Hydrogen cars coming soon to a dealer by you.
The problem with Hydrogen is that 20% of the energy you put into the Electrolysis process is consumed separating the Hydrogen from the Oxygen. At that point you have uncompressed Hydrogen. If you compress it to something like 3000 psi you consume another 13-14% of the input energy, and since Electrolysis requires DC power to work you have losses there, figure the power conversion efficiency of 90 - 92% and then you have to consider the efficiency of the fuel cell. By the time you are done you have lost more than half of the energy you started with. Under ideal labratory conditions more than 60% of the original input power is wasted, in the field with small scale "Gas Station" sized facilities the lost energy is closer to 70%, without considering the Capital Investment and a reasonable ROI you wouldn't a Hydrogen refuelimg facilty in anywhere near as many locations.
Lithium ion batteries have a power loss of half that of the Hydrogen fuel cell.
I read an article some years back about using gasoline and converting it to hydrogen in the vehicle. The linked article isn't the one I read, but discusses doing that.
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1050920_volvo-turns-gasoline-to-hydrogen-to-make-electric-cars-more-efficient
One thing I recall from the other article and mentioned in this one is that the infrastructure for handling gasoline already exists.
Jeff
It starts somewhere...
Problem is, a hydrogen vehicle needsd a hydrogen infrastructure to support it. Hydrogen suppliers, filling stations, etc. All that doesn't exist. It might later, but not now. Trains could run on hydrogen because they can haul their fuel supplies in tank cars towed behind.
And that diner car mention above? When was the last time an airliner had a dining room? Crappy box meal at best. Same with a bus.
250 miles of range. Not going to be able to make it work even in a city delivery vehicle. Most grocery warehouse driver's I know around here are running around 3-400 miles a day. That includes the miles to and from their first drop off and last stop then back to the warehouse for the next day's load to be put on.
I think solar/hydrogen is the "end game" of the conversion to renewables.
It simplifies the whole generation, transmission, storage arrangment. You make electricity while the sun shines. Store it anywhere you plop down a simple hydrolysis plant as compressed hydorgen. Use it to power fuel cells when you need electricity.
The beauty of it is you can fairly quickly refuel vehicles and reliance on batteries, and all of their issues, is much reduced.
A round trip from electricity to hydorgen and back to electricty is still as efficient than electric generation from a thermal fuel.
Probably safer than toting around gasoline...
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
beaulieu Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, meh. Either your trading dispersed pollution for centralized pollution if you use Steam Reforming to produce the Hydrogen from Natural Gas, or your using Electrolysis to use a lot of energy to produce less energy. See the Real Engineering video Here.
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, meh. Either your trading dispersed pollution for centralized pollution if you use Steam Reforming to produce the Hydrogen from Natural Gas, or your using Electrolysis to use a lot of energy to produce less energy. See the Real Engineering video Here.
Not if non/zero-carbon power generation is used.
charlie hebdo250 miles between refueling
I get better than that with my ten year old pick-up, and I don't think there's any place within 75 miles to fill up with hydrogen.
I know - it'll come with time.
Alternative fuels like that will find a home in urban areas. Out here in the sticks, the costs of the infrastructure will prevent wide-spread adoption in the short term.
We saw a similar phenomenon with cable TV and wideband Internet. It was tens of years before rural areas here got cable, and wideband just reached many customers in this area within the past year.
Taking long trips will also be problematic. Can I get hydrogen all along my route?
One answer there is to use mass transportation, but the effort to kill Amtrak is ongoing (I just heard that they may be dropping all dining cars), and once I get there, surface transport is likely limited to taxis and Uber/Lyft. If they are available.
And let's not forget (as we often do) the front-end costs of producing and transporting the hydrogen.
Will it come? Something will, it's a question of when the public is willing to accept it.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
250 miles between refueling. Good. I hope we start to see here.
The Hyundai Motor Company is planning to conduct a test program in Israel for hydrogen-fueled trucks during 2020, according to a report by the Israeli business daily Calcalist.
A delegation from Hyundai visited Israel last month to discuss the project and met with officials in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the report.
The report went on to state that Israeli car retailer Colmobil Ltd., and transportation and logistics company Taavura Holdings Ltd., are going to carry out the testing.
Hydrogen-fueled vehicles convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity. Hyundai hydrogen trucks started operating in Europe earlier this year and can drive as far as 400 kilometers before needing to refuel.
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