Hacker Read

blackstrips · 2018-11-08 19:54:04

Hydrogen fuel cells are lurking in the background too - and you don’t have to spend hours charging those.

Hypx_ | karma 31 | avg karma 0.18 · | 2021-10-20 22:35:34

Unlike the others hydrogen fuel cells are already here.

_hypx | karma 1022 | avg karma 1.06 · | 2023-04-16 12:49:48

If you have many petawatt-hours of hydrogen storage, you don't need batteries at all.

iere | karma 1 | avg karma 1.0 · | 2022-08-28 09:29:43

hydrogen fuel cell instead of long waiting li-on battery.

timthorn | karma 6001 | avg karma 3.3 · | 2011-04-02 23:22:21+00:00

The point about hydrogen is that you can fill up in a traditional manner (quickly), rather than having to charge a battery.

Hypx | karma 289 | avg karma 0.91 · | 2021-01-25 14:33:11

Fuel cells will allow for the same level of reliability without the weight.

randomfinn | karma 58 | avg karma 1.76 · | 2019-04-12 16:42:25

There's also hydrogen in addition to battery electric.

7e | karma 757 | avg karma 1.05 · | 2023-01-22 21:46:32

For long term energy storage (seasonal) hydrogen is vastly cheaper than batteries.

Kon5ole | karma 452 | avg karma 1.92 · | 2024-01-11 15:30:26

It doesn't have to be batteries, hydrogen gas can be generated from solar at 80% efficiency, and storing hydrogen is way cheaper than batteries. Certainly way cheaper than nuclear.

jeffreyrogers | karma 10945 | avg karma 3.94 · | 2021-08-15 12:47:53

It just has to be better than fuel cells to take over from them, and that doesn't seem that hard to do.

Hypx_ | karma 31 | avg karma 0.18 · | 2021-07-14 17:57:20

It's the same idea of green hydrogen. Only hydrogen allows you to use pipelines instead of physically hauling everything. You also don't have to worry about the battery physically gaining weight as you fly.

the8472 | karma 12236 | avg karma 2.77 · | 2016-01-18 00:29:54+00:00

Fuel cells aren't just about cars.

MPSimmons | karma 3335 | avg karma 4.21 · | 2012-01-09 17:41:06

And fuel cells, too

pfdietz | karma 12357 | avg karma 1.45 · | 2023-07-11 14:01:36

The relevant applications for hydrogen are ones where efficiency doesn't much matter (long term storage, rare event grid backup). What matters is minimizing capital cost, which probably means using combustion turbines, not fuel cells.

hokkos | karma 2330 | avg karma 3.45 · | 2018-09-18 12:50:47+00:00

Large scale hydrogen electrolysers are capital expensive, so there is no such thing as to only use them when electricity is cheap.

xingyzt | karma 951 | avg karma 4.8 · | 2020-01-16 04:10:10+00:00

Hydrogen fuel cells are much more energy-dense compared to Li-ion batteries.

marcosdumay | karma 27273 | avg karma 1.67 · | 2015-08-03 16:27:38

Don't even mind storing that hydrogen. You certainly haven't actually tried to use those hydrogen fuel cells for anything real, not even in a lab.

WorldMaker | karma 12216 | avg karma 1.52 · | 2023-01-30 16:53:07

One interesting modern wrinkle versus hydrogen is the idea of using an H2 fuel cell for easy access to electricity (versus lift) without needing to carry another electricity source.

Sniffnoy | karma 4609 | avg karma 3.57 · | 2011-09-30 22:37:43+00:00

Huh. This makes fuel cells seem like not a bad idea after all.

Hypx | karma 289 | avg karma 0.91 · | 2020-12-27 20:19:18+00:00

It’s times like these that people should realize that fuel cells are a type of battery. You can call them hydrogen-air batteries.