Littleton – By the time 13-year-old Ben Tronrud is old enough to buy his first car, it may well run on hydrogen fuel cells.
Then again, Ben or one of his fellow “gifted and talented” classmates at Newton Middle School just might be leading the change from fossil fuels to the energy derived from splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The students are learning about such technology in their science class.
“I hope hydrogen fuel cells or something like them are used by then, because gas prices will really be through the roof by the time I’m old enough to drive,” Ben said.
The 30 eighth-graders in Newton science teacher Chase Green’s international baccalaureate science class are among a handful of middle school students in Colorado studying advancements in alternative fuels.
“I think it’s important for the world to realize that they need to stop complaining about gas being so high,” 14-year-old student Jeffrey Snively said. “We need to start figuring out different ways to get energy, and hydrogen fuel cells will be one of the best ways to do that in the future.”
While looking for a topic for the “hands- on science” program, Green relied on his own interest in alternatives to fossil fuels.
He looked into using hydrogen fuel cells as a storage mechanism for renewable energy sources like wind and solar at a farm he owns in Iowa.
Green’s interest also was fostered by his grandfather, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad, who built his own electric car and went 20 years without purchasing a drop of gasoline.
“I see in the students in this class a definite acknowledgment and excitement that the world is at a turning point in terms of energy production and use,” said Green, in his 13th year of teaching at Newton.
The fuel cells are not new technology. The first one was used in the 1800s. But the evolution of fuel-cell technology has not progressed quickly, perhaps because it’s garnered an undeserved reputation as being dangerous. Hydrogen-based technology like that used in the Hindenburg and the hydrogen bomb remain in people’s minds.
To undertake this program, Green contacted the The Fuel Cell Store in Boulder, a company focused on advancing the technology. Company president Kay Larson donated $800 of lab materials to the class.
While Colorado is not at the forefront of research in hydrogen fuel-cell technology, Larson said, it is ahead of many others. The fuel cells are seen as an inevitability in California, where school science standards have involved researching the alternative energy and there has been a push to develop hydrogen fuel stations, Larson said.
“Because we have National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, which is doing the most research on hydrogen, we have the scientific knowledge base in Colorado, but we’re not on the hydrogen highway just yet,” Larson said. “While it’s not the answer to the oil crisis right now, someday it could be, and these kids will already be steeped in knowledge of it.”
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
