I’ve been looking into renewable energy and other options relative to nuclear (not a big fan because of the waste), solar, wind, and thermal. Hydrogen fuel cell technology has popped up a bit and I’m wondering how this works. With my basic understanding, hydrogen is used as input and water (two hydrogens and an oxygen) are the output.
How does this reaction happen?
Is it not widespread because it’s energy intensive? If not, why haven’t more industries adopted this technology?
If so, why is so energy intensive and how much energy does it produce?
What’s holding us back from going balls deep into hydrogen fuel cell technology when the by products are clean (even usable) and the input is so abundant in the universe and on earth?
With the abundance of input material, It seems like this technology could be useful once we get to Mars as well.
Disclaimer: This isn’t for a class or anything. I’m a 31 year old bioinformatician just looking into a new interesting topic and wanted some context from someone with more knowledge.
In: Technology
I’m not an expert on fuel cells, and the physics is out of my area, but I do know about the limitations.
1. Where do we get the hydrogen?
We end up getting it from water, but electrolysis is energy intensive, so no matter how efficient your fuel cell is, it is always hampered by the fact that water is hard to break apart.
2. Where do we fill our fuel cell cars?
We just don’t have infrastructure yet. It’s the same issue with electric cars, but to an even greater degree.
3. Storage
Hydrogen is a flammable gas, and the only way to store it efficiently is to pressurize it. That’s a bomb.
It’s not impossible to overcome any or all of these issues, but they are the reasons why we haven’t dove headfirst into hydrogen as an energy source.
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