Hydrogen Fuel is About to get CHEAP!

hydrogen is the fuel of the future its energy  density is suppressed only by nuclear Fuel and   its only emissions are water Vapors we've  been hearing this for quite a while but   hydrogen hasn't really lived up to the hype  just yet and it's because it has some major   challenges to overcome but there may finally  be some amazing breakthroughs happening that   can finally take hydrogen from a pie in the  sky idea to actually changing the landscape   of energy on this planet let's figure this all  out together I'm Ricky and this is Two Bit DaVinci [Music] this video is sponsored by 3M hydrogen by all measure sounds like an absolute  no-brainer for the future of fuel to replace coal   natural gas and oil for everything from electric  vehicles to energy storage to airplane ships and   Industrial applications like steel production  this is for good reason because hydrogen is   the most abundant element in the universe well  that's true but it's tricky we'll get back to   that here in just a minute now we've covered  hydrogen before on this channel links in the   description so we won't go too deep into the pros  and cons here but hydrogen has plenty going for   it after nuclear energy hydrant has the highest  specific energy density of any known fuel packing   33.3 killed hours per kilogram which is three  times more punch in the same amount of mass as   the best fossil fuels but before you get too  excited when you talk about the challenges in   the United States there are only around 40 public  hydrogen charging stations compared to over 168   000 gasoline stations the cost of installing a  hydrogen fueling station is really high and the   demand is really low so a risky investment and  one not many are willing to take just yet some   of the key challenges are one hydrogen production  two distribution and three it's overall efficiency   I'm going to focus on the production side of  the equation in this video remember when I said   hydrogen is the universe's most abundant element  well yes that is true but hydrogen is so light   that it really readily escapes the atmosphere  and floats off into space so the hydrogen that   we actually have on Earth is bonded to other  compounds like water and separating hydrogen   isn't easy for this reason most of the hydrogen  we have today actually comes from Steam methane   reforming of natural gas doesn't exactly sound the  fuel of the future does it so hydrogen only makes   sense if we can produce it in a clean way and that  has led us to another problem there are a lot of   ways to split water into hydrogen and oxygen  but one of the most promising ways is by using   a proton exchange membrane or pem to make this  work requires Catalyst to dry have the necessary   chemical reactions here's a quick breakdown of  how a pem electrolyzer works it looks a bit like   a battery or fuel cell with an anode cathode  a proton exchange membrane and a solid polymer   electrolyte that conducts protons but insulates  the electrodes electrically well electricity is   provided via solar panels or wind turbines in the  case of green hydrogen two reactions occur on the   anode side the half reaction that takes place  is called the oxygen Evolution reaction here   the liquid water is oxidized to oxygen protons  and electrons in the presence of a catalyst and   the best performing and long lasting catalyst is  iridium oxide we'll get back to that in just a   bit the half reaction taking place on the cathode  side is the hydrogen Evolution reaction here the   supplied electrons and the protons that pass  through the membrane are combined to create   gaseous hydrogen the problem lies in the fact  that iridium is one of the rarest elements on   Earth here's a list of the abundance of chemical  elements in the Earth's crust pay close attention   to lithium nickel manganese and Cobalt elements  used in lithium ion batteries Based on data from   web elements lithium makes up 17 parts per  million nickel 90. manganese 1100 and Cobalt   30. but iridium is all the way at the bottom at  0.0004 parts per million making one of the rarest   elements on Earth but before we get into the link  to about our sponsor this week 3M 3M forward is   a new program that highlights how material  science-based Innovations at scale can help   Society progress amid three Unstoppable forces  shaping our planet climate change and resource   scarcity shifting demographics and social change  and convergence of the physical and digital worlds   these forces are known as megatrends through the  lens of climate change and resource scarcity 3M   is helping to Spotlight how hydrogen could be  the fuel of the future to learn more about 3M   check out some of the links down below they're  working on all sorts of problems that are going   to completely change the world huge thanks to 3M  and you for supporting the show I have learned so   much about iridium in the research of this video  so it's fun facts time let's talk iridium first of   all it's incredibly dense along with osmium the  two densest metals on Earth denser than gold or   platinum this combined with its tendency to bond  with iron has led scientists to believe that most   of the Iridium on Earth sank into the molten core  in the early formation of Earth iridium is found   in meteorites at a much higher concentration  than in the Earth's crust when the clay layer   at the Cretaceous paleogene boundary displayed  a high concentration of iridium it led to the   Alvarez hypothesis that the extension of the  dinosaurs 66 million years ago was caused by the   impact of massive extraterrestrial objects this  hypothesis was later confirmed by the discovery   of the Chick-fil-A crater off the coast of Mexico  so iridium it's scarcity and abundance in one   layer of the Earth's crust led to the eventual  hypothesis of what wiped out the