this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023
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Hydrogen is a dead end, because it is nowhere near green to produce it in large quantities, and the technology is still not ready, nor is the supply network. It's just an idea pushed by fossil fuel companies hoping to transition to selling hydrogen.
E-fuels are not zero emission, but the basic premise is that somewhere else along the chain it reduced GhG emissions into the atmosphere - like capturing methane from cow burps, or biogas from garbage dumps.
These fuels will have uses - hydrogen in rockets and e-fuels for aircraft - but for almost all land vehicles, BEVs or going electric, is the most readily available and working strategy.
That's just BEV propaganda. They're trying to sell you unsustainable BEVs instead of a fuel that can be made from water.
Not to mention it will leave millions of people stranded without any means of transportation. As it turns out, the gas station is pretty much unreplaceable. BEVs are really just toys for the rich. The whole thing is pretty much a variable on climate change denial or at least an adjacency idea.
It's more like BEV reality. They (car manufacturers, oil & gas, etc) have been trying to get hydrogen to work for ages now, but BEVs have made much more progress instead.
Hydrogen fuel-cells: Everyone (consumers, manufacturers, etc) has been waiting for this to come into mass-production and used in cars. Hasn't happened yet.
Hydrogen combustion engines: Good idea, but still not as feasible at sounds. I've heard of problems with efficiency of the engines, dangers in storing and transporting the fuel, leakage, etc. It still hasn't happened to scale.
Hydrogen production is still very energy and CO2 intensive. The small amount of hydrogen that can be produced using green methods or with carbon-capture, should be used towards planes and rockets.
BEVs won't be a cure all for every machine on earth, and not immediately either. But over time, it should become the most cost-appropriate solution if you factor in the cost of emitting CO2 and other GhGs.
It's the same story as with diesel or ethanol cars. There are always some short-term "easy" solutions that don't scale or aren't really that green. BEVs is just the next stage of that. You can obsess all you want with a transitional technology, but that doesn't stop the march of progress.