4 ms·
I haven't done the calculations, but my gut reaction is that you're better off using electricity for non-mobile applications. Hydrogen production looks like: el
by jeffreyrogers 7y ago
I haven't done the calculations, but my gut reaction is that you're better off using electricity for non-mobile applications. Hydrogen production looks like: electricity -> electrolysis -> hydrogen. And then you use the hydrogen in a fuel cell to generate electricity. Since you already need electricity to produce the hydrogen it seems to make more sense just to use it directly for whatever non-mobile application you have.
There are other (cheaper) ways to produce hydrogen but they require hydrocarbon feedstocks.
- m_eiman 7y agoStoring hydrogen for seasonal use could be neat. Split water using summer sun, use hydrogen to generate electricity in winter.
- jeffreyrogers 7y agoI hadn't thought of that. One potential problem is long-term storage of hydrogen. Hydrogen is so small that it will eventually escape from whatever container you put it in. This diffusion is faster at higher pressures, and depends a lot on the materials involved. So I think it could work, but you'd have to be careful about what materials you used for your storage container.
- m_eiman 7y agoYes, it's not uncomplicated. There's a guy somewhere in Sweden running his house in this way - he's got a bunch of hydrogen tubes in the basement that get filled up during summer. He's obviously an enthusiast and has paid a lot of money to build this, but at least it's somewhat practically possible. Edit: found an article about him (in Swedish, but the images are interesting and I think Translate would do a decent job): https://www.nyteknik.se/nyheter/fri-fran-elnatet-med-egen-vatgas-6344197 https://www.nyteknik.se/nyheter/fri-fran-elnatet-med-egen-va...