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I know there's tons of naysayers, probably because it's provocative, but I really truly believe hydrogen is the successful way forward. It's clean. It can be ma

I know there's tons of naysayers, probably because it's provocative, but I really truly believe hydrogen is the successful way forward. It's clean. It can be made with electricity. The model of storing lots of fuel in the vehicle is the part that doesn't seem right to me since it's highly flammable. There will eventually be a way to make solar panels more efficient or make electricity from braking which might make it more economical.

specialist 3y ago
Yes. In 15-20 years. The most immediate need (utility) for green hydrogen is replacing fossil fuels in the production of methane and ammonia. This must be done asap. Once that hydrogen production and transport infra is in place, it'll be relatively easier to pivot to using H2 as a fuel. In other words, electric batteries are a bridge (stop gap) tech on the road to our glorious hydrogen economy.
smileysteve 3y ago
Storing hydrogen isn't hard because its explosive, it's less volatile than gasoline. Storing hydrogen is hard because it's low density until it approaches absolute zero and is smaller than and embrittles the best materials we have to store it. If batteries are a worry for replacement, imagine leaking embrittled pressure tanks that have to be checked every year and replaced sooner than every 5.
- BenjiWiebe 3y ago
  How do you figure it's less volatile than gasoline?! Hydrogen has a far lower boiling point (=volatility). Or did you mean how explosive it is? Hydrogen has a far wider range of explosive concentration than gasoline. Autoignition point is lower for gasoline than hydrogen if you meant that, but the wide range of explosive concentrations for hydrogen seems like it would pretty much negate that safety benefit.
  - red-iron-pine 3y ago
    4 car pile up. it's foggy and wet and no one can see jack. 40kph cars slam into each other. gas leaks out, maybe eventually starts a fire. meanwhile the hydrogen batteries, some already fragile, just explode. on the plus side the blasts and fire make the pile up a lot more visible.
    - BenjiWiebe 3y ago
      That's my point. The GP (IIUIC) was saying that hydrogen was safer than gasoline and I was disagreeing.
opportune 3y ago
For aircraft and long haul trucking, sure. I think range anxiety is already mostly a nothingburger and as battery capacity improves and people realize being limited to X miles is hardly a limitation for their use case at all, it will become a non-issue. Using electricity directly is just easier and more efficient than transporting hydrogen that was made from electricity, unless for some reason hydrogen truly is more economic than battery for your use case.
gizmo 3y ago
Hydrogen storage and transport is hugely impractical. Photovoltaic efficiency is improving (slowly) but ultimately limited by the laws of physics. Hard to make the math work for what you predict.

specialist 3y ago

Yes. In 15-20 years. The most immediate need (utility) for green hydrogen is replacing fossil fuels in the production of methane and ammonia. This must be done asap. Once that hydrogen production and transport infra is in place, it'll be relatively easier to pivot to using H2 as a fuel. In other words, electric batteries are a bridge (stop gap) tech on the road to our glorious hydrogen economy.

smileysteve 3y ago

Storing hydrogen isn't hard because its explosive, it's less volatile than gasoline. Storing hydrogen is hard because it's low density until it approaches absolute zero and is smaller than and embrittles the best materials we have to store it. If batteries are a worry for replacement, imagine leaking embrittled pressure tanks that have to be checked every year and replaced sooner than every 5.

BenjiWiebe 3y ago
How do you figure it's less volatile than gasoline?! Hydrogen has a far lower boiling point (=volatility). Or did you mean how explosive it is? Hydrogen has a far wider range of explosive concentration than gasoline. Autoignition point is lower for gasoline than hydrogen if you meant that, but the wide range of explosive concentrations for hydrogen seems like it would pretty much negate that safety benefit.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  4 car pile up. it's foggy and wet and no one can see jack. 40kph cars slam into each other. gas leaks out, maybe eventually starts a fire. meanwhile the hydrogen batteries, some already fragile, just explode. on the plus side the blasts and fire make the pile up a lot more visible.
  - BenjiWiebe 3y ago
    That's my point. The GP (IIUIC) was saying that hydrogen was safer than gasoline and I was disagreeing.

opportune 3y ago

For aircraft and long haul trucking, sure. I think range anxiety is already mostly a nothingburger and as battery capacity improves and people realize being limited to X miles is hardly a limitation for their use case at all, it will become a non-issue. Using electricity directly is just easier and more efficient than transporting hydrogen that was made from electricity, unless for some reason hydrogen truly is more economic than battery for your use case.

gizmo 3y ago

Hydrogen storage and transport is hugely impractical. Photovoltaic efficiency is improving (slowly) but ultimately limited by the laws of physics. Hard to make the math work for what you predict.