News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on After many false starts, hydrogen power might now bear fruit. Parent comment

Re:After many false starts, hydrogen power might now bear fruit by SmokeyHamster on Saturday July 04, 2020 @11:39AM (#23732984)
>You need to convert other forms of energy to hydrogen at a loss.

When wouldn't it be at a loss? That's just physics. Hydrogen fuel cells aren't a source of energy in and of themselves, they're just a storage medium, like any other battery. And the act of filling them will never by 100% efficient because nothing is, so there will always be loss.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:After many false starts, hydrogen power might now bear fruit by polishdude20 on Saturday July 04, 2020 @12:06PM (#23733184)
Hydrogen fuel cells don't store the hydrogen. They convert the hydrogen into electricity. The losses come from a: converting electricity to hydrogen by electrolysis and b: converting that hydrogen back to electricity.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:After many false starts, hydrogen power might now bear fruit by FabHK on Saturday July 04, 2020 @12:03PM (#23733155)
Yes, any conversion incurs a loss. The point is that hydrogen introduces additional conversions, because it must first be produced, and then converted to something useful.
[ Parent | on HN ]