Why Hydrogen?

I am passionate about sustainability, and have recently launched a blog in service of formalising my thoughts onto a page. I’m really keen to share my questions and subsequent answers. I will be using my background in Systems Engineering, Sustainable Energy Production, Modelling and Simulation as well as Data Science to hopefully bring a unique view to interested parties.

Hydrogen fuel cells, the hydrogen economy, why are we even bothering? Liquid/gaseous hydrogen:

·         Has very high energy per unit mass

·         Can be efficiently converted into other forms of energy

·         Almost unlimited supply if obtained from water

·         Can be stored as a gas, liquid and solid (hydride)

Hydrogen fuel cell Technology:

·         Using coal to generate hydrogen results in roughly 10% less carbon emission if used for vehicles

·         Non-toxic, little to no pollutants even during burning

·         Provides energy security

However, there are issues to overcome. Safety: Hydrogen burns readily within air. Economics: There is a large amount of investment required upfront. Technology: Relatively speaking, there are still more efficiencies to be had with adequate R&D.

In the graphic, blue shows the energy density of fuels (higher the better), orange shows the amount of energy produced by fuels normalised by a kilogram of carbon emission (higher is better, however hydrogen has no emission)