What are pros and cons of hydrogen fuel cells?

Fuel economy equivalent to approximately twice that of gasoline-powered vehicles. Hydrogen is abundant and can be produced from renewable energy. Green hydrogen produced by electrolysis (a high-energy process) and renewable energy sources is a high-cost option, accounting for only about 5% of total H2 production. Today, the vast majority of global hydrogen production comes from fossil fuel sources (methane gas reform) and will continue to do so for several decades.

However, as the manufacturing capacity of more efficient and cost-effective electrolyzers increases, production costs are expected to decrease markedly along with the deployment of maturing renewable energy generation technologies and capacities.

Hydrogen fuel

cells are more efficient than many other energy sources, including many green energy solutions. This fuel efficiency allows for the production of more energy per pound of fuel. For example, a conventional combustion-based power plant generates electricity with an efficiency of 33 to 35%, compared to up to 65% of hydrogen fuel cells.

The same goes for vehicles, where hydrogen fuel cells use between 40 and 60% of fuel energy and, at the same time, offer a 50% reduction in fuel consumption. Hydrogen fuel cells offer greater efficiency in terms of use times. A hydrogen vehicle has the same range as those using fossil fuels (about 300 miles). This is higher than what is currently offered by electric vehicles (EVs), which are increasingly being developed with fuel cell power units as “range extenders”.

Hydrogen fuel cells are also not significantly affected by the outside temperature and do not deteriorate in cold weather, unlike electric vehicles. This advantage is further increased when combined with short load times. EfficiencyFuel cell vehicles are more efficient than combustion engines: a typical FCEV has a range of approximately 300 miles. Like electric vehicles and hybrid technologies, their regenerative braking system is capable of capturing energy lost during braking and storing it in the battery.

The only truly carbon-free way to use hydrogen fuel cell energy is to use solar or wind energy (which cannot be accessed in some parts of the world) to generate electricity for the electrolysis process. The fuel may come from non-ecological sources. Most of the production of hydrogen fuel currently comes from natural gas and coal, which continue to produce CO2 emissions. Compared to carbon emissions from combustion engines, fuel cell vehicles would significantly reduce the approximately 760 million metric tons of CO2 produced by U.S.

passenger vehicles per year. Like electric cars, cars that use fuel cells for their engine tend to be quite expensive compared to conventional cars. The lower level of dependence on fossil fuels that could be achieved by expanding hydrogen energy could also reduce dependence on global market prices for fossil fuels, such as oil. Hydrogen fuel cells provide an intrinsically clean source of energy, without any adverse environmental impact during operation, since the by-products are simply heat and water.

Therefore, also in terms of visual pollution, fuel cells could be considered superior compared to other energy sources. Not only are fuel cell-related car prices high, but there are also a fairly limited number of car companies that are still engaged in this type of technology. As technology advances, hydrogen fuel cells will be able to provide power for a range of fixed and mobile applications. While fuel cells may be one of the most promising alternative energy sources of the future, they are not yet a mature technology.

The cost of a unit of energy from hydrogen fuel cells is currently higher than that of other energy sources, including solar panels. Hydrogen fuel cells do not produce noise pollution like other sources of renewable energy, such as wind power. Since platinum and other precious materials are used for the production of fuel cells, the initial costs of fuel cells could be quite high. .