Hydrogen Fueling Overview | DriveClean (2024)

FAQs

Hydrogen Fueling Overview | DriveClean? ›

Fuel cell cars

Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces only water. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of domestic resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind.

The hydrogen economy is an umbrella term that draws together the roles hydrogen can play alongside low-carbon electricity to decarbonize those sectors and activities which may be technically difficult to decarbonize through other means, or where cheaper and more energy-efficient clean solutions are not available.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles don't need charging like an electric vehicle. You refuel them with hydrogen gas, pumped in the same safe and convenient way you would a conventional petrol or diesel car. Filling up takes the same amount of time too, between 3-5 minutes for a full tank.

Fueling Costs

While the current price of hydrogen is higher than gasoline, fuel cells are approximately 2.5 times more efficient than gasoline engines. An added bonus is that most fuel cell car manufacturers include three years' worth of free fuel with a vehicle.

Hydrogen fuel cells

Pros: No vehicle emissions other than water vapor. Fuel economy equivalent to about twice that of gasoline vehicles. Hydrogen is abundant, and can be made from renewable energy. Cons: This space-age technology is expensive.

Expensive to manufacture due the high cost of catalysts (platinum) Lack of infrastructure to support the distribution of hydrogen. A lot of the currently available fuel cell technology is in the prototype stage and not yet validated. Hydrogen is expensive to produce and not widely available.

Hydrogen is a highly inflammable substance and explosive in nature; it cannot be easily transported from one place to another and it can be generated by the hydrolysis of water but it is a very expensive process.

Electrolysis of ammonia in waste water consumes just 1.55 kWh of electrical energy to produce 1 kg of hydrogen. When used as part of a fuel cell, 1 kg of hydrogen can produce up to 23 kWh of electrical energy, but this figure could be lower with an older battery.

Is hydrogen fuel the future? ›

So hydrogen is essentially the key to our future as it will become a decisive factor for ensuring a steady energy supply. It can replace fossil fuels across the board, including energy-intensive industries. Hydrogen is produced in electrolyzers. They use electricity to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Hydrogen fuel costs about $25 per kilogram, which is still too expensive for heavy-duty fleets to easily transition over to hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The cost displaces advantages over other alternative technologies.

Hydrogen fuel is much more efficient than gasoline, but it's also four times more expensive, roughly equivalent to about $16 a gallon.

Safety concerns over hydrogen flammability and electrical shock. Maintenance costs remain unclear. Potential for high costs to refuel when manufacturer incentives run out. The unknown future for these automobiles.

Fuel cell cars can carry enough hydrogen fuel for 300-400 miles of range and their tanks can be refilled as quickly as that of a standard car's gas tank. Current lease deals often include up to three years of complimentary fuel.

Electrolysis is a promising option for carbon-free hydrogen production from renewable and nuclear resources. Electrolysis is the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This reaction takes place in a unit called an electrolyzer.

More than 352 thermochemical cycles have been described for water splitting by thermolysis. These cycles promise to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water and heat without using electricity. Since all the input energy for such processes is heat, they can be more efficient than high-temperature electrolysis.