DTN 050: Hydrogen is losing the race to power cleaner cars
The Big Picture
Why hydrogen is losing the race to power cleaner cars
“A decade ago, the race to introduce a popular zero-emissions vehicle was anyone’s to win. “Go back to the 2010s, and the two technologies—electric and fuel cell—were very much talked about in the same breath,” says Colin McKerracher , head of the transportation team at BloombergNEF . Today, though, batteries are the clear front-runner. In 2023, global sales of battery electric vehicles topped 10 million, plus about 4 million plug-in hybrids. In that same period, only about 14,000 fuel-cell vehicles were sold worldwide. That means for every hydrogen-powered vehicle sold, 1,000 battery-powered ones were hitting the road. And the gap is widening, with EV sales growing by around a third in 2023 and sales of fuel-cell vehicle shrinking by roughly the same percentage. One of the central draws for fuel-cell vehicles is the speed and ease of fueling up at stations. Building those stations, though, has proved to be a challenge. Overall, hydrogen fueling infrastructure is seeing modest growth globally—but things have been going in the wrong direction in some key markets, including the hydrogen enclave that is California. Shell closed down all its hydrogen fueling stations for passenger vehicles in the state earlier this month, though the company will still operate some for heavy-duty vehicles. That follows similar closures across the state in late 2023.” ( MIT Technology Review )
US Department of Defense Plots Renewable Energy Takeover
“The United States Department of Defense has been an early adopter of solar power at its own facilities, especially out West where abundant space is available. Now the agency aims to deploy its buying power towards parts East. Earlier this month the DOD hooked up with the General Services Administration (GSA) in a scheme to draw more renewable energy resources from a wide swath of the US, covering 65 million people in 14 Atlantic and Midwest states along with the District of Columbia, all with the aim of transitioning its facilities to 100% carbon free electricity.” ( CleanTechnica )
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Astro Mechanica has invented a new kind of jet engine. Unlike any existing engine, it's efficient at every speed.
Because it's efficient at every speed, it can be used in a new way: as the first stage of an orbital launch vehicle. The resulting platform will get payloads to orbit dramatically cheaper than all-rocket systems - among many possible applications. The key insight is to use electric motors to drive a compressor. That way it can spin at any speed, allowing it to "adapt" to it's airspeed and combustion cycle. (via Ian Brooke )
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