hydrogen is not a fuel. You have to make it, and you always get less energy out than you put into doing so.
It’s a very inefficient battery. On a vehicle that has no weight concerns.
Comment on Swiss hydrogen-powered train sets 1741-mile record for nonstop travel
SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 months agoBecause that’s not the point, hydrogen is the most abundant fuel we have access to. The idea that we shouldn’t be using it is just dumb. It’s what’s more than likely going to fuel our ships to other planets eventually. It’s one of the reasons finding water on planets and moons is a big deal. The thought from the battery crew that we shouldn’t pursue hydrogen is just stupid.
vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 months ago
You’re like the guy who found oil and said it’s not a fuel.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Yeah, but it’s attached to other molecules, and it’s really hard to separate the stuff.
Hydrogen is a really shitty and inefficient battery, it would be cheaper, easier, and more efficient to just put batteries on the train.
frezik@midwest.social 2 months ago
Or an overhead wire and don’t worry about batteries.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Overhead lines are almost as expensive as laying the track in the first place though.
RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Not if you do it simultaneously… cost is higher than just rail, but rains wouldn’t have range limits at all, and would weigh less, meaning less energy used to accelerate (and better emergency brake response).
I’m very pro EV, but even more a fan of distributed power systems that aren’t chemical based.
SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yea totally why large companies are still pursuing it, apparently you and all the EV fanboys know something they don’t.
Also you saying it’s really hard to do something is like the same people who said we shouldn’t be flying, it’s to hard. That’s not how innovation works. To you eating raw meat and living in caves is where humanity should have stopped apparently, because everything else is hard to do.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 2 months ago
OK buddy.
frezik@midwest.social 2 months ago
We did pursue it. Batteries won for common use cases. There may yet be niches where it’s useful, but they’ll be the exception.
SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 months ago
We’re still pursuing it. Batteries do not work for basically anything other than average passenger vehicles in the city or near cities. They do not work in construction, they do not work for heavy equipment, long haulers or even large sea vessels…they do not work for shit in aircraft that carry anything other than itself or tiny payloads…and they really are pointless for any sort of space propulsion. A mixed energy planet is what is needed, not this “batteries are the end all be all” thought so many of you have.
frezik@midwest.social 2 months ago
Most of the items you mention are being overtaken by better batteries. Long haul trucking batteries will likely be at cost parity with diesel trucks this year. Big cargo ships should probably go to SMRs. Airplanes no longer look as out of reach as they once appeared.
Space flight is such a specialized use case. Of course hydrogen will be the predominant fuel there. More because there’s limited options than anything else.
SoGrumpy@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
We have 2 electric Volvo FHs with everything else speced exactly like my diesel powered Volvo FH 500 turbo compound (gearbox, final drive, tyres, cab/cab equipment). With my 1265 litre tanks, I go about 4000 kilometres - load dependant - against their max 300 kilometre range - also load dependant. It takes me 15 minutes at a fast pump to fill the tanks. It takes the EVs 30 minutes to get to 80% on a fast-charger. They cost more than double my ICE to purchase. The price has a long way to fall, ignoring the range completely. Battery powered trucks are only good for the ‘last mile’ deliveries, everything else needs to be hydrogen powered.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 2 months ago
They don’t work in construction?
Don’t work for long haul?
There are applications for hydrogen vehicles, but commuter trains aren’t one of them, especially since weight isn’t really much of an issue, so we can just keep adding batteries to get whatever range we need.
SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Weight is always an issue, who told you it isn’t? And sounds like you know something these engineers don’t.