Making fuel at "home"

 

Hydrogen fuel station with its own electrolyser, Canberra, Australia

Wether it be solar panels, batteries, wind turbines, pumped hydro, geothermal power, biofuels or green hydrogen, this renewable energy can be in your own country and some in your own community or home. What this does is reduce the extraction and transport of oil and gas from a few energy rich countries and makes your home/community/country more energy secure and independent.

Renewable electricity supply can now be made at home, can come from microgrids in remote locations, can be portable to natural disaster locations, can be large scale and can be stored thus making a country, community or home independent of imported fuel. An electric vehicle can be powered from a standard power point and a variety of local or remote chargers.

Green hydrogen can be produced from electrolysers which use water (and soon seawater) and renewable electricity. This can be large scale or small scale. Hydrogen can be used in a number of industries from transport fuel, heating and cooking fuel to large industries such as aluminium and steel making. By making its own hydrogen, a country can reduce the importation of fossil fuels.

In the example above, the public hydrogen fuel station makes its own hydrogen on site with a small electrolyser, water and renewable electricity. Canberra sources all its electricity from renewable energy and here it makes its own hydrogen. This reduces the sometimes dangerous transport of petrol, diesel or gas to Canberra. 

Further Reading:  

• Microgrids could help communities weather the next disaster.
• Stand-alone solar and battery systems now seen as the "new normal" in regions.
• Solar, battery and hydrogen microgrid to power Daintree Rainforest
• Sweden could take global lead in green steel production - report
• Australia's Fortescue sets sights on becoming world's first supplier of green iron ore
• Frequently Asked Questions - American Hydrogen Association
• Renewable hydrogen could reduce emissions in alumina refining.
• Northern Territory to trial off-grid system making hydrogen from 'water from air'
• Novel catalyst produces green hydrogen from seawater via solar

Making EV charging stations safer for users

 

Photo by Julie May

I drive an electric vehicle (EV) in Australia and am concerned that many charging stations here are in out of the way places that are sometimes difficult to find because they are not easily seen from the road. In addition, many are in locations that are not well-lit and are therefore unsafe; sometimes the chargers are not working; and most do not provide shelter from sun or rain.

Apparently this is also common in other parts of the world as Kate Tyrrell found out while on an EV road trip for work in the UK. She always had around 30 miles of spare battery charge for a trip to the next EV charger. But on one occasion, at night, she went from unsafe charging locations to chargers that were not working and finally crawled to a suitable charger with the battery charge reading zero miles!

Kate works in the energy industry so when she attended the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (COP26) she aired her concerns with colleagues and came up with the plan to start ChargeSafe. 

ChargeSafe will physically inspect and rate UKs charging stations for their location, environment, facilities and accessibility. EV charging site users will also be able to share their own views and rate on how safe the charging stations are. These two ratings will enable ChargeSafe to give an overall definitive rating. The plan is to roll this system out to other countries. For more information please read: ChargeSafe: how one horror story led to safer EV charging. (CleanTechnica).

In addition, many charging stations are out in the open and exposed to the elements. Why not follow Electrify America's initiative to create charging stations with their own solar panel roofs that can provide green energy, lighting, shelter and amenities. For more information please read: Electrify America to build "human-centered" charging plazas. (CleanTechnica).