dinosaurs how   cool is that iridium predominantly comes from as  a mining byproduct of platinum in South Africa so   it's generally believed that the supply the amount  that's entering the market every year is pretty   much fixed at about seven and a half tons per year  this graphic from the visual of capitalist really   helps put it in perspective but it's not just  rare it's expensive too according to unicor as   of May 2023 iridium prices are 162 242 dollars per  kilogram compared to 62 586 for gold this matters   because the US Department of energy in 2021  launched its first ever Earth shot initiative   on hydrogen to Spur Innovation investment and  research its goal can be summarized by one one one   to bring down prices eighty percent to just one  dollar per kilogram in one decade this is a really   ambitious goal but it's neither crazy or new we've  seen what large-scale Innovation investment in   lithium on batteries for example have done what  if we could get the benefits of virudium as a pem   catalyst for hydrogen production while reducing  how much of it we actually need it enter the   nanostructure supported iridium Catalyst powder a  breakthrough in Material Science that allows us to   use vastly less iridium so this is a an example  of the Catalyst powder itself it's a fine black   powder and this jar contains about 10 grams of  the Catalyst it's really pretty small if you look   under it look at it under a really high resolution  microscope you can see that each of the particles   are actually Rod shaped and about a thousand times  smaller than the size of a human hair this iridium   Catalyst powder increases the surface area of  the Iridium allowing to perform as a catalyst   while needing significantly less so those simple  laboratory backyard electrolyzers that you might   do in science class the principles overall are the  same you have two electrodes across some water you   apply a voltage across it it'll split the water  the the real challenge with that sort of level of   technology is a couple fold one is the efficiency  of the device is not very good where the Catalyst   comes into plays it really boosts the efficiency  up to the point that it can be economically   interesting the other points is the lifetime and  durability of those simple electrodes that you're   referring to would probably only last a period  of a few hours whereas in real applications the   catalysts and these electrodes need to last on  the order of 10 years a 2021 report by Morgan   Stanley expects Global electrolyzer capacities  to increase to 150 gigawatts by 2030 and 1400   gigawatts by 2050 from just 0.3 gigawatts in 2020.  the bottom line is this hydrogen truly is one of   the most puzzling energy sources I've ever come  across yet it's filled with so much potential   thanks to breakthroughs from companies like 3M  might this be the turning point for hydrogen   everyone said EVS were impossible because we could  never make enough batteries until companies like   Tesla just started making their own batteries  and doing just that over the course of a year   this 10 grams of catalyst can produce over  10 tons of hydrogen per year and 10 tons of   hydrogen is enough to drive a fuel cell car for  example for 600 000 miles also and probably even   more importantly is its ability to impact climate  typically hydrogen today is produced through the   reforming of hydrocarbons like natural gas and  you emit a lot of carbon dioxide in that process   that 10 tons of hydrogen that were produced was  produced by water electrolysis rather than through   reforming of natural gas you'd save about 100 tons  of CO2 emissions every year could this be the very   moment for hydrogen we've seen it before when the  stars align and Mining and raw material production   manufacturing Innovations and optimizations and  when the supply and demand curves cross amazing   things can happen just look at solar panels  here's a graph showing how prices have fallen   as manufacturing and capacity have increased and  here's a graph showing falling prices for lithium   ion batteries in just a decade with breakthroughs  like 3ams of nanostructure supported iridium   Catalyst powder reducing the need for iridium by a  factor of 10 and other electrolyzer breakthroughs   the moonshot hydrogen goal of one dollar per  kilogram in a decade kind of seems Within Reach   by the way at one dollar per kilogram factoring  in fuel cell efficiency of just 60 percent you'd   be paying 5 cents per kilowatt hour for hydrogen  three times cheaper than the average price for DC   fast charging with an electric car but I think the  real future for hydrogen isn't in passenger cars   but in heavy Industries like steel production  large cargo ships and Commercial aviation in   the case of hydrogen the challenges have always  been around production doing so in a clean and   sustainable way and this might be one of the  most exciting things I've seen that could make   that moonshot goal of a dollar per kilogram  actually possible but what do you think what   does the future of hydrogen look like what other  Innovations are needed sound off in the comments   below and if you thought that was a cool idea  on hydrogen you gotta check out this video next

Channel: Two Bit da Vinci

Views: 188,672

Keywords: two bit da vinci, green hydrogen production, hydrogen breakthrough, hydrogen car, hydrogen power, blue hydrogen, green hydrogen explained, 3m, 3m hydrogen, nanostructured, Nanostructured Supported Iridium Catalyst Powder, iridium powder, hydrogen electrolyzer, hydrogen electric generator, hydrogen electricity, future of hydrogen, hydrogen engine, hydrogen generator, hydrogen prices, Hydrogen Fuel Is About to TAKE Off, Here's Why, Hydrogen Fuel is About to get CHEAP!

Id: pICuMf4yxOE

Length: 10min 31sec (631 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 30 2023