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The basic question for the next years is if hydrogen from fossil fuels makes sense. There's no other way to make enough hydrogen in the short term. In the long
by threatripper 2y ago
The basic question for the next years is if hydrogen from fossil fuels makes sense. There's no other way to make enough hydrogen in the short term. In the long term I think that batteries will be better suited to use renewable electricity until we have a really huge surplus of it for most of the year to produce hydrogen. And then chemical processes that require hydrogen will be better consumers than transportation. Then gas turbines to stabilize the power grid. And if we still have lots of hydrogen left over we can think about using it for transportation. Not sure if we even reach that point.
- barbazoo 2y agoWhat about hydrogen for freight transportation? Or will battery tech eventually make sense here as well?
- adgjlsfhk1 2y agoDepends on the freight type. Trains are already electric, planes probably need hydrogen, boats are really tough either way (but hydrogen is probably better) and trucks probably prefer batteries.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- barbazoo 2y agoTrains are only electric if there's a network of "electrified" rail. Not a thing in North America for instance. That doesn't exist for trucks at least not end to end. Maybe something like [1] for the busiest parts of the network and then smaller, lighter batteries for the last mile. Anyway, I'm not convinced there won't be a need for Hydrogen powered transportation unless we make big leaps in battery energy density (to reduce weight) or change our lifestyle. [1] https://www.power-technology.com/news/germany-launches-first-electric-highway/ https://www.power-technology.com/news/germany-launches-first...
- adgjlsfhk1 2y agoUS railroads really need to be nationalized. The past 70 years or so have had absolutely minimal investment. The fact that so much cargo in the US is taken by truck instead of train is kind of crazy given how much more efficient trains are (especially when electrified, but even if not).
- Animats 2y agoNot clear yet. Battery powered heavy trucks lose much payload to battery weight. Still, Scania and Volvo have been shipping electric heavy trucks for several years now.
- barbazoo 2y agoThere's also experiments like [1] which might be feasible in dense environments so the battery could be smaller for the last mile. [1] https://www.power-technology.com/news/germany-launches-first-electric-highway/ https://www.power-technology.com/news/germany-launches-first...