Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumHydrogen is getting big, fast...
With the flurry of news that I've been seeing here on DU, I've been exploring what is going on with the hydrogen industry more deeply.
You wouldn't know it from the U.S. mainstream media silence on every aspect of the energy transition that we MUST make and quickly, but there is a huge amount of activity (and big money) swirling around hydrogen as one of the energy systems we need to build out to eliminate CO2 emissions.
I came across the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association ( https://www.fchea.org/ ) which seems to be a media hub that collects and distributes the latest news about the advances and activities of hydrogen related businesses.
From the website:
FCHEA is focused on achieving our mission through three primary activities:
Leading national advocacy to encourage all levels of government to support fuel cell and hydrogen technology research, development, and deployment;
Providing the industry a voice in shaping regulations, codes, and standards to enable commercial growth, while ensuring the highest levels of consumer safety and satisfaction; and
Educating the public and key opinion and policy leaders on the economic and environmental benefits of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies.
They publish a monthly newsletter that is surprisingly packed with articles and press releases on the wheelings and dealings of this otherwise ignored industry.
And there's a LOT of wheeling and dealing going on. In the June issue alone, the newsletter has 101 articles, announcements, and press releases, all from just June, either written by the organization or linking to other publications worldwide.
Things like this:
On June 26, FCHEA member Chart Industries announced it has been selected by Energy Vault to supply an integrated liquid hydrogen storage and fuel delivery system for a green hydrogen long-duration energy storage system used in conjunction with a utility-scale battery to provide backup power to the city of Calistoga, California. The 80,000-gallon liquid hydrogen storage tanks allow for at least 48 hours of site autonomy without refueling.
Construction is anticipated to begin in late 2023 with commercial operation expected by mid 2024. Upon completion, this project is expected to be the first-of-its-kind and the largest utility-scale green hydrogen project in the United States.
Click here for the full press release from Chart Industries.
Or this...
On June 19, FCHEA member Twelve announced plans to scale the production of its sustainable aviation fuel with a commercial-scale production facility in Moses Lake, Washington. The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Washington State exhibit at the 2023 Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France. An event for the facility will take place on July 11 with Gov. Jay Inslee and other regional and local stakeholders.
Click here for the full press release from the Washington State Department of Comm
The June newsletter is here: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Fuel-Cell-and-Hydrogen-Energy-Connection---June-2023.html?soid=1104412315763&aid=wQ-IyqtZ4rs
The newsletter archives are here: https://www.fchea.org/newsletters
So, if anyone else is (hopefully) interested in the progress we're making (good or bad) on this one part of the transition away from fossil fuels, you might want to check them out, it's kind of fascinating how much this stuff is building up so quickly.
I'm hoping it will be a good place to watch for news on Natural Hydrogen progress too.
https://www.fchea.org/
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bucolic_frolic
(53,902 posts)Don't take it literally.
Think. Again.
(22,456 posts)
Zambero
(9,919 posts)When the boom finally materializes, it will be no flash in the pan!
NJCher
(42,374 posts)It’s mind boggling.
In the newsletter for June is a section for federal government initiatives. Biden and the dems had to fight like hell for this and in the end had to settle for less than what they wanted but this is damned impressive. If you can, take note of that section.
Thanks for putting this together.
CentralMass
(16,846 posts)As is using it as a fuel as a replacement for gasoline on passenger vehicle. Compared to battery EV's it requre 3x tge energy to produce hydrogen fir use in a HFCV then it does to charge a battery EV. So it is a waste of energy. We would 3x green electric source for hydrigen powered cars than we would fir battery EV's
In addition there is an extremely limited infrastructure to support it. It requires new pipelines, pumps, etc.
Think. Again.
(22,456 posts)The infrastructure does still need to be built out, that's part of the transition we must make, we will have to change over from the existing CO2 emitting fuel scenario to non-CO2 emitting fuels, which so far, is Hydrogen.
I personally don't think an all-battery situation would be in our best interests since the lithium and other needs for batteries are not renewable, there are limited amounts of them and so the battery model is not sustainable. Eventually we would have to switch away from them, but for now they are a major part of the urgent need to eliminate the use of fossil fuels.
CentralMass
(16,846 posts)can be recycled and used to build new vatterues.. Also advancements in solid state batteries are about to yield batteries that have a longer ranges, charge faster, and have a longer lifetime. There are also alternative battery chemistries like sodium-ion that are being developed..Hydrogen Fuel cells use rare metals and if we are talking about green hydrogen require ~3x more solar - wind than battery EV's do..
I've been following hydrogen since I was kid in my single digits in the 60's reading popular science. The hydrogen economy is a pipedream.
Think. Again.
(22,456 posts)Hydrogen is providing power options that batteries just can't (yet?).
Luckly, we have multiple options, such as a variety of types of batteries, the versatility of hydrogen, heat, even gravity and spring tension options for storing energy.
They can each serve different and specific needs, and we will need to have all of them in use as quickly as possible to reduce the effects of additional CO2 emissions.