically inefficient internal combustion engines. It is clear that petrol-based
insignificant. fuel is an excellent fuel source; but it is also clear that the internal
combustion engine is a dead end that has reached, or very nearly
The equivalent US DoE site for Diesel claims that diesel fuel contains
reached, its efficiency apogee; despite excellent attempts to alleviate the
a higher energy content but provides no number-guidance as to fuel
absurdity of inefficiency that exists today [9].
efficiency or energy density. [US Department of Energy [33]; “Where
the Energy Goes: Gasoline Vehicles”, US Department of Energy What is likely to be the direction for the “new engine” that we
[32]; “Diesel Vehicles”] On Hybrids, the equivalent US Government may attempt to imagine here? Clearly, this is speculative. My personal
site claims twenty-five to forty percent (25-40%) fuel efficiency. [US experience indicates that whatever any one of us expects, someone will
Department of Energy [33]; “Where the Energy Goes: Hybrids”]. surprise us with a direction that was less expected [Dyke; “Powering a
While finally the US Government equivalent site for all electric green car revolution, Israeli style” [10]].
vehicles claims that seventy-four to ninety-four percent of the fuel is
(I have visited this company – Aquarius Engines – and their
used to move the car. [US Department of Energy [34]; “Where the
technology is amazing. Is it ‘sufficient’ to revolutionise all aspects of
Energy Goes: Hybrids”]. All things considered, the US Government’s
motorised vehicles as envisioned by this article? Quite certainly not! The
“political” agenda seems more to be advanced here than science.
inventor made it very clear that they are designed for a specific purpose
Why do I say that? Why do I doubt this source? and for that they are superbly suited. They are a significant step in making
standard automobiles quite a lot better in terms of fuel efficiencies. Can
If all-electric cars where so super-efficient, I believe we would see
they be engineered differently to suit them for other applications? That is
highly successful products. So far, the best that can be said for all-electric
quite unclear).
automobiles is that they may be reasonable for some niche applications,
but they are still far from viable for the vast majority of consumers [11]. My personal view is that the most likely direction may be something
like either a plasma-based engine or a pulse-ion-based engine, fuelled
Future vehicles by fossil fuel – petrol (liquid fossil fuel). How likely is this? Nobody
Are we headed towards a world where individual mobility will be knows or can know. What we do know is there exists plenty of liquid
based upon all electric vehicles? Firstly, supplying electricity via the fossil fuel, that it is fantastically rich in energy and that it is readily
national grids for a vast armada of electric vehicles is not practical – available – these liquids are definitely not about to give out! [Deffeyes:
the capacity does not exist and to make it exist, is both improbable “When Oil Peaked” [8]].
and highly cost-ineffective (as well as highly polluting). So far, electric
Hacking – the coffee shoppe metaphor
vehicles are based upon lithium-based batteries. Lithium is in constant
short supply. Battery technology advances at a rate of about six percent A Mercedes travelling at high speed, crashed into a tree a few years
per year. At that rate, several decades more are needed before the all- ago, exploding into flames and killing the driver; the engine ejected 50
electric vehicle may become a viable universal product. Simply put, meters from the car. Was it an accident or was the car hacked, driving
this is too long to wait, for a highly questionable product, with limited it off the road by remote control? It might sound like a movie, but the
applicability. driver was identified as journalist Michael Hastings, who was known
for revelations on US military and intelligence agencies. Hastings had
Science Fiction: It is well-known that science fiction writers provide
emailed colleagues the day before saying he was going “off the radar
a vast source of inspiration for engineering advances. What may we
for a bit” to chase down a “big story”. Accident or intent – conspiracy
learn from Science Fiction towards mobile fighting vehicles? There
theorists claim to know; I have no data [2].
have been three military science fiction series that came out on-screen,
relevant to our subject. There have been no exceptional military science In vehicles today – automobiles, military vehicles and airplanes –
fiction books (at least, not for a very long time). Star Trek and Star Gate it is important that all applications have strict security measures built
(regardless of any opinion as to the various qualities) were space-based into them [18,26], with clear user identification; whether a consumer
and ground based military, but all ground based action was based upon application or a manufacturer’s. None of this security presently exists,
highly trained, special forces. Hence, for our purposes here, they are for any commercial product. This means that a ‘hacker’ (any person
not helpful. skilled in software code encryption, decryption and manipulation) can
devise a software application capable of identifying a specific person in
The first Star Wars movies were introduced in 1977 – half a century
a precise automobile, truck, airplane (etcetera) anywhere-anytime; even
ago, with the second series of movies beginning in 1999. In this
a Crown Prince.
second series, the so-called “prequel,” that we saw a vision of ground-
based military action, that also used motorised vehicles. Considered The same, or a different person, may devise a ‘Stuxnet-like’

J Bus Fin Aff, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000313

ISSN: 2167-0234
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0234.1000313

