Top Reasons Many Researchers Prefer Hydrogen Fuel Vehicles Over EVs
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Despite the fact that EVs have experienced far more widespread adoption than hydrogen fuel vehicles, many researchers, engineers and environmentalists – as well as drivers – find the latter option more appealing.
These reasons are given.
- No substantial lifestyle changes are required.
- H2 powered cars place less strain on the electric grid.
- They have a larger range
- Practicality for a larger range of vehicles
If I was thinking of buying an electric vehicle, I;d look at hydrogen before I decided on the vehicle, I would buy.
I don’t drive, but if I wanted to, I suspect I could get my licence back.
- I have a garage, that opens onto the street.
- There is no nearby hydrogen station.
- If I went any distance over about twenty miles, I’d probably use public transport.
I’d probably choose an electric vehicle.
Arcola Energy, Consortium Of Rail Industry Leaders To Deliver First Scottish Hydrogen-Powered Train
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on seanews.
The article describes the project to create a demonstrator hydrogen train for Scotland out of an old Class 314 train.
Note.
- Work will be needed on the interior.
- Is a three-car train long enough?
- Will the train still be able to use its pantograph?
The trains may be over forty years old, but they can probably made to look good, as they are closely related to these Class 508 trains, that are in superb condition on Merseyrail.
These trains were built in 1979 and are one of the oldest trains on the UK’s mainland network.
Wikipedia says this about the conversion to hydrogen.
In February 2020, ScotRail announced plans to convert one of the two remaining units, 314209, to run on hydrogen. This is a feasibility study running alongside ScotRail’s commitment to run no diesel trains by 2035.
The train will be displayed at the COP26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow in 2021.
Possible Destinations For An Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train
Currently, the following routes are run or are planned to be run by Hitachi’s Class 800, 802, 805 and 810 trains, where most of the route is electrified and sections do not have any electrification.
- Avanti West Coast – Euston and Chester – 21 miles
- Avanti West Coast – Euston and Shewsbury – 29.6 miles
- Avanti West Coast – Euston and Wrexham General – 33 miles
- Grand Central – Kings Cross and Sunderland – 47 miles
- GWR – Paddington and Bedwyn – 13.3 miles
- GWR – Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads- 24.5 miles
- GWR – Paddington and Cheltenham – 43.3 miles
- GWR – Paddington and Great Malvern – 76 miles
- GWR – Paddington and Oxford – 10.4 miles
- GWR – Paddington and Penzance – 252 miles
- GWR – Paddington and Swansea – 45.7 miles
- Hull Trains – Kings Cross and Hull – 36 miles
- LNER – Kings Cross and Harrogate – 18.5 miles
- LNER – Kings Cross and Huddersfield – 17 miles
- LNER – Kings Cross and Hull – 36 miles
- LNER – Kings Cross and Lincoln – 16.5 miles
- LNER – Kings Cross and Middlesbrough – 21 miles
- LNER – Kings Cross and Sunderland – 47 miles
Note.
- The distance is the length of line on the route without electrification.
- Five of these routes are under twenty miles
- Many of these routes have very few stops on the section without electrification.
I suspect that Avanti West Coast, Grand Central, GWR and LNER have plans for other destinations.
A Battery Electric Train With A Range of 56 Miles
Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train is deescribed in this infographic.
The battery range is given as 90 kilometres or 56 miles.
This battery range would mean that of the fifteen destinations I proposed, the following could could be achieved on a full battery.
- Chester
- Shewsbury
- Wrexham General
- Bedwyn
- Bristol Temple Meads
- Cheltenham
- Oxford
- Swansea
- Hull
- Harrogate
- Huddersfield
- Lincoln
- Middlesbrough
Of these a return trip could probably be achieved without charging to Chester, Shrewsbury, Bedwyn, Bristol Temple Meads, Oxford, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Lincoln and Middlesbrough.
- 86.7 % of destinations could be reached, if the train started with a full battery
- 60 % of destinations could be reached on an out and back basis, without charging at the destination.
Only just over a quarter of the routes would need, the trains to be charged at the destination.
Conclusion
It looks to me, that Hitachi have done some analysis to determine the best battery size. But that is obviously to be expected.
Students Design ‘Mitt’ Prosthetic Limb For Children
The title of this post, is the same as this article on the BBC.
This was the good news story of the day, which started with these two paragraphs.
Even the most up-to-date prosthetic limbs can often be too heavy, or hard for young children to use with ease.
But now, a group of Imperial College engineering students has created a new, lighter one.
There is a video in the BBC article, which shows how it works.
- It looks like it doesn’t have any power, so there are no heavy batteries.
- Tools are attached by a powerful magnet.
- As the name suggests, it is worn like a glove.
- Judging by the look on the little girl’s face, as she used it to do simple tasks, it has found a satisfied customer!
What puzzles me, is that it is such a simple idea, that it hasn’t been thought off before.
Could The Mitt Have Other Applications?
I have a feeling it could.
I recently cut the back of my hand badly.
The picture shows it soon afterwards.
I don’t work or do many dirty tasks around the house, but could the students use their design principles for someone, who has perhaps damaged their hand and needs some protection.
This second picture shows how well it healed in the end.
I think the principle behind the Mitt has legs.
Sweden’s Grand Plan To Make Zero-Carbon Steel
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on theTelegraph.
