The Fuel of the Future

Is hydrogen the fuel of the future? You have heard this before. Fuel cells to power cars, but this is not that. Forget about everything you thought you knew about hydrogen. With the advent of battery packs for the grid, hydrogen is new again and becomes a potential integral piece of the renewable energy schema. This is a crazy idea.

The production of hydrogen can be not as expensive as it has been. We now have the ability to make localized solar-based power stations to create hydrogen by electrolysis anywhere there's a good water source and abundant sunlight. With the use of a solar farm and battery-based energy storage, a hydrogen electrolysis plant can operate day and night unabated. The US Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has a webpage on electrolysis which you can find here.

How to use hydrogen? We can use hydrogen to fuel craft that cannot resupply electrical power due to long-range or excess weight. Aircraft can be designed to use hydrogen as fuel. ZeroAvia is a company that seeks to make planes that run on hydrogen. A very informative Royal Aeronautical Society article on them is here. Electric cargo ships can be powered by hydrogen fuel cells (article). Rockets can use hydrogen as a fuel directly for their first stages. Very few rockets have ever done this. Hydrogen has often been reserved for upper stages. Using it for the first stage would be environmentally sound. The Space Launch System will use liquid hydrogen in its core stage, but that stage is arguably not its first stage because of the solid rocket boosters (NASA SLS core stage page).

What about safety in using hydrogen? Ever since the Hindenburg accident, hydrogen has been suspect as an explosive material. Hydrogen is a gas at room temperature. As such, it behaves vastly different than gasoline which we are all used to. Some safety videos demonstrate this (video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA8dNFiVaF0 ). There are several safety considerations to consider when dealing with hydrogen. It is often stored in liquid form, so frostbite is an issue. It is a gas, so suffocation in confined places is an issue. It is a light gas so it tends to rise and pool on ceilings. It is combustible, so it will instantly burn as it mixes with the oxygen in the air when sparked. Here is a full safety report made by Lockheed Martin for the state of Idaho. These issues can be mitigated once understood. We shouldn’t be scared by the calamity of Hindenberg to enjoy the benefits of hydrogen.

So how does hydrogen fit with renewables? Much like a battery, it's an energy transfer device but weighs less and takes up more volume. This is why it is a good thing for flying vehicles and ships in the high seas. We make hydrogen from water using electrolysis and solar energy. Then the vehicles, airplanes and/or ships, use them at a later time and turning the hydrogen back into water as they travel. It’s clean and environmentally friendly. In fact, it is the only environmentally friendly fuel out there. All the other fuels emit carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is the only one that does not. Sure, traditionally the production of hydrogen has been dirty. We need to change that. We need to make the production of hydrogen strictly via electrolysis and off the grid by renewable energy.

So hydrogen is the fuel of the future when you consider that it works with solar power to transfer energy to vehicles such as airliners and cargo ships. Sure there are a lot of technologies yet to be developed and business plans and financial models to be made. There is also a lot of groundwork also played down and a foundation to build on. We can do this and get rid of fossil fuels.

EV trailers

Some time ago, I viewed videos on how electric pickup trucks were no good where it came to practical trailer towing. The argument wasn't that they didn't have the might to tow trailers, but that the battery capacity to tow over several hours just wasn't in them. I realized that electric vehicles (EVs) have different constraints and variables than interior combustion engine vehicles (ICE). So, should an EV tow an ICE trailer, or should we develop EV Trailers tailored for EV cars and trucks? Let's explore this crazy idea, shall we?

Traditional trailers usually consist of a frame, wheels, brake lights and running lights and a hitch to connect to the car or truck at the bare minimum. Larger trailers also include an electric braking system that you have to connect to your towing vehicle. That system usually uses a 12-volt battery. Campers have their own batteries as well along with other possible systems for the kitchen like a natural gas stove. On my old family farm, we used to have a dumping trailer that not only had a brake system but would dump its load using an electric motor like a dump truck. Batteries on trailers are nothing new.

Let’s talk connectors. People who are accustom to hitching trailers are no strangers to also connecting electric wires together between the trailer and the towing vehicle. They’re always needed whether you’re charging the battery in the trailer or you just need them for the brake light and signals. Upgrading these connectors to what is needed for EV battery charging between the trailer and the towing vehicle should be a straight-forward process from the driver’s point of view. So this is a no brainer and nothing to worry about.

The range is the big thing. What does it look like when and EV pulls an ICE trailer? I pulled some data from the web on probably the most talked about EV on the market, Tesla Model 3. Sure, this data is rough and my calculations are rough because I don’t have all the variables, but the results serve the purpose of this post. Tesla 3 has about 26 kilowatts per hour for 100 miles. It also weighs about 3777.5 lbs. A small trailer camper weighs about 2000 lbs and then you have to add 1000 lbs for gear. That’s 3000 lbs it has to pull. Assuming it can pull it, I hope so, the range drops by 55%. Wow! I see what people are talking about when it comes to EVs not pulling their weight.

So, what happens when you add a battery pack in the trailer camper? You still have the car’s 26 kilowatts per hour for 100 miles power and you add another 26 kilowatts per hour for 100 miles. You double your power capacity. On the downside, you add weight as well. You add 1054 lbs to your trailer camper weight to bring it to 4054 lbs. Remarkably, my calculations show you have 96% of your range than driving without the trailer. That’s only a 4% drop. This is totally doable.

Are EV trailers in the future? It would seem to make sense. Like I said my numbers and calculations were rough. I just did a simple ratio of kWh and weight. What will a real-world test show? Who knows. I don’t think anyone has done it, at least not with a full-size trailer. EV technology is so different than ICE tech. It’s not very intuitive at all, and I think it’s because we’re not used to it. I mean there’s not equivalent to carrying an extra gas can in the EV world.

Now, does it make sense for car manufacturers to make EV trailers and campers? Maybe or maybe not. Maybe there’s a business model for the smaller companies to cash in on a market here if they can buy battery packs form companies like Tesla.

So, as I wrote this I got thinking that maybe someone already tried this. Sure enough, someone did. Check this video out from Rich Rebuilds on Youtube:

By the way, I'm liking Rich Rebuilds videos. His work is really neat and his take on Tesla is unique.

So, I hope this was thought provoking. This was a crazy idea I had and I come up with them from time to time. If you want to run with this idea give me an email. Thanks for the read.