For some energy gurus, and they tend to be enthusiastic, hydrogen is the key to a carbon-free future for the world. Some businesses and institutions are, at least potentially, putting big money behind their enthusiasm.
For hydrogen enthusiasts, the fundamental element (first of the periodic table of the elements), has a lot going for it. As described by the Department of Energy, “Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces only water. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of domestic resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind. These qualities make it an attractive fuel option for transportation and electricity generation applications. It can be used in cars, in houses, for portable power, and in many more applications.
“Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be used to store, move, and deliver energy produced from other sources.”
Some recent headlines indicate just how attractive hydrogen is for some investors:
* Cummins Pivots From Diesel to a 15-Liter Hydrogen Engine of the Future
* Hydrogen Valley vision for Washington gets boost from Aussies’ proposed plant
* Hyundai Doubles Down On Hydrogen Power With New US-Bound Trucks
POWER magazine recently commented, “If hydrogen-based power technology and decarbonization schemes seem like a novelty to you, you may not be paying close enough attention to developments happening around the world. While some hydrogen pilot projects are still relatively small in scale, the size of undertakings is rapidly growing.
“Hydrogen has been a trendy topic for several years now. Many people believe it could be the key to efforts to decarbonize the world’s energy supply. Yet, some people think it will take multiple decades before hydrogen truly makes an impact.”
Countering the view that hydrogen is the “next big thing,” is the world’s richest (and perhaps most mercurial) man, entrepreneur Elon Musk. Musk is heavily invested in battery storage through his Tesla firm, making him naturally skeptical about energy storage with hydrogen. As the keynote speaker at a Financial Times conference on the Future of the Car, denounced hydrogen as “the most dumb thing I could possibly imagine for energy storage.”
For those who are promoting hydrogen-based fuel cell technology as a source for electricity, particularly for vehicles, Musk calls them “fool cells.”
As for hydrogen used to store energy, Musk detailed his objections at the FT confab: “It’s important to understand that if you want a means of energy storage, hydrogen is a bad choice.
“It does not naturally occur on Earth, so you either have to split water with electrolysis or crack hydrocarbons. When you’re cracking hydrocarbons, you really haven’t solved the fossil fuel problem, and the efficiency of electrolysis is poor. So you really are spending a lot of energy to split hydrogen and oxygen.
“And if you have to liquefy hydrogen, oh my God. The amount of energy required to make hydrogen and turn it into liquid form is staggering. It is the most dumb thing that I could possibly imagine for energy storage.”
As for automotive uses, burning hydrogen in mostly conventional internal combustion engines, Musk is also dismissive, no doubt because he owns Tesla, the world’s current leader in electric cars.
But many auto experts believe he is right, and that the future of the car belongs to electric batteries. The Autoevolution web site has pronounced the centuries-old internal combustion engine a dead technology walking: “The sooner automotive professionals realize this worldwide, the earlier and better they can prepare for the inevitable. As long as cars are still around and personal transportation is ensured, we should just welcome the change and prepare for it. It will happen, regardless of personal preferences.”
–Kennedy Maize
Twitter (kennedymaize)