this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
346 points (93.7% liked)
Technology
59080 readers
4019 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
If weight isn't an issue, then it makes sense to use a system that only costs a fraction of a hydrogen-powered setup.
Trains don't need to fly. Just pack them full of batteries or - arguably even better - just electrify the line wherever possible.
That's just not an option for planes, so hydrogen remains a potentially viable approach.
Same goes for large container ships. It won't make sense to use batteries unless there are significant breakthroughs in capacity technology.
One of the advantages of hydrogen is that tanks and fuel cells can withstand a large number of "charging cycles" much better than batteries. Additionally, for ships, the amount of energy needed to move is so enormous that I fear we'll have a hard time creating batteries that are feasible for long-distance shipping.
For short distance ferrying (including large, car carrying ferries) on the other hand, Norway has already implemented quite a few electric stretches. The major issue there is building the infrastructure to charge the ferries.
No they can't, the membranes of fuel cells degrade extremely quickly, as I a couple of 100 cycles before significant efficiency loss. That's currently one of the biggest issues with fuel cells and one of the biggest areas of research. Currently, batteries are far more reliable as an energy source.