I have noticed a dramatic
I have noticed a dramatic increase in pro-hydrogen stories in the press recently. This spike coincides with a successful Tesla Model 3. Could it be that big oil is really, really nervous?
The physics of hydrogen has to be overlooked in a piece like this. Instead of saying, "there is no free hydrogen on earth" authors have to say, "it's the most abundant element on earth". Instead of mentioning that hydrogen is basically a fossil fuel, authors have to say, "you get hydrogen from water". And normally the unforgiveable conversion losses aren't mentioned at all.
It's time to acknowledge the truth about hydrogen-- it's big oil's last-ditch effort to stay in the game. Amost every atom of pure hydrogen on this planet is produced from natural gas.
Some key physical realities that the author left out: 1)You lose about a third of the energy of that natural gas when you convert it to hydrogen. 2)You lose more energy when you convert the hydrogen to electricity in the fuel cell. 3)there is no free hydrogen on earth, it's always glued to something else-- thus the need to use lots of energy to convert that something else (natural gas).
Based on these facts the physical reality becomes clearer-- hydrogen is like a battery, just way, way less efficient. It's like burning 100 gallons of gasoline to get 40 gallons of gasoline.
Why would major companies like Toyota firmly get behind hydrogen? Because they have masters. And if you think that's too conspiratorial, you must at least acknowledge that those major companies weren't willing to bet against big oil.
I make mistakes (often) and I'm sure the author didn't intentionally mislead readers. I hope he'll acknowledge the physics of the hydorgen idea to give readers a more honest picture.