Cactus

12 Jun, 2020
The main problem with hydrogen is that it does not exist in an unbound, free form on Earth. It occurs combined with oxygen as water, or in hydrocarbons, like crude oil or natural gas. To make pure hydrogen it needs to be liberated from the compound it is in, and this takes energy. Hydrogen is not a source of energy. It is a means to store energy.

It will be easier for everyone to make synthetic hydrocarbons using renewable or nuclear power and use these synthetic hydrocarbons directly in currently exists turbine and piston engines. //

Pete
3.3K Points

12 Jun, 2020
Hydrogen is a pain to transport and store, increasing costs significantly.

As of right now, producing H2 for fuel cell ground vehicles involves cracking it from hydrocarbons, which is still a dirty process and only shifts the pollution elsewhere. Electrolysis is the end goal, but is extremely energy intensive. We'd need to build out a fair amount of renewable and nuclear power to fulfill that increased demand.