UK.gov: Here's £8.8m to plough into hydrogen-powered car tech

Re: ' Current industrial production of hydrogen gas'

3. (albeit related to your points 1 + 2) "Hydrogen Embrittlement" - that your metallic tank will slowly become more brittle over time (due to 2 perhaps?) and thus become increasingly unsafe especially in a crash

So there would have to be absolutely mandatory and very strongly enforced full pressure testing of the hydrogen tanks (and all high pressure components) on a regular basis.

Re: ' Current industrial production of hydrogen gas'

There are two more major issues

You missed out the third one - that 700bar tank will contain "not a lot" of energy in the fuel compared with liquid systems (petrol, diesel, x-thanol, LPG, ...

And the fourth one - that it's completely incompatible with any of the existing distribution and dispensing infrastructure which means a a huge investment before it becomes practical at all.

And the fifth one - that the vehicle won't be dual (or multi) fuel.

Really, this is yet another example of throwing our money at something for political reasons with a complete lack of any rational thought about what the end result is supposed to be. A better use for the hydrogen would be to convert it to methanol which is : liquid at normal temperatures and atmospheric pressures (just like petrol), compatible with existing storage distribution and dispensing infrastructure (just like petrol), can be used in only marginally modified existing vehicles, and so on.

Had "flex fuel" been mandated when electronic fuel injection became ubiquitous, then by now most vehicles would be flex fuel - with suitable seal materials and capable of adapting the fuelling to run on ANY mix of petrol, ethanol, or methanol.

So compatible with existing infrastructure and vehicles - great, can be introduced piecemeal without massive up front costs and upheavals. Not only that, but being easily transportable in bulk (ship or pipeline), it would be fairly easy to set up production where sunlight is plentiful (for making the hydrogen) and transporting the easily transportable liquid to where it's needed.

But where's the trough for snouts if they went for that ?

Re: ' Current industrial production of hydrogen gas'

RiverSimple claim to have solved the problem of pure H2 causing its container to go brittle.

Re: ' Current industrial production of hydrogen gas'

...Are there any unbiased, layman-friendly explanations of the challenges kicking around?...

Unlikely. Due to its connection with renewable energy and the anti-CO2 brigade, hydrogen is now a political gas, and you won't get any valid balanced comments about it.

It will either be "there are hundreds of problems in even thinking about it", or "We know just how to do it, and want to bring out a prototype of a fully-working system - can we have a billion pound grant?"...

Re: ' Current industrial production of hydrogen gas'

"Are there any unbiased, layman-friendly explanations of the challenges kicking around?"

Youtube: Search for "CNG tank explosion" - and realise this will be an even more common even with hydrogen.

There's a reason that hydrogen test vehicles are only ever leased by manufacturers. They simply don't want the liabilities associated with sales and consequent poor maintenance/old age.

Re: why subsidise private car development with public money

Not to mention that when considered against French and German networks ( including the non-main parts that people don't tend to see ), Britain railways services are ranked internationally as better.

Re: why subsidise private car development with public money

AC: You've been suckered by that gormless, white-bearded, Russian, sympathising anti-Semite, I suspect.

OT but I didn't know Daily Mail journalists had enough STEM to read stuff on The Register.

(Today's Mail front page is a prolonged accusation of anti-Semitism against Corbyn, seemingly forgetting that the last time the Mail was anti-Semitic was when it attacked Ed Miliband, accusing his father of "hating" Britain - safely dead so no libel - and including an awkward picture of Miliband struggling with a large bacon sarnie to remind its readers of his Jewish roots.)

Further evidence of Daily Mail "journalism"? The disconnect between Russia, Israel and policies on nationalisation: the fact that a service being heavily used does not mean it is good if it has a de facto monopoly (ask American users of Comcast how that works for them), and the dig at buses (because Mail readers think that they have risen enough in the world to look down on bus users).

Re: why subsidise private car development with public money

"And bus services have bumbled along for the most part much as they always have done, for the simple reason most people use them as a last resort, as they are slow, smelly, uncomfortable and full of vermin."

Are these the same buses that the poorly paid nurses and workers that use food banks have to use? Maybe a last resort for you in your big Tory palace and 4x4 you use for picking up the kids from grammar school but that's not the same for everyone. Rail services carry more people because more people can't afford cars but hey lets not let logic get in the way and because there are more people strangely enough.

Posting for balance only but I personally think re-nationalising public transport is a good idea considering it gets next to no money spent on it and only serves to make money for the shareholders where it should be there to serve the customer. If only there was the more choice that was initially promised rather than a load of big companies running specific lines/routes with zero competition.

Re: The New Hybrid

I actually thought methanol as a fuel (either direct or in a fuel cell) was still more dangerous than petrol as it is actually more flammable. Could well be wrong here but my understanding was that if you have a leak in the petrol line and it sprays onto the exhaust manifold then it won't catch fire (a spark, of course, would be a different matter) but that methanol would catch fire in that circumstance.

And I guess diesel would be even better, in this contrived scenario at least, as even a spark won't light it.