A team at the University of Hong Kong has developed a new “super steel” that can survive the harsh conditions needed to make green hydrogen from seawater. The material uses an unexpected double-protection mechanism that resists corrosion far better than conventional stainless steel. Even more impressive, it could replace costly titanium parts used in today’s hydrogen systems.
So, I don’t think that’s actually a huge issue. The main problem with hydrogen for stuff like planes is low energy density. But that’s not an issue for stuff like ground batteries which are used to capture energy from wind and solar. This also works for transport like trucks. And a big advantage for hydrogen is that it doesn’t need large amounts of rare earths as you do for traditional batteries.
China is taking a shotgun approach to their energy mix where they try a whole bunch of different things, and then see where different methods of energy production and storage make the most sense.
First of all, conversion from electricity to hydrogen achieves 60–80% system efficiency which isn’t even the theoretical maximum. Meanwhile, round-trip efficiency of P2P energy storage system with micro gas turbines between 22% and 29%.. It’s expected that efficiency could get to around 40% in the next decade as well.
So, I don’t think that’s actually a huge issue. The main problem with hydrogen for stuff like planes is low energy density. But that’s not an issue for stuff like ground batteries which are used to capture energy from wind and solar. This also works for transport like trucks. And a big advantage for hydrogen is that it doesn’t need large amounts of rare earths as you do for traditional batteries.
China is taking a shotgun approach to their energy mix where they try a whole bunch of different things, and then see where different methods of energy production and storage make the most sense.