| It's a puff piece (who's his PR firm? I want to talk to them!) Those interested in the topic should acquaint themselves with the policy context and the state-of-the-art. [1] https://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/doe-technical-targets-hydr... [2] https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/60528.pdf The DOE goal for cost of distributed / dispensed hydrogen is $4/kgH2.
Cost of centralized production is estimated at half that even with electrolysis. I find it suspicious that there aren't any specific production cost estimates cited; just vague comparisons to unspecified existing technologies. Also, methane is a far better source of hydrogen than water (less energy required to break down the molecule for the yield of twice as much hydrogen). Steam-methane reforming (95% of industrial hydrogen production) gets you hydrogen from both methane and water, but is a huge CO2 emitter (9-10 kgCO2/kgH2). I'm personally a big proponent of thermal decomposition of methane [3]. Theoretical energy consumption is only 1.29 kWh/kgH2. if you can use a non-emitting source of energy, there's no CO2 emission. Carbon falls out as a solid and capture and sequestration is free. If you can make a valuable carbon (e.g. graphene) along the way, then you're set and there's no way electrolysis will ever be competitive. [3] https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy02osti/31351.pdf |