It adds a lot of colour and background to Sweden’s plan to make zero-carbon stell using a process called HYBRIT, that I wrote about in Funding Award to Supply An 8MW Electrolyser and is illustrated in this infographic.
The amount of hydrogen needed is large as this paragraph from the Telegraph article says.
HYBRIT’s demonstration plant, for which an investment decision is due in 2022, will require 400MW of power just for the electrolysers to make the hydrogen. Sweden’s largest existing wind farm, Björkhöjden, produces just 288MW. Then to store the hydrogen, Vattenfall plans to build 120,000 m3 of lined underground storage, enough to store 100GWh worth of the gas.
Will they procure the electrolysers from the UK’s experts in the field; iTM Power? This innovative company is building the world’s largest electrolyser factory in Rotherham, which will be able to produce a GW of electrolysers in a year.
Conclusion
This well-written article in the Telegraph explains a lot about steel produced using hydrogen instead of coal.
Sweden has a lot of advantages at Lulea to create steel.
- The iron ore is mined locally.
- Sweden has ninety percent of Europe’s iron ore.
- Ships can sail to Lulea, which is at the top of the Baltic.
- There is gigawatts of zero-carbon electricity from the River Lule.
- They can build wind farms in the area, which has a low population.
It does look that they might export the iron ore as sponge iron, which can then be processed directly into steel products using electric arc furnaces.
Cup Of Tea Brightens The Day And The Mind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Newcastle University.
This is the introductory paragraph.
If you’re enjoying a cup of tea and mince pie this festive season, you may be refreshing more than your palate, as research shows a good brew improves the attention span in those over 85-years-old.
I find this research interesting, mainly because I drink tea in large quantities, at a rate of at least six mugs a day.
But then my family seems to have an unusual drink problem.
- I drink decaffinated builders tea and usually in a day, I’ll also drink two bottles of 0.5 % alcohol beer from Adnams and other soft drinks too!
- My father was the same except that he would have a pint of Adnams a couple of times a week.
- But his father drunk so much, he became an alcoholic and died at forty, well before I was born.
- I also tend to have a mug of tea before I go to bed.
- I’ve always preferred tea to coffee.
- My fifty-year-old son is teetotal, but seems to drink a lot of tea and soft drinks.
As both my father and myself share a skin problem, which is probably related to coelic disease. I think, I sweat a lot of water through my skin, so I need to keep topping it up.
Conclusion
After reading the report from Newcastle University, I think I’ll keep drinking the tea.
My First Request For Music On The Radio Was Successful
At seventy-three, I’d never askd for a tune to be played on the radio.
The presenter on Radio 5 Live, asked listeners to suggest a track, that would be suitable for the times.
So, I texted in.
Surely, the best track for these times is We’ve gotta get out of this place, by the Animals!
I was very surprised, when they played it!
As many do, I’ve got the name of the song wrong, as it’s actually We Gotta Get Out of This Place.
I certainly saw The Animals, at least twice.
The first time was when I was about sixteen, at the Regal Edmonton, where they topped the bill, with the Nashville Teens being the second group. I can remember Eric Burdon singing House Of The Rising Sun, highlighted by a red spotlight.
I also saw them at Cook’s Ferry Inn, when they chose a replacement for Alan Price and I may have seen them whilst at Liverpool University.
Those were the days!
Snam, ITM Power To Develop Green Hydrogen Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Renewables Now.
Points from the article.
- Snam will pump £30 million into ITM Power.
- Snam are planning up to 100 MW of green hydrogen projects.
In Joint Venture With Linde AG And £38M Strategic Investment, I asked “How Much Hydrogen Would A 5 MW Electrolyser Create In A Day?”
- I gave the answer as 2.182 tonnes of hydrogen, so multiplying up by twenty gives 43.6 tonnes of hydrogen.
- In a Wikipedia entry called Renewable Energy in Italy, it is stated that Italy produced 51.5 GW of renewable energy in 2015.
- The UK produced 30 GW of renewable energy in 2015, but our capacity is growing fast.
I suspect Italy will have plenty enough renewable electricity to supply 100 MW for hydrogen.
As iTM Power are building a factory to manufacture one GW of electrolysers per year, I suspect they can provide their part of the hasrdware for the Italian job.
Renewable Hydrogen Will Replace Natural Gas In Millions Of Australian Households
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Under a new Australian government-backed initiative, millions of households across the country will be supplied with renewable hydrogen in the place of natural gas.
The project will start in a small way by adding 10 % of hydrogen to the natural gas networks by the end of 2022.
Eventually, hydrogen will completely replace natural gas.
According to one of the comments to the article, ITM Power will supply the electrolysers.
That could be a nice little order.
My Second (And Cold) Christmas Dinner
As I wrote in Cooking My Christmas Dinner, I had a lot of food left over from Friday, as this picture showed.
So on Sunday, I had a cold lunch based on what was left.
I’ve still got some of the delicious cauliflower cheese for lunch today or tomorrow!
I think I can say, that this Christmas Feast from Roasted by Jack and Scott has been an unqualified success!
- The delivery turned up, when they said it would.
- The cooking time of just forty minutes was amazing.
- The vegetables were superb!
- I ate all the Christmas pudding, which is rare.
- The amount of washing up was small.
- There is no remains of a large bird to deal with!
I have said to my son, that if we get together next year, I’ll look seriously at using Jack and Scott again. I think I could just about cook for four on my small cooker.
The Anonymous Widower 