Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-33869270-20180703224215/@comment-35745775-20180718203309

SM Racer wrote: I’ve never understood the enthusiasm for hydrogen. It’s not an energy source itself, you have to get energy from somewhere else to make it. It’s just an energy storage material, and it’s a pain in the butt, requiring complex and heavy storage systems either adsorbed or under high pressure. There’s no industrial infrastructure to make or distribute it (unlike electricity). I get that it has no point-of-use pollution, that’s nice, but neither do batteries. I don’t see much future for H2. The future is better batteries.

OK, I try to add some (25 years of) industry knowledge / experience here.

Most of what you said I agree with. H2 however is not necessarily pollution free, that depends on whether you have a fuel cell or whether you burn it in an ICE - both are possible.

As an energy carrier H2 is really not a bad alternative to say petrol, since it has high energy density - I guess there is a reason why rockets use it! Lack of fuelling infrastructure is however a huge barrier.

One of the really (not so) cool things about H2 is that it ‚disappears‘. The molecules of H2 are so small, that they find there way through all/most materials over time. Leave a H2 powered car fully tanked in the garage for a month or two and when you come back it is only half full!! Magic!

So yes, there are also significant storage issues.