Hydrogen Energy
Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant element in the universe. It is a major component of water, oil, natural gas, and all living matter. Despite its simplicity and abundance, hydrogen rarely occurs naturally as a gas on Earth.
Once hydrogen is produced as molecular hydrogen, the energy present within the molecule can be released, by reacting with oxygen to produce water.
Hydrogen is also used as rocket fuel. There is limited installed hydrogen capacity today mostly for fertiler production and oil refining
but interest in hydrogen to possibly replace energy sources that cannot be replaced by traditional renewable sources like solar, wind, nuclear, hydro is growing.
For example as a alternatve vehicle fuel for Jet fuel and gasoline for vehicles, datacenters,, steel manufacturing.
It is 2-3 times More Efficient than Gasoline. However, today the hydrogen as a fuel costs are 3 times higher ($6/kg).
There are about $500B in hydrogen investments. Hydrogen is expected to play a large roles in decarbonization in the longer term.
List of Hydrogen energy companies
Green Hydrogen
Hydrogen produced from renewable or low carbon energy sources. Today it is less than 0.1% of total hydrogen production.
The price is expected to drop to $2/kg by 2030 making it competitive with other energy sources.
Fuel Cells
Fuel cells can provide heat and electricity for buildings and electrical power for vehicles and electronic devices.
Fuel cells work like batteries, but they do not run down or need recharging. They produce electricity and heat by converting the chemical energy in hydrogen and oxygen into direct current electrical energy by
electrochemical reactions. as long as fuel is supplied. The cell has no moving parts. The key element in a fuel cell is the ion (proton) exchange membrane
Fuel cells have the potential for excellent efficiency and can convert up to 75 percent of the energy in the fuel.
Fuel cell types
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) - directly converts the chemical energy stored in the fuel and oxidizer into electrical energy
Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC) - electrolyzes H2O to produce H2 and O2, and realizes the conversion of electrical and thermal energy
into chemical energy.
Fuel Cells for automotive
Pros - fuel cell engine is approximately twice as fuel-efficient as IC Engine or batteries and can work well with
electric powered cars
Cons - currently 100x more expensive - a fuel cell will cost $3,000 to $5,000 per kW compared to $50 per kW for an
internal combustion engine. Fueling infrastructure would need to be built.
List of Fuel Cells companies
Installed hydrogen energy capacity (GW)
United States - total of about 260 megawatts (MW) of electric generation capacity.
10 million metric tons (MMT) of hydrogen is produced each year
Installed hydrogenenergy capacity by state
