Re:'A complete failure' Japan's 'fantasy' hydrogen strategy ...
by rgbrenner on Monday January 23, 2023 @05:29AM
(#34487261)
No, I'm not being disingenuous at all. The reason hydrogen products dont make it to market is the same reason you hear about some new battery tech, and then never hear about it again: it's promising, but it either doesnt work economically or there are unresolved issues.
You say hydrogen works better than li-ion grid scale storage.. but there are more batteries being used for that than hydrogen today. Hydrogen demonstration systems are 20-45% efficient, meaning it's hard to compete on price (assuming the issues are worked out). The other type uses massive salt caverns for storage, and those are limited by the number of suitable sites.. just like pumped hydro.. so they'll always be niche applications.
It's not some conspiracy. Utility companies buy energy storage systems based on cost/efficiency. Hydrogen systems aren't in that mix today because they aren't efficient enough or because they have some issue that prevents them being put into products. That's it. There's the whole problem. Hydrogen hasnt passed that minimal bar required to make a real utility scale energy storage product.
Li-ion may or may not be (one of) the solutions for most grid scale storage.. but until hydrogen comes way down on cost and more issues are resolved, it's not going to be the answer at all. All of this "hydrogen is better for X" is currently a fantasy based on lab promises.
You say hydrogen works better than li-ion grid scale storage.. but there are more batteries being used for that than hydrogen today. Hydrogen demonstration systems are 20-45% efficient, meaning it's hard to compete on price (assuming the issues are worked out). The other type uses massive salt caverns for storage, and those are limited by the number of suitable sites.. just like pumped hydro.. so they'll always be niche applications.
It's not some conspiracy. Utility companies buy energy storage systems based on cost/efficiency. Hydrogen systems aren't in that mix today because they aren't efficient enough or because they have some issue that prevents them being put into products. That's it. There's the whole problem. Hydrogen hasnt passed that minimal bar required to make a real utility scale energy storage product.
Li-ion may or may not be (one of) the solutions for most grid scale storage.. but until hydrogen comes way down on cost and more issues are resolved, it's not going to be the answer at all. All of this "hydrogen is better for X" is currently a fantasy based on lab promises.