<
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/02/04/the-devolution-of-hydrogen-for-energy-over-25-years-is-a-fascinating-tale/>
"About 25 years ago, hydrogen was the solution of choice for climate-aware
technocrats and politicians, and with good reason. At the time, there really
wasn’t much choice in terms of low-carbon energy carriers. Batteries were good
enough for laptops and phones, but clearly no one was going to be running
transportation, heating or grid storage with them.
And besides, you could make hydrogen with electricity, something first done in
1800, and a staple of kids’ science classes as early as grade 4. Easy to make,
high energy density and you didn’t even have to burn the stuff. You could use
fuel cells, and again, those were really old technology with the first one
constructed in 1842, and fuel cells used in Gemini spacecraft as far back as
1962. What’s not to love?
The mood was best captured by American economist and social theorist Jeremy
Rifkin in his book
The Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the Worldwide Energy
Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth. What’s that? You didn’t remember
the rest of the title? No one does.
It’s worth pointing out that Rifkin, while undoubtedly brilliant and a great
thinker, has no engineering or science chops to speak of. He never did rigorous
cost workups on hydrogen electrolysis facilities, renewable power and the grid
costings or worked through the implications of distribution of hydrogen in any
depth. He was seduced by the molecule, and was deeply influential in both
Europe and America regarding it, for example getting the then President of the
European Commission to commit to a multi-billion Euro research and development
plan to turn Europe into a green hydrogen superpower.
Is he still as bullish on hydrogen as he was in 2002 when the book was
published? Not so much. Comments in the last year have seen him retrenching to
a position where only long-haul logistics see any need for hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles. He hasn’t quite got the full memo yet.
Even as early as 2005 it was obvious that there were serious problems with this
vision. Iceland ran three hydrogen buses for four years, funded by EU money of
course to the tune of €12 million in 2023 money. Did they keep the buses on the
road when the money ran out? Not a chance. Far too expensive, far too failure
prone.
Has anything changed with hydrogen buses since then? Yes, there have been
hydrogen bus trials on multiple continents which recreated the Icelandic
experience. Lots of governmental money, very high costs to fuel, very high
maintenance costs, abandonment when funding is withdrawn."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-gun-violence-america-cancer-europe-conservation-bolivia/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
