How to Inexpensively Power Canada for 700 Years with H2

My last two articles were calculations. Imperfect, directional calculations are a good way to see what could be possible. The first highlighted that Proton Technologies has a method to produce hydrogen for perhaps 10 cents per kg. The next one showed and that more profit is perhaps possible, by selling H2 at $1.20/kg ($6 to fuel a sedan), than what can be made by selling Canadian oil as oil.

This article follows the same formula; a provocative headline then a calculation that exists within bounds of possibility. Extrapolating further to relevance; if 200 million bbl can fuel reactions to produce 9 million tonnes H2, then 2 trillion bbl (roughly what Alberta has) can be used to produce 90 billion tonnes H2.

90 billion tonnes of H2 contains 12.8 trillion GJ's.

Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) is a very broad number that The World Bank publishes by country, on a per capita basis. It aims to capture everything. Canadians use a lot of energy per capita. Perhaps this is understandable considering it's a large country, necessitating significant transport distances, and it gets cold and dark periodically. The 37.6 million of us average 310 GJ per year per person. That's 11.5 billion GJ nationally per year at our current rate.

If Alberta can produce 12.8 trillion GJ's of H2, and Canada's current TPES remains constant, we can power all of Canada using only H2 from Alberta for 1100 years. With a conversion efficiency assumption, for example in fuel cells, this might be 700 years. No emissions.

Grant