[Norm51]

Shared from the 2017-08-23 Houston Chronicle eEdition

Commentary

Please see: One road to efficient transportation may be paved with hydrogen

Japanese manufacturers are experimenting with home units that use solar power during the day to generate hydrogen, which is then used in a fuel cell to power homes at night. Because the hydrogen is produced from water and returned to water after it is used in the fuel cell, these systems consume few resources.

 

[Henry_FL]

Well with an efficiency of 14% for the PV to Hydrogen conversion and 50% of Hydrogen conversion to Electricity using fuel cell ( net ~7% ) compared to batteries in the 70% range it would seem it's just another research project looking for funding somewhere.

What is linked is just some industry propaganda.

 

[Barry]

Plus the hydrogen has to be stored under high pressure, and is extremely flammable, so there are some inherent safety concerns.

Here is a classic quote from the article:

“How do you store electricity? You have to make it into a fuel — something you can put into a bottle and ship around,” Tour said. “Hydrogen is a great way to store electricity.”

Why does it have to be something requiring shipping? Why not something that can be transmitted through our electrical system grid? We already have fuels that require shipping, and that is a very dirty and expensive problem.

 

[obermd]

Hydrogen has so many drawbacks that it's not even comparable to gas or diesel. It's far more flammable, requires higher pressures to store any, leaks faster (smaller molecules), and cannot be pumped through existing pipelines. The only major benefit of using Hydrogen is it locks people into the same infrastructure already owned by big Oil. It's more efficient to use solar and batteries.

 

[Upper5Percent]

Plus the hydrogen has to be stored under high pressure, and is extremely flammable, so there are some inherent safety concerns.

Here is a classic quote from the article:



Why does it have to be something requiring shipping? Why not something that can be transmitted through our electrical system grid? We already have fuels that require shipping, and that is a very dirty and expensive problem.

Well, actually Hydrogen can be stored as a solid by either absorbing or reacting with metals or chemical compounds or storing in an alternative chemical form.

Still not a cheap solution...

Chemical Hydrides
Weight(kwh/kg)1.6
Volume(kwh/L)1.4
Cost($/kwh)$8

Complex Metal Hydrides
Weight(kwh/kg)0.8
Volume(kwh/L)0.6
Cost($/kwh)$16

http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/consumer/hydrogen/basics/storage.htm

 

[llninja]

Plus the hydrogen has to be stored under high pressure, and is extremely flammable, so there are some inherent safety concerns.

Here is a classic quote from the article:



Why does it have to be something requiring shipping? Why not something that can be transmitted through our electrical system grid? We already have fuels that require shipping, and that is a very dirty and expensive problem.

I certainly don't want a high pressure explosive tank under my butt... oh wait, gasoline is also explosive. The other issue with high pressure hydrogen is that the molicule is very small and parking a hydrogen vehicle at the airport will result in an empty tank in a week or so.

 

[bentbiker]

. . . parking a hydrogen vehicle at the airport will result in an empty tank in a week or so.

I believe that is only an issue if you are trying to store the hydrogen as a liquid. Only BMW does that and they claim they've solved the problem.

 

[llninja]

I believe that is only an issue if you are trying to store the hydrogen as a liquid. Only BMW does that and they claim they've solved the problem.

So great, when can I buy one and where can I fill up? It's all vaporware until they ship in numbers, nationwide, and there is a refueling station in every city. Until then, I give it a snowball's chance.

 

[Upper5Percent]

Elon Musk Is Right: Hydrogen Is ‘An Incredibly Dumb’ Car Fuel

https://thinkprogress.org/elon-musk-is-right-hydrogen-is-an-incredibly-dumb-car-fuel-d0f37a4c9bee/

especially when you see how little advancement has been made since NHTSA's 2009 presentation...
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/hennessey2009hyundai.pdf

 

[Loboc]

Houston Chronicle is hardly an unbiased source. Home to Exxon/Mobile.

"Rice has already licensed the graphene technology to Houston-based PfP Technologies, which plans to initially use graphene to recycle water produced in oil fields."