(Oil & Gas 360) – “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald). That ability appears to be paying off these days for Elon Musk, who, according to Forbes Magazine, is the world’s richest person at nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars.
Controversy appears to have its rewards as well. Musk’s seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy extends to his emphasis on his long-time opposition to hydrogen as an energy source. Earlier this month, he called hydrogen fuel cells “the most dumb thing I could possibly imagine for energy storage.”
His latest comments reaffirm his stance over the past several years, in which he has said hydrogen is inefficient relative to battery electric solutions due to the operational and logistical issues regarding storage and transportation of the fuel, whether in liquid or gaseous form.
Yet simultaneously, and as if to personify Fitzgerald’s axiom, Tesla wants to add a new hydrogen-powered car model to its product line in 2026.
Telsa’s H model would use hydrogen not as a fuel source for production but for conversion to electricity, allowing it to support Tesla’s battery business, which extends beyond the Tesla auto line to large-scale industrial and residential batteries.
Hydrogen-fueled vehicles are called fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Manufacturers, including Hyundai and Toyota, offer FCEV production for sale or lease to customers in markets where hydrogen fuel is available, primarily in California.
Hydrogen fuel cells convert hydrogen gas into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen. This process occurs in a fuel cell, which consists of two electrodes (anode and cathode) separated by an electrolyte.
The reaction at the cathode combines protons, electrons, and oxygen to produce water and heat, making it a clean energy source with minimal environmental impact.
However, hydrogen production is energy-intensive, and the infrastructure for hydrogen refueling is underdeveloped.
As of 2023, there were 59 open retail hydrogen stations in the United States with another fifty in various stages of planning or construction. Most of the existing and planned stations are in California, with one in Hawaii and five planned for the northeastern states. The U.S. lags behind China, Japan and South Korea.
By Jim Felton for oilandgas360.com
