Don't write off hydrogen as a storage of renewable energy for transport

Hydrogen Fuel cell electric car, Copenhagen (photo: Julie May) 

A number of car makers and industries are looking to use hydrogen as a renewable energy source but one of the challenges is transporting it over long distances. According to ABC News renewable hydrogen could fuel Australia's next export boom after a CSIRO breakthrough.

How renewable hydrogen is produced (From ABC News)

The Australian CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) has come up with a way to transport renewable hydrogen that has been converted to liquid ammonia (NH3) by ‘cracking’ the conversion of ammonia back to pure hydrogen at the destination making it ready to be used for transport.

There have been many improvements made in handling hydrogen as a 'fuel' such that it is no longer dangerous. For example, it is not burned as a fuel in a vehicle but used in a fuel cell to make electricity to drive an electric motor. Fuel cells use an electrochemical process to convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water. They have no moving parts and no open flames. See the simple illustrations in Team Macquarie: Hydrogen Myth Busters. Some advantages of hydrogen include a much faster time to refuel vehicles, a longer range between recharging and it is more applicable to larger forms of transport.

Some car companies are looking at hydrogen fuel cell vehicles such as General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes and possibly others. A good argument for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) vs battery electric vehicles (BEVs): Why the automotive future will be dominated by fuel cells. Of course there are arguments against FCEVs in favour of BEVs. It will be interesting to see what happens. All I know is that the battery in my plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) will not last that long and will need to be replaced after a few years!