this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
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Unbridled enthusiasm can be cute to a point, but those hydrogen folks are way beyond that. Yikes.
Look at which corporations are all pro hydrogen. Those hydrogen folks are probably astroturfing.
85%+ of hydrogen production is currently from fossik fuels. While there is a forseeable future where solar and other green energy could be used, an immediate increase in hydrogen production would come 100% from fossil fuel producers.
So yeah, it is currently oil company propaganda from trying to find alternate revenue streams.
Well in theory, it could come from nuclear. That'd be cleaner than fossil fuels.
It uses electrolysis, so may as well cut out the middleman and just use electricity to power things without losing efficiency to convert it.
Well the only reason to use it would be in electric trucks and busses. The main benefit of the hydrogen cell is being able to swap cells instead of waiting for a recharge, which is only needed for vehicles that need to keep a strict time schedule. The cells can be charged at truck stops and bus stations that can be fed by the power grid using nuclear energy, or by solar/wind if it's a remote location, or a combination of the 3.
Hydrogen cell is not a bad technology, just like all energy solutions (expect fossil fuels) they have their strengths, weaknesses and best use cases. There's no reason why we couldn't use each one where they're the strongest. We don't need to pick just one as an end all be all.
I won't discount that possibility, but I think they get sold on a miraculous idea and simply don't understand the reasons why it's not a good idea. The more zealous one simply don't want to believe it's not the perfect solution.
The niches where it's useful tend to get pushed out by better batteries over time. We're already at the point where we don't need hydrogen for cars and busses. Long haul trucks, construction equipment, and even airplanes are on the horizon. There isn't much left to bother with hydrogen after that.