Hydrogen is a funny fuel when it comes to cars. It was supposed to be the clean and convenient alternative to gasoline, but practical concerns have stopped it from properly catching on. Thus far, only a handful of public hydrogen stations have been installed in California and Hawaii, but finally, a third state has got […]
Douglas County PUD hasn’t just built a filling station, but has also built its own hydrogen production facility that uses Washington State’s abundant hydroelectric power. According to the utility, electricity makes up 80% of the input costs of hydrogen production. Thus, a cheap source of power means cheap hydrogen. As a bonus, the utility can use the hydrogen electrolyzer to burn off excess power to help stabilize the grid at times when renewable energy supplies are high and grid demand is low.
Yup.
It’s just quite common for these hydrogen production facilities are cracking hydrocarbons.
Or if they are electrolysing, it’s with power from a grid backed by hydrocarbon.
So “where does the hydrogen come from?” is a common question.
While it sounds like this does come from the grid, it does sound like a high-renewable grid.
Altho if the hydroelectric is capable of pump-storage, I imagine the operators would rather fill reservoirs than convert the excess energy into hydrogen.
But still, hydrogen as a fuel is interesting and promising. I hope all the difficulties are worked out! And the first step to that is adoption & demand, which requires hydrogen.
As renewable energy gets cheaper, we will be flooded by cheap excess energy. It will drive the price of hydrogen to nearly zero in time.
Yup.
It’s just quite common for these hydrogen production facilities are cracking hydrocarbons.
Or if they are electrolysing, it’s with power from a grid backed by hydrocarbon.
So “where does the hydrogen come from?” is a common question.
While it sounds like this does come from the grid, it does sound like a high-renewable grid.
Altho if the hydroelectric is capable of pump-storage, I imagine the operators would rather fill reservoirs than convert the excess energy into hydrogen.
But still, hydrogen as a fuel is interesting and promising. I hope all the difficulties are worked out! And the first step to that is adoption & demand, which requires hydrogen.