RE: Prem2 Oct 2020 16:18
Just for you cherryburn.
I thought we were talking about cars not trains!
Why hydrogen cars won’t overtake electric vehicles
Bloomberg NEF 2020: The bulk of the car, bus and light-truck market looks set to adopt battery-electric technology, which are a cheaper solution than fuel cells.
Volkswagen, made a statement comparing the energy efficiency of the technologies. ‘The conclusion is clear’ said the company. ‘In the case of the passenger car, everything speaks in favour of the battery and practically nothing speaks in favour of hydrogen.
Facts:
Let’s take 100 watts of electricity produced by a renewable source such as a wind turbine. To power an car, that energy has to be converted into hydrogen, possibly by passing it through water (the electrolysis process). This is around 75% energy-efficient, so around one-quarter of the electricity is automatically lost.
The hydrogen produced must be compressed, chilled and transported to the hydrogen station, a process that is around 90% efficient. Once inside the vehicle, the hydrogen needs to be converted into electricity, which is 60% efficient. Finally, the electricity used in the motor to move the vehicle is around 95% efficient. Put together, only 38% of the original electricity – 38 watts out of 100 – are used.
With electric vehicles, the energy runs on wires all the way from the source to the car. The same 100 watts of power from the same turbine loses about 5% of efficiency in this journey through the grid. You lose a further 10% of energy from charging and discharging the lithium-ion battery, plus another 5% from using the electricity to make the vehicle move. 80% of the original electricity – 80 watts out of 100 are used.
Not forgetting the cost of infrastructure needed to get hydrogen off the ground.
Thanks cherryburn but think I will stick with Prem;-)
GLA