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India launches first hydrogen-powered train built in the country to expand clean energy on railways (apnews.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/science@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49581602

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[–] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I really wish hydrogen will take off, I mean EV is great and simple, but the process of producing batteries are very polluting, yet hydrogen can be scaled almost everywhere.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    98% of hydrogen is currently made from fossil fuels.

    While it's possible to make hydrogen from renewable electricity, you immediately lose at least 60% of your energy in the electricity to chemical to electricity conversion steps. For comparison, batteries only lose 5-10% in the round trip charging.

    Hydrogen really only makes sense in applications where batteries can't be used, or efficiency is not relevant. So many companies have publicly announced their new hydrogen vehicles, then quietly stopped using them and started using battery electric vehicles instead.

    Hydrogen just costs too much, and the hard limit of chemical efficiency means it will never be cheaper than batteries.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Hydrogen is also a very flammable substance that needs special handling.

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