Hydrogen-powered London bus
More hopeless than hope. But for those who want to put a lot of time, effort and money into looking for ‘solutions’ to the non-problem of supposedly human-caused climate change, it’s a topic for discussion. It may have some specific uses, but cost and practicality seem to be strongly against it as a general replacement for traditional fuels.
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Can hydrogen – a relatively clean source of fuel – help power the economy of the future? – asks the BBC.
In his speech on the planned economic recovery, the prime minister said hydrogen technology is an area where the UK leads the world. He hopes it’ll create clean jobs in the future.
But is the hydrogen revolution hope or hype?
The digger with the long-toothed bucket bites into a pile of stones, tilts up and flexes its sturdy mechanical arm.
It swivels, extends the arm and dumps its load on the harsh ground of a Staffordshire quarry.
It’s a beast of a machine and from the front it looks like a normal excavator.
But from the back you can see its tank full of dirty diesel has been replaced with a hydrogen fuel cell.
The excavator is the latest in a generation of vehicles powered by the lightest element on Earth.
The compendium of vehicles powered by hydrogen now stretches from diggers to micro-taxis, trucks, boats, vans, single-deck and now double-decker buses – and even small planes.
It works by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to generate electricity. The only direct emission is water.
Talking about a revolution
So at last, the long-awaited hydrogen revolution is here. Or is it?
Back in the early 2000s, backers of hydrogen thought it would dominate the clean automobile market.
But the promised “hydrogen highway” never materialised, for a couple of crucial reasons.
Firstly, hydrogen power needed a new infrastructure, whereas rival battery cars could be charged off the near-ubiquitous electricity grid.
Secondly, high-powered batteries at that time were already well-advanced for other uses such as computers, but hydrogen was not.
Continued here.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
July 1, 2020 at 04:57AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 