Here’s conclusion from a recent report from my colleague Renaldo Brutoco on battery EVs (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel-cell EVs (FCEVs):
As we continue to advance towards a low-carbon future, both BEVs and FCEVs will play pivotal roles. By embracing both technologies, we can ensure a smoother transition to sustainable mobility, effectively mitigating the environmental impact of our transportation needs while satisfying the diverse requirements of consumers and industry. This dual approach not only maximizes the benefits of each technology but also exemplifies the innovative strategies needed to overcome modern energy challenges.
I respectfully disagree. Eventually, the winner will win and loser will lose. And, in particular, hydrogen will lose out, even though BEVs, as Renaldo correctly indicated in his piece, have challenges.
We’ve been talking with great enthusiasm about hydrogen since I was a teenager in the early 1970s, but with virtually no progress over the intervening period. At stake is the cost of producing H2 from the electrolysis of water or the reformation of methane, the cost and fragility of fuel cells, and, most importantly, the absence of a fuel delivery infrastructure and the enormous economic and logistical challenges associated with overcoming that issue.
What will eventually happen with hydrogen in transportation is exactly what happened to wave energy, ocean current energy, run of river hydrokinetics, biomass, and geothermal in renewable energy. Outside of niche applications, they all lost as the technology of solar and wind matured and the costs fell precipitously.
I know Renaldo is a huge fan of hydrogen, but it’s time to say goodbye.
Renewable Energy
From the Independent: “Trump Administration to Pay Two More Companies to Walk Away from U.S. Offshore Wind Leases”
From this article in The Independent:
The Trump administration announced two more payouts Monday for energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects under development.
Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind have agreed to end their offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million. Both companies have decided not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States, the Interior Department announced Monday.
Bluepoint Wind is an offshore wind project in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, while Golden State Wind is a floating offshore wind project proposed off California’s central coast.
Trump is hellbent on destroying the renewable energy industry so as to benefit his billionaire friends in fossil fuels.
He’s on course to be remembered as the most destructive person in world history, with the possible exception of Adolph Hitler.
What is said here about Pete Hegseth is clearly true.
But keep in mind that he’s fiercely loyal to Donald Trump, and Trump couldn’t possibly care what happens to the United States, as long as he can stay out of prison and enrich himself and his family.
Here’s an article that outlines how the EU has lowered energy prices via its investment in renewables.
In truth, the economics of all this is complicated. In most of the world, there are subsidies for clean energy, just as there are subsidies for Big Oil. If you want to remove the environmental regulations of coal-fired power plants and let them make fortunes by turning our atmosphere into their own private sewers, you can probably make coal-powered energy very inexpensive.
One thing is clear though, looking through all this complexity: the countries whose people actually care about the future of life on Earth are aggressively decarbonizing their energy and transportation sectors, and there is a great deal to be said for this.
In the United States, we’re rapidly going in the other direction. Shame on us.
From the Independent: “Trump Administration to Pay Two More Companies to Walk Away from U.S. Offshore Wind Leases”
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