I woke up the other morning at 3AM considering how pointless hydrogen cars are going to be. My wife sympathetically shakes her head at these “early morning ideas”.
I have been thinking about this one for a long time and am convinced that hydrogen fuel cell cars are a bad investment idea. Ok before all the greenies out there and jump up and down on me for killing the dream. I have an alternative suggestion. But first lets look at
Hydrogen has problems that are costly to overcome.
- 1.In-vehicle Storage: Hydrogen is volatile and has to be stored in the vehicle under extreme pressures 60 atmosphere in some cases. Even then its (energy density isn’t great) and the safety issues are night mare.
- 2.Hydrogen comes from somewhere. Everyone kind of leaves this out of the equation acting like fuel cells run on air. Hydrogen has to be manufactured and that means cost and infrastructure and maybe even Gasp! carbon created.
- 3.Storage and transport: Hydrogen tends to boil off and has to be transported. Converting a gas station for Hydrogen is estimated to cost $450,000. Again the storage and transport issues have not been taken care of. There is of course the belief that people will make hydrogen at home. These seems even less economical or environmentally friendly.
OK nobody likes a kill joy, so here is a solution Ultra capicitors. Most of you probably haven’t heard of them. They aren’t sexy, like hydrogen fuel cells. To the average person they sound like batteries which is what they are in essence, but they are batteries you should learn to love. Ultra capicitors are like super batteries. They have only problem: energy density. They weigh significantly more than conventional batteries or fuel cells relative to energy stored.The “transportation” problem that we are trying to solve with hydrogen isn’t about transportation, it is about replacing a hydrocarbon fuel as quickly as possible with an equally energy dense energy storage mechanism. Hydrogen is a fuel with its own problems. People are so fixated on water coming out of the tailpipe of hydrogen cars, that they aren't focused on all the upstream mess need to get the hydrogen into the car.
Let's just use batteries, electricity is the fuel, so skip the physical hydrogen converted to electricity part. just use the juice it is more efficient and makes things more simple from a design perspective. The cars will be simpler and we won’t need the PEM fuel cells and exotic storage mechanisms. Electricity can be fueled up at home quickly. Minimal infrastructure build out required.
Let's just use batteries, electricity is the fuel, so skip the physical hydrogen converted to electricity part. just use the juice it is more efficient and makes things more simple from a design perspective. The cars will be simpler and we won’t need the PEM fuel cells and exotic storage mechanisms. Electricity can be fueled up at home quickly. Minimal infrastructure build out required.
Ultracapitors basically allow for the rapid charging and discharging of electricity. I think the current energy research allocation is bogus, fuel cells and hydrogen storage get all the attention and $'s, while ultra capicators really are the solution and should have many more people investing in them.
The cost to build the infrastructure for Hydrogen will be enormous. With an ultra capicitor, you can “fuel” up at home. I think the most profound piece of science to come out of nano-tech that will be non-biologically related will be ultra capicitor research. Here is an article about an interesting firm in the space.
Current research and advances in ultracapitors have their own form of Moore's law. I don't have the data, but I have seen a few anecdotal points to tell me that these things are moving fast. I had the same feeling in 2000 about DNA sequencing which went from $3billion/person in 2000 and is approaching $1,000/person in 2011. The ultra capicitors will win and all of the hydrogen infrastructure plays and fuel cells will seem kind of silly.
If I were a hedge fund or clean tech VC, I would seriously consider my weighting of assets around hydrogen and start throwing some chips into the ultra-capicitor research ring. New energy storage mechanisms will make billions, create new industries and wreak havoc on old ones. A bet on hydrogen may be smart, but a hedge with ultra capicitors is even smarter. Warning: I am interested in a role as an emerging technology analyst with a fund or VC in the NYC area.
I would place my bet on some one creating a nice self assemblying thin film monolayer which can be manufactured in a roll to roll process. These nano-ultra capicitors can then be grouped into thicker sheets. The trick is maximal surface area and stable discharge with some form of control interface. I think this will be accomplished by using strong dielectrics as part the self assembly process yielding something physically resembling a voronoi plot or a well ordered lattice at the molecular level. Basically a "random crystal" or structured crystal. Who knows there may even be a role for artificial matter/ quantum dots as part of the solution. Comments?
The cost to build the infrastructure for Hydrogen will be enormous. With an ultra capicitor, you can “fuel” up at home. I think the most profound piece of science to come out of nano-tech that will be non-biologically related will be ultra capicitor research. Here is an article about an interesting firm in the space.
Current research and advances in ultracapitors have their own form of Moore's law. I don't have the data, but I have seen a few anecdotal points to tell me that these things are moving fast. I had the same feeling in 2000 about DNA sequencing which went from $3billion/person in 2000 and is approaching $1,000/person in 2011. The ultra capicitors will win and all of the hydrogen infrastructure plays and fuel cells will seem kind of silly.
If I were a hedge fund or clean tech VC, I would seriously consider my weighting of assets around hydrogen and start throwing some chips into the ultra-capicitor research ring. New energy storage mechanisms will make billions, create new industries and wreak havoc on old ones. A bet on hydrogen may be smart, but a hedge with ultra capicitors is even smarter. Warning: I am interested in a role as an emerging technology analyst with a fund or VC in the NYC area.
I would place my bet on some one creating a nice self assemblying thin film monolayer which can be manufactured in a roll to roll process. These nano-ultra capicitors can then be grouped into thicker sheets. The trick is maximal surface area and stable discharge with some form of control interface. I think this will be accomplished by using strong dielectrics as part the self assembly process yielding something physically resembling a voronoi plot or a well ordered lattice at the molecular level. Basically a "random crystal" or structured crystal. Who knows there may even be a role for artificial matter/ quantum dots as part of the solution. Comments?
