Hydrogen still has some potential as a transportation fuel
Batteries have won for personal transportation but hydrogen may still play a role at larger scales
In 2000 or so, it was possible to look into a hydrogen economy future in which the gas was powering everything around us. One of the biggest areas of enthusiasm was running transportation off of hydrogen, especially cars. The intervening couple of decades have made abundantly clear the problems of using hydrogen at small transportation scales, distributing hydrogen, and consumer use of hydrogen. To be clear, smart observers made most of these points around that time and went into battery electric drivetrains for cars instead, most notably Elon Musk.
But now in 2018, there are few iconoclasts still holding onto a hydrogen future for cars. But that doesn’t mean that hydrogen isn’t the right solution for other forms of transportation. There might still be opportunities in long-haul aircraft, freight trains, and ocean freighters.
There are four characteristics which make hydrogen more or less viable compared to battery electric vehicles, a primary competitor. However, these characteristics are not necessarily shared by biomethane in the equivalent of CNG or LNG, another potential competitor.
- Storage: Hydrogen is…
