AMCostaRica©
AMCostaRica©
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According
to the institute, hydrogen could be
produced to generate renewable
electricity.
/ A.M. Costa Rica wire
services photo.
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-Published:
Tuesday, October 29, 2019-
ICE hires two companies to
study hydrogen production
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Costa Rican Institute of Electricity,
known as ICE for its acronym in Spanish,
announced the hiring of two companies for
research into the possibility of producing
hydrogen.
According to the institute, hydrogen could
be produced to generate renewable
electricity. "In the first stage, ICE will
participate in the identification of
business opportunities that involve the
manufacture of this element," said the
institute in its statement.
According to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration, hydrogen is primarily
produced by steam reforming of natural
gas. Other major sources include naphtha
or oil reforming at a refinery or other
industrial site and partial oxidation of
coal and other hydrocarbons.
"This public and private effort is part of
the commitment made by the government in
the National Decarbonization Plan
2018–2050," said Melvin Monge of ICE.
The institute signed two contracts for the
study of hydrogen production. The first
with Siemens AG and the second with the
company Ad Astra Rocket.
Siemens is a German multinational
conglomerate headquartered in Munich.
According to the company, it generates
hydrogen using electrolysis.
Ad Astra Rocket is located at the campus
of EARTH University in Guanacaste. The
president and CEO of the company is a
retired U.S. astronaut Franklin Chang
Díaz.
According to Monge at ICE and the
specialists of the two companies “we
developed a methodology to calculate the
level cost of hydrogen, that is, how much
it is worth to produce a kilogram with
electricity. The data allows simulating
scenarios for its use.”
According to Marco Acuña, director of the
ICE, the goal of the study is to identify
opportunities in which hydrogen is a basic
input, either to be used within the
country or to export it.
According to the institute in the world,
countries such as Japan, China, Canada,
Germany, Sweden and the United States have
experience in technology research
applicable to the so-called hydrogen
economy.
The institute did not provide the amount
spend on both agreements.
In April, the national petroleum monopoly
announced the suspension of the
controversial ethanol-gasoline project, as
A.M. Costa Rica previously reported.
In that case, Alejandro Muñoz-Villalobos,
president of the Costa Rican Petroleum
Refinery, announced the postponing of the
sale of gasoline with ethanol, ECO95. That
was done in order to extend the deadline
to analyze this project.
"This measure creates a space of time, and
aims to broaden the discussion and
analysis at a technical and scientific
level on the subject," said Muñoz.
This announcement was made after a former
congresswoman and representatives of the
government, questioned the efficiency of
the new ECO95 fuel.
April 7 Natalia Díaz, a former deputy in
the 2014-2018 period, announced that she
filed a complaint (known as recurso de
amparo) against the petroleum company's
ECO95 project. Forcing the consumer to buy
gasoline with ethanol, an arbitrary and
unconstitutional decision that could
violate the principles of reasonableness
and transparency, she said.
"The right to property is damaged due to
damage to the vehicle because the same
expert authorities in the matter have
opined that eventually the gaskets,
injectors and the same fuel tank could
suffer deterioration with ethanol," said
the claim made by Díaz.
"There is also an obvious injury to the
constitutional principle of
reasonableness, due to technical
reasonableness, as it has not been
demonstrated with technical studies of the
feasibility of use without collateral
damage," said the deputy in her complaint.
However, the petroleum firm, known as
RECOPE, said it will create a pilot
program for volunteers who want to use the
fuel to verify the performance of gasoline
with ethanol, ECO95, in their vehicles.
"At this moment we are working on defining
the conditions of the volunteer program,
which will be announced in a timely
manner," said Muñoz.
RECOPE continued with the normal sale of
super gasoline and regular gasoline.
According to RECOPE the new type of
gasoline, ECO95, contains 8 percent
ethanol which was a part of the plan from
the government looking for reducing CO2
emissions from combustion engines.
According to the institution specialist,
the ECO95 proposed price proposed was 611
colones per liter (about $1).
RECOPE specialists said that the new ECO95
gasoline will keep all the characteristics
of gasoline known as super related with
the octane rating, or octane number 95.
They said the main advantage of the new
ECO95 gasoline is that it contributes to
the reduction of the carbon footprint
because ethanol used as an oxygenating
agent will replace the compound methyl
tert-butyl ether, which is a more
polluting additive.
RECOPE tested the product in engines, both
in the laboratory and in few vehicles
owned by the institution that are already
using ECO95 gasoline, it said.
"These tests have shown that in cars that
had received adequate maintenance, the
ECO95 provides similar performance to
conventional gasoline but better
combustion efficiency," said the firm on
its statement.
Motorists have experienced problems in the
past with gasoline from the firm to which
ethanol had been added.
Some of the main warnings mentioned by
specialists after using the ECO95 gasoline
were:
- Keep maintaining the filters, because
the solvent property of the ethanol
removes more the dirt adhered to the
gasoline tank, and this will make the
filters dirty faster.
- Check the seals and packaging that are
made of rubber, because rubber is degraded
by ethanol.
- Check the tightness of the fuel tank top
cover to avoid leaks of water that could
mix with the fuel.
According to RECOPE experts, fuel with
ethanol is used in the United States,
Jamaica, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
and Uruguay; as well as India, Japan,
China and much of Europe.
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Have you heard of the use of hydrogen to
produce electricity or gasoline with
ethanol in your own country? We would like to
know your thoughts on this story. Send
your comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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