Topic: Hyundai rolls out 27 heavy-duty hydrogen trucks in Germany (Read 196 times)

This is a very interesting topic. This article says that most of the world's hydrogen is made from methane, which results in carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere, as opposed to electrolysis which is entirely clean. I personally think countries should be investing in nuclear energy and bringing the costs of electricity down to make hydrogen more attractive. 

There is this "risk" that people ignore, it is not a huge one and I agree with that, but it is still not tiny neither. Hydrogen is highly flammable, and oil is too, so if you have hydrogen truck carrying oil, that is going to be something giant, so assuming if it gets blown up, that is going to cause such a big ball of fire and explosion that it would hurt anyone even a mile from it, and kill anyone within a mile of it. So, that’s why I always refrained from supporting it.

But, if nothing goes wrong, it’s cheaper, it's cleaner, and it is definitely going to drop the price and help the economy recover and get back to a level where it's more reasonable instead of this unreal prices.

This is generally viewed as easing the cost of shipping and products in a country.

But there is another angle to it. The existing gasoline infrasructure can be used to transport and store hydrogen fuel. Trucks used to transport gasoline across the country, can be used to transport hydrogen fuel. Gas station fuel tanks that normally store gasoline. Can also be used to store hydrogen.

As the cost of fossil fuels rise, alternative energy options like hydrogen become more viable. At a certain tipping point, shipping and transportation become more affordable via hydrogen fuel than gasoline. And the existing infrastructure being accommodating to hydrogen without major modifications certainly helps.

The main obstacle would be lack of domestic hydrogen fuel generation. Catalysts to generate hydrogen more efficiently have been like a holy grail for researchers. A hydrogen based economy has been touted as one potential clean energy option for the future. Perhaps circumstances are aligned now to make it a reality. What do people think.

This is a very interesting topic. This article says that most of the world's hydrogen is made from methane, which results in carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere, as opposed to electrolysis which is entirely clean. I personally think countries should be investing in nuclear energy and bringing the costs of electricity down to make hydrogen more attractive. 

Can we stop with this freezing nonsense, please? I don't know why everyone has this impression in winter every country in Europe is full of snow, reindeer clogging the autobahn, and sixteen feet of snow covering each house and people using sleds to go to work.

Instead of providing reliable energy through oil and gas with existing infrastructure, they continue to invest in unreliable green energy initiatives at a time when Germans might be facing freezing in the winter. I hope Germans are not celebrating these sort of accomplishments.

So has nothing to do with natural gas then.

This is generally viewed as easing the cost of shipping and products in a country.

This is generally viewed as easing the cost of shipping and products in a country.

But there is another angle to it. The existing gasoline infrasructure can be used to transport and store hydrogen fuel. Trucks used to transport gasoline across the country, can be used to transport hydrogen fuel. Gas station fuel tanks that normally store gasoline. Can also be used to store hydrogen.

As the cost of fossil fuels rise, alternative energy options like hydrogen become more viable. At a certain tipping point, shipping and transportation become more affordable via hydrogen fuel than gasoline. And the existing infrastructure being accommodating to hydrogen without major modifications certainly helps.

The main obstacle would be lack of domestic hydrogen fuel generation. Catalysts to generate hydrogen more efficiently have been like a holy grail for researchers. A hydrogen based economy has been touted as one potential clean energy option for the future. Perhaps circumstances are aligned now to make it a reality. What do people think.

This is a very interesting topic. This article says that most of the world's hydrogen is made from methane, which results in carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere, as opposed to electrolysis which is entirely clean. I personally think countries should be investing in nuclear energy and bringing the costs of electricity down to make hydrogen more attractive. 

I can't say what will one day be the ideal replacement for oil and gas, but I know that we can't rely on them forever because sooner or later their supplies will be used up. Accordingly, alternatives must be sought, or the world will one day stop because there will be no oil and gas that drives it today.

Hydrogen produced vehicles are not the future. They're dangerous and not efficient. Instead of providing reliable energy through oil and gas with existing infrastructure, they continue to invest in unreliable green energy initiatives at a time when Germans might be facing freezing in the winter. I hope Germans are not celebrating these sort of accomplishments.

The reason why hydrogen is inefficient is because the energy must move from wire to gas to wire in order to power a car. This is sometimes called the energy vector transition.

Let’s take 100 watts of electricity produced by a renewable source such as a wind turbine. To power an FCEV, that energy has to be converted into hydrogen, possibly by passing it through water (the electrolysis process). This is around 75% energy-efficient, so around one-quarter of the electricity is automatically lost.

The hydrogen produced has to be compressed, chilled and transported to the hydrogen station, a process that is around 90% efficient. Once inside the vehicle, the hydrogen needs converted into electricity, which is 60% efficient. Finally the electricity used in the motor to move the vehicle is is around 95% efficient. Put together, only 38% of the original electricity – 38 watts out of 100 – are used.

The main obstacle would be lack of domestic hydrogen fuel generation. Catalysts to generate hydrogen more efficiently have been like a holy grail for researchers. A hydrogen based economy has been touted as one potential clean energy option for the future. Perhaps the circumstances are aligned now to make it a reality. What do people think.

More hydrogen-powered trucks will take to the road in Europe this week thanks to funding from the German government, which will support the rollout of 27  heavy-duty Xcient Fuel Cell trucks by Hyundai to a group of seven German companies.

The seven German companies working in logistics, manufacturing, and retail will put 27 Xcient Fuel Cell trucks into their fleets in the future thanks to funding for eco-friendly commercial vehicles from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV).

While hydrogen fuel cell transport is probably not viable for mass private transport, and making it uses more electricity than simply supplying the electrons to batteries alone, many believe it has a place in long haul and heavy transport.

Hyundai – which in its release did not clarify if the fuel cells would be charged with “green” hydrogen, using 100 per cent renewables – plans to utilise the launch of these new Xcient trucks as an opportunity to further expand its business into the wider European commercial vehicle market.

The 27 new Xcient trucks follow 47 units which have already been deployed in Switzerland – the first 10 of which were delivered in mid-2020 – and have already clocked up over 4 million kilometres.

The Xcient Fuel Cell heavy-duty trucks are equipped with a 180kW hydrogen fuel cell system made up of two 90kW fuel cell stacks, delivering power to a 350kW motor with maximum torque of 2,237Nm.

The hydrogen used to power the truck is stored in seven large hydrogen tanks which offer a combined storage capacity of around 31kg of fuel, while a 72kWh set of three batteries provides an additional source of power.

All in all, a Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell truck boasts a maximum driving range of 400km per charge and refuelling a tank of hydrogen only takes between 8 to 20 minutes, depending on the ambient temperature.



https://thedriven.io/2022/08/04/hyundai-rolls-out-27-heavy-duty-hydrogen-trucks-in-germany/