what a bargain!!, page-290

I will just plug my EV into my hydrogen fuel cell generator I have got stored in the back shed.

Disadvantages of Hydrogen Energy

While hydrogen energy has a lot of admirable benefits, it’s not really the outright preferable, clean and cheap energy source for most governments and companies. In gaseous state, it’s quite volatile. While its volatility gives it an edge over energy sources in terms of accomplishing numerous tasks, it equally renders it risky to use and work around. Some of the disadvantages of hydrogen energy include:

1. Hydrogen energy is expensive

Electrolysis and steam reforming, the two main processes of hydrogen extraction are extremely expensive. This is the real reason it’s not heavily used across the world. A lot of research and innovation is required to discover cheap and sustainable ways to harness this form of energy. Until then, hydrogen energy would remain exclusively for the rich.

1. Storage complications

One of hydrogen properties is that it has a lower density. In fact, it is a lot less denser than gasoline. This means that it has to be compressed to liquid state and stored the same way at lower temperatures to guarantee its effectiveness and efficiency as an energy source. This reason also explains why hydrogen must at all times be stored and transported under high pressure, which is why transportation and common use is far from feasible.

1. It’s not the safest source of energy

The power of hydrogen should not be underestimated at all. Although gasoline is a little more dangerous than hydrogen, hydrogen is hugely flammable and frequently makes headlines for its potential dangers. Compared to gas, hydrogen lacks smell, which makes any leak detection almost impossible. To detect leaks, one must install sensors.

1. Tricky to move around

It’s a daunting task to transport hydrogen brilliantly due to its lightness. Oil can be transported safely because it’s mostly pushed through pipes. Coal can conveniently be transported in dump trucks. Hydrogen also presents challenges when considering moving it in large quantities, which is why it’s mostly only transported in small batches.

1. Hydrogen energy cannot sustain the population

Despite the fact that hydrogen is bountiful in supply, the cost of harnessing it limits extensive utilization. As you realize, it’s quite challenging to disrupt the status quo. Energy from fossil fuels still rule the world. There is also no framework put in place to ensure cheap and sustainable hydrogen energy for the normal car owner in the future. Even if hydrogen were to become cheap right now, it would take years to become the most used source of energy since vehicles themselves and service stations would need to be customized to conform to hydrogen requirements. This would require massive capital outlay.

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It’s a fact that hydrogen energy is a renewable resource because it’s abundantly available and its impacts hugely neglected. However, hydrogen companies will, in real sense, need other forms of non-renewable energy such as fossil (coal, natural gas, and oil) to separate it from oxygen. We may be able to minimize over-reliance on fossils fuels when we embrace hydrogen energy, but it will be daunting to get rid of it from the system.