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application that travels to that vehicle, identifies the target, and perhaps 5. Bryen SD (2016) Technology Security and National Power: Winners and
Losers. Transaction Publishers, pp: 327.
other passengers, and ‘powers down’ the car’s or truck’s braking system,
or the ability to extend landing wheels, or simply takes over and heads 6. Consumer Tips (2016) Energy Losses in a Vehicle: California Energy
for the nearest tree at full speed – or any of another hundred or so ways Commission.
to make the vehicle into a death device. 7. David WIF, Makepeace JW, Callear SK, Hunter HMA, Taylor JD, et al. (2010)
Hydrogen Production from Ammonia Using Sodium Amide. Journal of the
All this can, of course, be done from the comfort of one’s favourite American Chemical Society 136: 13082-13085.
armchair at home – or from an internet-linked Coffee Shoppe, 8. Deffeyes KS (2010) When Oil Peaked. Hill and Wang.
anywhere, anytime [1].
9. Delaney WP, Atkins RG, Bernard AD, Boroson DM, Ebel DJ (2015) Perspectives
Assassination can be prevented via building strong firewall on Defense Systems Analysis. MIT Lincoln Laboratory Series, MIT Press.
protection around all com-link applications, but this defeats the 10. Dyke J (2016) Powering a green car revolution, Israeli style. The Times of
download device to repair failures before they occur, at very Israel.
considerable saving of consumer lives and cost savings to manufacturers
11. Economist editorial (2016) A Plug for the Battery Economist.
- a fascinating dichotomy between abilities and requirements.
12. EIA (2016) Capital Cost Estimates for Utility Scale Electricity Generating
This capability is a new kind of gun and we need to enhance Plants. Energy Information Agency, Independent Statistics & Analysis, USA.
awareness of the possibilities. Who is responsible for ensuring security
13. Evseev EG, Kudish AI (2015) Analysis of solar irradiation measurements at Beer
of vehicles – cars, trucks, airplanes and etcetera? Interestingly, in an
Sheva, Israel from 1985 through 2013. Energy Conversion and Management.
analysis of DHS budget reports from the past five years, exactly zero
dollars have been allocated to this issue. 14. Florida Solar Energy Center (2017) Hydrogen Basics-Solar Production. Florida
Solar Energy Center, USA.
For perspective: engineers Javier Vázquez Vidal and Alberto Garcia
15. Gates B (2017) Beating Nature at Its Own Game. Co-chair, Bill & Melinda
Illera built a $25 device to bypass automobile electronic control unit Gates Foundation.
security; and a wireless version is on the way or already functional. This
is one effort of the kind, of many. So for private automobiles… 16. Hirtenstein A (2017) Big Energy Backs Hydrogen Power Storage.

17. i-HIS staff (2017) Fuel Cell Technology - What Benefits for Military Vehicles?
What is the relevance of this conundrum to hydrogen? Petrol-
based automobiles, when used in such a manner, may explode upon 18. I-HLS (2017) Big Brother will shut down your car. I-HLs Homeland Security.
impact (certainly every “adventure movie” knows this, as part of their 19. Charles K (2008) How pollution influences the weekend weather.
“special effects” trope). Such an automobile powered by hydrogen is
much, much scarier than the equivalent powered by petrol. Hence, it 20. Karin K (2013) Bright Source takes solar thermal energy home to Israel.
is the contention of this article that viable hydrogen-based automobiles 21. Leichman AK (2017) Clean electric power for planes could be about to take off.
must enhance their emphasis on both safety and security. This is not an
22. Levene JI, Mann MK, Margolis R, Milbrandt A (2005) An Analysis of Hydrogen
option. It is imperative for product success – remember once again that Production from Renewable Electricity Sources. National Renewable Energy
this is a consumer-driven market. Laboratory, USA.

Conclusion 23. Lipman T (2011) An Overview of Hydrogen Production and Storage Systems
with renewable hydrogen case studies. Clean Energy States Alliance.
To put this entire issue into perspective: the project herein described
24. Bart M (2007) Sustainable Consumption: The Evolution of a Concept, two-part
is in advanced design stages of the site and logistics – all technical report on the emergence of sustainable consumption. Stratfor.
designs are complete. A new level of thinking is needed and a new way
25. Ramez N (2015) Why Energy Storage is About to Get Big - and Cheap.
of thinking about powering large, heavy vehicles must be invented. The
project produces green clean hydrogen, in a carbon neutral manner. 26. Papaws J (2011) Glitch: The Hidden Impact of Faulty Software. Prentice Hall.
One hundred percent green clean pure hydrogen gas. 27. Giles P (2013) The Long-Term Energy Storage Challenge: Batteries Not
Included. GTM research, RenewEconomy.
In addition, it also reduces trash in landfills – almost all urban
landfills throughout the world are nearing satiation. Reduction of 28. Pipoli T (2005) Feasibility of Biomass-Based Fuel Cells for Manned Space
volume to landfills is critical to many, if not almost all, cities throughout Exploration. ESA-ESTEC Advanced Concepts Team, The Netherlands.
the world. 29. Jean-Pierre P, Capitaine A (2010) Hydrogen Production by High Temperature
Electrolysis of Water Vapour and Nuclear Reactors.
The system is completely repeatable and scalable, and ready for
installation nearly anywhere in the world. At the same time, it is the 30. SR/OIAF-CNEAF (2008) The Impact of Increased Use of Hydrogen on
Petroleum Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions. Energy Information
first facility in the world to be able to make pure clean green hydrogen Administration, USA.
totally from waste.
31. US Department of Energy (2016) Where the Energy Goes: Gasoline Vehicles.
References US Government Department of Energy.
1. Associated Press (2017) GM, Honda team up to develop advanced hydrogen 32. US Department of Energy (2016) Diesel Vehicles. US Government Department
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2. Ben-Menachem M (2010) Assassination Via Coffee Shoppe. Human Events
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3. Ben-Menachem M (2017) On Land Warfare and Motor Vehicles: From Biblical
Times, Through Tomorrow. Journal of Defense Management 7: 156. 34. US Department of Energy (2016) Where the Energy Goes: Electric Cars. US
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4. Bjerketvedt D, Mjaavatten A (2005) A Hydrogen-Air Explosion in a Process
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J Bus Fin Aff, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000313

ISSN: 2167-0234

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