• The country's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain could lead the world in technology that uses hydrogen as fuel.
• He hopes that industries and jobs that are not harmful to the environment will come with this.
• Some predict a revolution with hydrogen fuel? But is this something that happens? Empty words?
• Fuel cell is used in hydrogen-powered machines. It is different from the battery.
• Hydrogen in the fuel cell reacts chemically with oxygen in the air. This chemical energy becomes electrical. That's what the machines run with. Water is released in this process. Nothing that harms the environment is born.
• Hydrogen-fueled cars, trucks, boats, vans, double-decker buses and small aircraft have been created so far. The latest JCB company has made an excavator with a fuel cell.
We're hearing about the revolution.
- We have been hearing about a revolution with hydrogen fuel for a long time.
- Many thought that this would cause major changes in the automobile sector in the early 2000s.
- But those expectations didn't come true.
- There are two main reasons for this.
- Completely new infrastructure was needed for hydrogen fuel. Battery cars, which were by then a competitor to hydrogen cars, had no problem. It is possible to charge anywhere.
- Already high capacity batteries are in use for other purposes. Hydrogen is not like that.
- That's why hydrogen lost the battle with batteries in the case of cars. But batteries are not able to meet the needs of processes such as transportation, industries and heating. So now hydrogen is back in competition.
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| Hydrogen trains |
- There is another small excavator, similar to the huge excavator made by The JCB company. It runs with a battery. It is as small as it takes in the door.
- The JCB says that if it is to be made at a huge excavator level, it will have to have a five-ton battery. Moreover, it takes hours to charge.
- Hydrogen is less weight than air. The tank can be filled in minutes.
- Heavy vehicles like lorries also come on the list of hydrogen-driven vehicles. It's hard to run them with batteries. Sometimes batteries are required equal to the weight they carry.
- The JCB said its factory in Northern Ireland had received orders for 80 hydrogen-fueled double-decker buses.
- So, how are they fueled?
- Hydrogen pumps are installed in the middle of the path for trucks travelling long distances.
- They are also useful for hydrogen cars and hybrid battery vehicles in the future. The problem of batteries that are getting bigger in cars may be solved.
- Refueling can be arranged in depots for buses.
- Until now, there was a fear of hydrogen tanks exploding. Kevler synthetic fiber-coated tanks and the processes available to release hydrogen if the tank is blocked have solved this.
Trains and planes...
- Airports can also store hydrogen.
- The first electric plane in Britain, piloted by Cranfield University, flew with a hydrogen fuel cell.
- Germany is leading the race with a network of hydrogen train and hydrogen filling stations. With the intention of gaining the upper hand in the hydrogen market, the country has invested nearly Rs 59,000 crore in the sector.
- The European Union (EU) Commission has also focused on this market.
- The EU Commission has reportedly planned to release a strategy to be adopted in the case of hydrogen technology on the website Euraactive soon.
- A leaked document says that the EU intends to be the euro currency in the case of hydrogen, just as the dollar is the currency for oil transactions internationally.
- Experts say britain has lost before China in the competition for batteries and Britain does not want that to happen in the case of hydrogen.
- The Committee on Environmental Change has instructed the British government to start large-scale experiments in the early 2020s.
- In a few weeks, a hydrogen train developed by Birmingham University will be run and tested on regular tracks. This is the first hydrogen train in Britain.
there are obstacles
- The path to hydrogen fuel has not been cleared. Furthermore, there are some obstacles.
- At the moment, almost all of the hydrogen sold in Britain is hydrogen separated from natural gas. It is a costly process. Moreover, carbon dioxide, which harms the environment, is released in it.
- This carbon dioxide can be absorbed in 'carbon capture' method and prevented from reaching the atmosphere. But this increases the cost.
- Another way is to use renewable electricity to separate hydrogen from water.
- This process is completely contrary to the way hydrogen is used as fuel. Hydrogen is separated from water using fuel cell. Electricity is used for this purpose. This means that electrical energy becomes chemical energy.
- Elon Musk, head of Tesla, has said that it is a meaningless process to convert electrical energy into chemical energy and convert the same chemical energy back into electricity, and fuel cells are called 'fool cells'.
- Advocates of hydrogen fuel say that the electricity available is very cheap when demand is not high in the future, and in ways that can be used in other ways.
- Current developments are favourable for hydrogen fuel.
- Britain aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Systems powered by conventional fuels are looking at hydrogen-like alternatives.
- The fate of hydrogen fuel depends on how much cooperation is received from the government.
- It remains to be seen whether hydrogen, which lost 20 years ago in competition with battery cars, will make it to tomorrow's carbon-free economy.
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