Once upon a time on this blog, I was all gung-ho about fuel cell cars. They still can be a good deal, but let me tell you what soured me on them. It is the realization that the only way to get hydrogen to them is to use chemical means, which means it won't be cheap.
Fossil fuel's energy comes from burning carbon as well as the hydrogen within. The "hydrocarbons" can have the carbon removed, but it comes at a price of a reduction in energy value of the fuel. That means hydrogen cannot be cheap. If half of the energy value cannot be used, the fuel prices will have to double in order to make a profit. Not an economical proposition.
Unless it is produced with nuclear energy. If you were to make "nuclear ammonia" with a molten-salt reactor, then the cost of the fuel should be low enough to make it cost competitive.
Now, this article discusses how "expensive" fuel cell vehicles are. They don't have to be. They are expensive because there is no refueling stations. There are no refueling stations because there are no fuel cell powered cars. Chicken and egg type problem.
If you build the cars, the stations will come, but to make it all work, the prices have to be more competitive.
Fuel cells can be manufactured at reasonable prices from what I researched. These vehicles have no inherent necessity for being expensive.
If you can create a market, the costs will come down. The question is: Do we want to be energy independent or not? We can do this. The molten-salt reactor was proven in the seventies.
I still don't believe in wind nor solar. Nuclear energy is the ticket to energy independence. Fuel cell cars can play a role in that.
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