Hydrogen Power – did we take a wrong turn?
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.
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So hydrogen lost the head-on battle for the motor car. But now it’s back in the frame for the sort of transport, industry and heating tasks that batteries are struggling to fulfil.
Take our large mechanical digger, a prototype from JCB. It has a little battery-powered cousin – small enough to squeeze through a doorway and work in a building.
But JCB say the big digger would need a battery weighing five tonnes, and take hours to refuel. Hydrogen on the other hand, is lighter than air and takes minutes to fill a tank.
Lorries fall into the same category as diggers – sometimes the battery would be as heavy as the payload.
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The same applies to buses, and the Bamford family, which owns JCB, says it has orders for 80 double-deck buses from its Wrightbus factory at Ballymena in Northern Ireland.
That still leaves the issue of charging infrastructure – but that can be solved by providing hydrogen pumps on motorways for long-distance truckers.
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The same network could fuel hybrid battery and hydrogen cars of the future and dispense with the need for ever-heavier batteries in plug-in cars.
Buses could use hydrogen stored at depots in Kevlar-lined tanks for safety.
Past fears of hydrogen tanks exploding have been addressed by the advent of tanks lined with Kevlar and hydrogen release mechanisms in case the tank is struck.
Taking off
Airports could also store hydrogen, and the first test flight of an electric plane in the UK at Cranfield University recently was powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
There is – forgive the pun – a head of steam building over hydrogen. Germany is racing ahead with a network of filling stations and a hydrogen train. It’s investing €7bn in a bid to dominate the hydrogen market.
The EU Commission wants a slice of the action, too.
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