Hydrogen for cars? Facts, theses and controversies
Round dance on hydrogen for cars. The study by the Helmholtz Institute, the tweet from Starace (Enel) and the article by Milena Gabanelli (Corriere della Sera)
Hydrogen cars worse than diesel cars.
This was supported by Professor Maximilian Fichtner, Professor of Solid State Chemistry at the University of Ulm and director of the Helmholtz Institute , speaking at the “Way to Zero” event organized by Volkswagen to present the strategy for the coming years.
All the details.
LESS EFFICIENT HYDROGEN
Let's start with the statements of Professor Maximilian Fichtner. “Hydrogen cars are less efficient than Diesel ones,” Fichtner said during the event, explaining that 47 million hydrogen cars require energy equal to 1,000 Twh per year. Those same 47 million cars in the 2018 German fleet, mainly petrol and diesel, required 751 Twh. As Inside Ev points out, internal combustion engines have an average efficiency of around 20-24%, while the hydrogen chain for fuel cell vehicles would not go beyond 15-18%.
If those same cars had been electric, the figure would have dropped to 130 and 170 TWh.
PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF HYDROGEN
If hydrogen were to be produced from the energy produced by a wind turbine, the energy losses would be considerable. Of the 100% of the energy produced by a wind turbine, 40% is lost for the production of green hydrogen, while a percentage ranging between 12 and 40% is used for the processing of hydrogen. And again, writes Inside Ev , "5% would be lost in transport, 30-40% during refueling, 50% during chemical processes inside fuel cells and 5-10%, as in the case of battery-powered car, it would be “wasted” by the electric motor ”. And therefore: adding up all the losses, the hydrogen efficiency would be no more than 15-18%.
And in the case of cold temperatures, they lose about 20-25% of efficiency.
POLLUTION
Not just efficiency issues. Hydrogen also has a major climate impact, says Professor Fichtner, explaining that the CO2 produced to run a car fuel cell can even be double that of a diesel car.
COSTS TOO HIGH
Even the costs, at least at the moment, are too high and the producers would lose out. An SUV has a production cost of 100,000 euros, to be put on the market at a cost of 70 / 75,000 euros.
THE RECHARGE OF THE RECHARGE
In addition to efficiency, pollution and costs, there are also practical limitations. The hydrogen transport trucks to fill the dispenser tanks can hold 60/65 full hydrogen. A refueling is done by a car in about 5 minutes. To guarantee supplies as much as the offer, how many trucks do you need?
THE LIMITS OF HYDROGEN
It is an innovative technology, which will improve, it can be said. But this is not the case with the director of the Helmholtz Institute.
“Since the 1990s, hydrogen has made many steps forward, and will continue to do so. But unlike what can happen on batteries, there are natural limits to development that make me think that we can't do much better than what we're already doing, ”Finchtner explains. “Among these limits is the amount of green hydrogen that can be produced. Nowadays, in Germany enough is produced to power some industrial sectors, such as steel, but there is not enough for cars ”.
THE WORDS OF STARACE
To underline the words of professor Maximilian Fichtner, professor of solid-state chemistry at the University of Ulm and director of the Helmholtz Institute, was on Twitter Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel, who focuses on electricity.
“Hydrogen for cars? Let's look at the facts that are collected in a study by the Helmoltz Institute. Facts, not opinions or hopes… ”, writes Starace.
Hydrogen for cars? Let's see the facts that are collected in a study by the Helmoltz Institute. Facts, not opinions or hopes… https://t.co/QaCGcjdNXn
– Francesco Starace (@starax) April 30, 2021
THE DIFFICULTIES OF ITALY
“The only zero-emission hydrogen is the 'green' one, because the raw material used is water and the energy to produce it is electric and can come from renewable sources,” Milena Gabanelli writes today in Corriere della Sera . But the road to focus on green hydrogen is still all uphill. “We still produce 45% of electricity with gas”, as reported by Dataroom , Milena Gabanelli's data journalism column in Corriere della Sera.
"In the rest of the world in 2020 there was a record of growth for renewables, writes the Iea in its report, and rejects Italy, which is advancing by only one gigawatt more per year: it means that the objectives to be achieved in 2030 we will get there in 2085 ”, adds Gabanelli.
HOW MUCH EUROPE BETS ON GREEN HYDROGEN
Europe is also pushing hydrogen, which is asking for the production of green hydrogen to increase from 2% to 14% in 30 years, proceeding in stages. “1) By 2024, one million tons produced; 2) by 2030 ten million tons; 3) by 2050 a quarter of the renewables generated will be used to produce green hydrogen to be used on a large scale ", reads on Dataroom, in which it is specified that according to" the calculations of the CNR we will not go beyond 700 thousand tons by 2024 and 4 , 5 million by 2030. But to get there it is necessary, by 2030, to increase the share of energy from renewable sources in end uses to 32%, cut primary energy consumption by 32.5% and increase interconnection by at least 15 % of EU electricity systems ".
"The only zero-emission hydrogen is the" green "one, because the raw material used is water and the energy to produce it is electric and can come from renewable sources".
ITALY'S STRATEGY ON HYDROGEN
The Draghi Government is betting on hydrogen, including for mobility . To incentivize the source, the Government, with the PNRR, puts about 2.5 billion on the plate. 2 billion for the use of hydrogen in hard-t o-abate sectors, that is characterized by high energy intensity and without scalable electrification options, and 450 million for the research and development of the source, aiming for "four main research areas: i) green hydrogen production; ii) development of technologies for storage and transport of hydrogen and for transformation into other derivatives and green fuels; iii) development of fuel cells; iv) improving the resilience of the current infrastructures in the event of a greater diffusion of hydrogen ”.
THE GREEN HYDROGEN INCENTIVE
For the development of green hydrogen, which can be produced from water and renewable energy, the Government proposes "tax incentives", "in consideration of its neutral environmental impact (green taxes), included in a broader project for a general tax review of energy products and inefficient subsidies to fossil fuels ”.
HYDROGEN AND MOBILITY
The Pnrr also envisages “the creation of hydrogen-based refueling stations. The distributors will be suitable for trucks and cars, even operating at pressures of over 700 bar ".
In fact, the Government envisages “measures for the diffusion of green hydrogen consumption in the transport sector through the transposition of the European Directive RED II”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/idrogeno-per-auto-fatti-tesi-e-polemiche/ on Mon, 03 May 2021 12:43:41 +0000.