Elon Musk has a historical past of expressing sturdy opinions about hydrogen and hydrogen gas cells. Just a few years in the past, when the topic got here up throughout a dialogue with reporters on the Automotive Information World Congress, the electrical car magnate described hydrogen gas cells as “extraordinarily foolish.”
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reiterated his skepticism about hydrogen’s position within the deliberate shift to a extra sustainable future, describing it as “essentially the most dumb factor I may probably think about for vitality storage.”
Throughout an interview on the Monetary Occasions Way forward for the Automobile summit on Tuesday, Musk was requested if he thought hydrogen had a task to play in accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels.
“No,” he replied. “I actually cannot emphasize this sufficient — the variety of occasions I have been requested about hydrogen, it could be … it is nicely over 100 occasions, possibly 200 occasions,” he stated. “It is essential to know that if you need a method of vitality storage, hydrogen is a foul selection.”
Increasing on his argument, Musk went on to state that “gigantic tanks” could be required to carry hydrogen in liquid type. If it had been to be saved in gaseous type, “even greater” tanks could be wanted, he stated.
Described by the Worldwide Power Company as a “versatile vitality provider,” hydrogen has a various vary of purposes and will be deployed in sectors reminiscent of trade and transport.
In 2019, the IEA stated hydrogen was “one of many main choices for storing vitality from renewables and appears promising to be a lowest-cost choice for storing electrical energy over days, weeks and even months.”
The Paris-based group added that each hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels had been capable of “transport vitality from renewables over lengthy distances — from areas with considerable photo voltaic and wind assets, reminiscent of Australia or Latin America, to energy-hungry cities 1000’s of kilometres away.”
Musk has a historical past of expressing sturdy opinions about hydrogen and hydrogen gas cells.
Just a few years in the past, when the topic got here up throughout a dialogue with reporters on the Automotive Information World Congress, the electrical car magnate described hydrogen gas cells as “extraordinarily foolish.”
In June 2020 he tweeted “fuel cells = fool sells,” including in July of that 12 months: “Hydrogen fool sells make no sense.” Judging by his feedback this week, he stays unconvinced about hydrogen.
“It doesn’t naturally happen on Earth, so that you both have to separate water with electrolysis or crack hydrocarbons,” he informed the Monetary Occasions.
“If you’re cracking hydrocarbons, you actually have not solved the fossil gas downside, and the effectivity of electrolysis is poor.”
In the present day, nearly all of hydrogen manufacturing relies on fossil fuels. One other technique of manufacturing consists of utilizing electrolysis, with an electrical present splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.
If the electrical energy used on this course of comes from a renewable supply reminiscent of wind or photo voltaic then some name it inexperienced or renewable hydrogen.
Hydrogen tasks utilizing electrolysis have attracted curiosity from main firms and enterprise leaders lately, however it will seem Musk shouldn’t be a fan.
“The effectivity of electrolysis is … poor,” he informed the Monetary Occasions. “So you actually are spending quite a lot of vitality to … cut up hydrogen and oxygen. Then it’s a must to separate the hydrogen and oxygen and pressurize it — this additionally takes quite a lot of vitality.”
“And if it’s a must to liquefy … hydrogen, oh my God,” he continued. “The quantity of vitality required to … make hydrogen and switch it into liquid type is staggering. It’s the most dumb factor that I may probably think about for vitality storage.”
Completely different viewpoints
Musk could also be dismissive about hydrogen’s position within the vitality transition, however different influential voices are just a little extra optimistic. These embrace Anna Shpitsberg, who’s deputy assistant secretary for vitality transformation on the U.S. Division of State.
Throughout a latest panel dialogue moderated by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble, Shpitsberg referred to as hydrogen “a game-changing know-how that speaks to quite a lot of different sources … as a result of it may well underpin nuclear, it may well underpin fuel, it may well underpin renewables, it may well clear an excellent portion of it and so can CCUS [carbon capture utilization and storage].”
Elsewhere, February noticed Michele DellaVigna, Goldman Sachs’ commodity fairness enterprise unit chief for the EMEA area, spotlight the essential position he felt it will have going ahead.
“If we wish to go to net-zero we won’t do it simply by renewable energy,” he stated.
“We want one thing that takes right this moment’s position of pure fuel, particularly to handle seasonality and intermittency, and that’s hydrogen,” DellaVigna argued, happening to explain hydrogen as “a really highly effective molecule.”
The important thing, he stated, was to “produce it with out CO2 emissions. And that is why we speak about inexperienced, we speak about blue hydrogen.”
Blue hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced utilizing pure fuel — a fossil gas — with the CO2 emissions generated in the course of the course of captured and saved. There was a charged debate across the position blue hydrogen can play within the decarbonization of society.
“Whether or not we do it with electrolysis or we do it with carbon seize, we have to generate hydrogen in a clear manner,” DellaVigna stated. “And as soon as now we have it, I believe now we have an answer that might change into, someday, not less than 15% of the worldwide vitality markets which implies will probably be … over a trillion greenback market every year.”
