Energy Inspiration: Waiting for Hydrogen as an Energy Source in the Future Page all

KOMPAS.com – When the world is excited to welcome electric vehicle, especially electric cars, there is one source of energy that is looming and could overtake in the future.

The source of this energy is hydrogen. Launch AFP, hydrogen in the future could be a fuel for train, airplane, cars, trucks, or even for factories.

The use of hydrogen as a fuel is considered environmentally friendly because it is very low in emissions. Launch AFP, here are the future uses of hydrogen.

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Cars and trucks

Electric car fuel cell hydrogen is already on the way. At the end of 2014, Toyota launched the Mirai sedan, an electric vehicle fuel cell the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen.

South Korean manufacturer, Hyundai, did not want to be outdone and launched the Nexo SUV in 2018.

The main obstacle of electric car fuel cell hydrogen is a high price. In the market United States of America (AS), Mirai, for example, is priced at 50,000 US dollars (Rp. 726 million).

Another obstacle is the lack of hydrogen refilling stations. To make it too, it requires a large amount of capital.

But on the one hand, several car manufacturers and equipment manufacturers have announced plans in the form of large-scale investments to develop this vehicle.

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One of the possible segments that could be developed is the commercial vehicle segment for the transportation of goods, namely trucks.

In this segment, hydrogen can replace diesel engines using diesel fuel. The speed of refueling is one of the advantages of trucks with hydrogen.

Hyundai has launched a prototype truck with hydrogen. GM, Traton (Volkswagen), and Toyota are accelerating the development of their own models.

US auto start-up Nikola made a short-lived break with its promise of a hydrogen-fueled truck before admitting that there was still a long way to go.

Several companies suggest using buses fuel cell hydrogen, but the sector is still in the experimental phase.

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Train prototype

Hydrogen-fueled trains are considered a good alternative to diesel-fueled trains and cannot run on electricity.

However, this segment requires a dedicated refueling network.

Company of origin France, Alstom, has been testing such trains in Germany since late 2018, and now claims to be ready to build a railroad facility.

The French railway company SNCF and four French regions are expected to sign a contract for this kind of train.

The contract aims to put a prototype on the rails by 2023, followed by a pilot program in 2024 to 2025.

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The air transport sector is looking to hydrogen in order to halve the level of pollution emissions it produces by 2050.

There are two options for developing hydrogen for aircraft. The first option is to use direct hydrogen as fuel for jet engines.

This option is quite simple because it overcomes serious technical obstacles and does not modify the aircraft design too much.

However, this option faces a problem with fuel storage. At -253 degrees Celsius, hydrogen takes up four times as much space as fuel oil.

The second option is to combine hydrogen with carbon dioxide to produce a synthetic fuel.

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This synthetic fuel can be used alone or mixed with fuel oil without major engine modifications.

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has made hydrogen-fueled aircraft a strategic priority.

The company is targeting 2035 as the year for at least one of its three concepts to come to fruition.

The German aerospace research group DLR and Boeing are interested in the concept of hybrid fuels.

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Heavy industry also has climate targets to meet by 2050. And hydrogen appears to have an edge on that industry cement, chemical, and steel.

According to Economic prospects Hydrogen published by BloombergNEF, “green hydrogen” produced from water and sustainable electricity could cost between $ 0.80 and $ 1.60 per kilo by 2050.

The lower the price of “green hydrogen”, will make it competitive with natural gas in most countries.

Hydrogen has been widely used in the process of making fertilizers.

French company Air Liquide estimates that between 2030 and 2040, more than half of its hydrogen sales will go to the industrial sector.

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Meanwhile, 40 percent of this will be allocated for transportation and 10 percent will be used for various activities.

The steel-producing giant, ArcelorMittal, aims to reduce global emissions by 30 percent in less than 10 years.

ArcelorMittal has launched a project with Air Liquide at a factory in Dunkirk, France, which is already an experimental leader in Europe.

In La Mede, France, energy companies Total and Engie are working on a solar bio-powered refinery projected to produce five tonnes of “green hydrogen” a day.

Air Liquide has other energy projects under development in Normandy and Canada.

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