Engineering360: "Hydrogen energy storage systems"

Methanation is a fairly well-known method of converting CO₂ or CO into methane, using H2, with water as the byproduct. If this methane is then burned, you have a circular process with no net creation or removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere. The difficulty will be in sourcing the CO₂ for the process.

I like the overall idea of hydrogen as a storage material for excess electricity produced from solar or wind sources. Problems encountered with it will include embrittlement of the steel pipelines, leakage due to its very small molecular size, very broad explosive limits, flame visibility, and conversion of existing burners. However, another application (which has been studied or explored for at least 35 years) is using hydrogen as the fuel source for transportation. I have heard that this is actively being introduced in California, with at least one manufacturer of cars powered by hydrogen and installation of refueling locations and the related infrastructure.

I like it. --JMM

Three autos that use hydrogen with fuel cells are in service in California. They are made by Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai. They are also in use in Japan and Germany.