08-17-2013, 11:39 PM
Sounds interesting, though there are two major unsolved issues of hydrogen as a fuel. The first is the outlandish cost of getting it from renewable sources, which this solution seems to be aiming at. However, the other massive issue is that hydrogen storage and transmission by pipeline is still economically unfeasible because the very small molecules leak out of most storage and piping setups. The most technically feasible hydrogen transmission technology is cryogenic (i.e. liquefying the hydrogen and transporting in refrigerated trucks), but that consumes more than a third of the energy present in the hydrogen in the first place.
My gut feeling is that these are such huge hurdles that it will be many decades, if ever, before hydrogen becomes an economically feasible fuel, and by that time battery technology will have evolved so far that hydrogen will be irrelevant. I think the smart money today is going into batteries.
My gut feeling is that these are such huge hurdles that it will be many decades, if ever, before hydrogen becomes an economically feasible fuel, and by that time battery technology will have evolved so far that hydrogen will be irrelevant. I think the smart money today is going into batteries.