Hydrogen Hype is Back! Should we believe it this time?

Too bad the dry hydrogen discs that get shot with a laser to release the hydrogen are being suppressed 🙄

After watching the German Electric trucker for a couple of years ( who is now trying to circumnavigate the world in a lorry in 80 charges), it has become abundantly clear to me that battery HGV’s have so many economical advantages for logistic companies that any company witless enough to buy hydrogen trucks at this point is asking to go bankrupt. The Electric trucker or Elektro trucker (Tobias Wagner) approached several German logistic companies 2 years ago, looking for a company that would take him on as a driver and buy him an electric trucker to drive in. He found an employer in Nanno Janssen, who since then, are now well on their way to electrifying their entire fleet, simply because the economics of running electric HGV’s speak for themselves. Many German logistic companies are now following suit, as they too have understood that their are savings to be made that no logistic company can afford to pass up on! So good luck to anyone, who still hasn’t understood that all arguments about using hydrogen for transportation is simply hot air. Hydrogen I expect will find its niche in heavy industry, where it can be produced, stored and used at the same location, but beyond that, its uses will be few and far between, without massive technological advancements in hydrogen technology and even then, it will never be viable for road transportation.

I'm not a fan of Hydrogen but I thought the plan was to use Solar to create it at the Hydrogen stations. So no transporting.

The premise that carbon dioxide is the driver of climate change is a notion that should be better researched than the, at times absolute ridiculous and at times laughable claims made by MSN, some "dignitaries" and seemingly "scientists". The expense and disruption driven by so-called cheap green energy with only souring costs and where fossils fuels for whatever reason becomes scares and devastation to people ensue, is wrong and very damaging except to those driving this narrative which is at best a shaky hypothesis that the protagonists do not want to debate or listen other hypothesis but become demented ghouls cancelling people, vilifying them and destroy very good and knowledgeable youngsters with promise to be good scientists. Hydrogen as a replacement fuel source is with the technology available still a none starter as is the very misrepresented electrical technology that is bandied about will stop do-called existential global warming.

Oh ! The Humanity…”

Corruption. What a surprise

Great job once again!

Hydrogen is still a dead end.

I hope “sun hydrogen” shows some progress in H production… it’s been years

the fact that hydrogen looks like the exact wrong technology to power the energy transition means, sadly, that we will probably waste a lot of time and money (and energy) trying to make it a real thing just to pad the bank accounts of a small number of fossil fools. Best case scenario is that it's such a hopeless money loser at the macro scale that it gets shelved. Again. For good this time.

the only reason we are having the debate is because 30% of all humans are born stupid and stay stupid for life. We live in a capitalist world yet we refuse to understand the basic tenants. Any industry that gets beyond itself will be disrupted by a cheaper or better alternative. Horse and cart to cars. Ice powered cars to EVs. Nowhere in the capitalist doctrine do we step sideways when a disruptor takes hold. Hydrogen had its window of opportunity and its been shut tight. Its clear as daylight, moving to renewables and EVs is THE cheapest way to progress. Moving to hydrogen involves a complete rewrite of infrustructure at monumental costs……. Every house has a mains plug.

“…it can even power a massive penis extension…” thank you for pointing this out as hard on everyone else this may have peen

Whenever someone asks me why I drive an EV (Nissan Leaf, bought used and going strong) I compare the change to kicking a bad drug habit. People who’ve done that have shown hundreds of times more resolve of course, but their former dealers have lost customers. When we tell the fossil fuel pushers we don’t want to buy their crack anymore, it’s not surprising they try to interest us in heroin (hydrogen) or something milder (hybrids). Anything to keep some revenue flowing. As many commenters have said, it’s all about supplying us with something we can’t make ourselves.

White or geologic hydrogen could be used for steel production. Using existing mining bore holes (northern Ontairo for instance) or drilling laterally into deep iron rich formations and fracking with water and sand plus chemicals to stimulate heavier continuous hydrogen production. One might even use acidic liquid mining waste in the mix since this would be far below any existing water table and in remote areas. The hydrogen fields could be close to the green steel plant so gas transport would not be an issue, and iron ore would also likely be close by too. It takes about 60kg of hydrogen to make one ton of green steel. The hydrogen field/mine/plant would ship out sintered pure iron pellets by sea or rail instead of iron ore. The p[ellets would then be melted and alloyed in electric arc or induction furnaces at other facilities. Hydrogen as a fuel sucks, but geologic hydrogen in the right location might be able to produce green steel, if enough of it can be produced and production sustained deep underground by accelerated natural processes. Maybe this could make a good show idea, I'm sure someone is studying it, they are studying hydrogen from mining bore holes here in Canada.

Imo, hydrogen is the super riches attempt to make the direction of renewable transition uncertain to delay it so they can keep tapping oil and gas without too much opposition.

The shortage of iridium and other expensive platinum-group catalysts makes large scale fuel cell deployment fanciful or impossible. So that leaves combustion engines.

I think not!

Theirs one lil problem with hydrogen 😏 😂!

Really interesting, thanks Dave!👏

The Japanese are going with hydrogen produced from HTTR's, a type of high-temperature helium cooled nuclear reactor that is safer. The Japanese government will use heat waste produced by the HTTR to manufacture hydrogen. Why? Because hydrogen is the only alternative to fossil fuels in industry.

That is why Toyota is cool on EVs as Japan will be a hydrogen society using hydrogen ships, trains and road vehicles. Hydrogen can also be produced by wind and solar when too much electricity is being produced, like overnight. Right now in the UK we pay companies to use electricity when too much is being produced. This can be used to produce hydrogen.

The UK and Germany have a joint project to create hydrogen via North Sea wind farms with hydrogen creating platforms in the North Sea. The UK will store the gas in defunct natural gas caverns near the River Humber. Hydrogen is the only clean fuel that can replace fossil fuels in industry, as the Japanese realised. Natural gas power stations will be phased out, and with a twenty percent hydrogen mix in the gas network will preserve gas in existing and any new gas fields for domestic use, giving a long use of stored natural gas.

Also, we have a perfectly usable and comprehensive natural gas distribution network, delivering 62kW to each home. It is foolish not to use it. Hydrogen can also be produced at train depots by electricity negating transportation of the fuel.

Great battery tech killed hydrogen.

IMO the logical use for hydrogen is fertiliser production using H produced from excess renewables. For transport it is a non-starter.

I think it's rather concerning, and highly illustrative of how policy is formed. It's the al dente test, throw it on the wall and see what sticks.
I have been thinking about a fuel cell generator (propane as the source) for my solar + storage for the occasional long duration outages. I'd love to hear what y'all think about it. Maybe it could be a topic?

WHAT ABOUT FOR AVIATION AND SHIPPING?? I wanted to hear your opinion/knowledge on that!!

Peace to you.