Every time you want to go somewhere, you ride your gasoline-powered car. Right? At least 91.7% of households owned a car in 2022.
While taking your vehicle out seems convenient, have you ever wondered how much you contribute to the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions? When you burn fossil fuels like diesel and gasoline during travel, carbon dioxide (CO2) gets released into the atmosphere. For instance, as of 2022, Americans used almost 135.73 billion gallons of gasoline.
Did you know that 28% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation industry? That’s why leaders have introduced a cleaner and more efficient fuel option for travel: hydrogen-powered vehicles. However, recent news about an 80% drop in sales has made people rethink whether hydrogen fuel is still the future of travel.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss everything related to hydrogen fuel and non-commercial transport.
The transport industry has successfully used hydrogen as a fuel in various non-commercial vehicles. This type of fuel-cell car offers the benefit of:
Zero-emission driving
Potential for long driving ranges
Quick refueling times
The U.S. Department of Energy states that the market for hydrogen fuel for transportation is still under research. Various industry leaders and the government have joined hands to work towards creating a safe, economical, and clean hydrogen fuel.
However, there has always been an issue with hydrogen storage. That’s because we either had to compress or liquefy the element. Thankfully, new technologies such as metal hydrides or MOF-based hydrogen storage have emerged to efficiently store hydrogen in solid-state. According to H2MOF, safe and efficient solid-state storage will help realize hydrogen as a clean fuel for the transportation sector.
Research suggests that hydrogen needs to cover at least 15% of the world's energy demand by 2050. Hydrogen fuel is in demand across the globe and is forecast to rise from 94 million tons to 200 million tons between 2021 and 2030. The transport industry is indeed leading this growth and is on the verge of decarbonizing non-commercial vehicles.
The sale of hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles dropped in America by 79.3%. Data shows that in December 2022, 328 fuel-cell electric cars were sold. However, in December 2023, this number was only 48. Similarly, only 322 vehicles have been sold in 2024 so far, as compared to 3341 in 2021.
Do you know why that happened? The reasons are speculated to be the following:
Limited infrastructure, like charging stations across the country.
Competition with the electric vehicle (EV) market.
Consumers perceive hydrogen technology as complex.
Many people might have range anxiety when driving these cars.
However, the high cost still remains an issue. Currently, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are expensive to produce, purchase, and maintain.
The drop in purchases happened even after Toyota offered a whopping 60% discount on their Mirai Limited FCEV in California. Along with this, they provided USD 15,000 of free hydrogen fuel. Even then, it’s fourteen times more expensive to drive a Toyota Hydrogen as compared to a Tesla EV.
With the right infrastructure, investment, and technology, we can surely counter this, leading to widespread adoption.
Most of the hydrogen-powered private vehicles are in California. As of 2024, there are 18,279 leased and sold hydrogen fuel-cell cars on American roads. Among them, 66 are operational in the Golden State.
Moreover, the industry has invested millions of dollars in the public and private sectors to increase the hydrogen economy. This type of fuel can eventually create USD 750 billion worth of revenue and generate 3.4 million jobs by 2050.
Apart from this, hydrogen energy will remain a sought-after fuel option in the future because of the following benefits:
There’s minimal CO2 emission.
Hydrogen is plentiful and versatile.
You’ll find unique storage potential.
Did you know that the future of hydrogen fuel holds a strong investment? According to The Guardian, with USD 26 billion in American taxpayer money, the government might soon fund hydrogen projects. With all that said, hydrogen fuel is clearly here to stay amidst all the ups and downs.
As you can see, this element will remain a sought-after fuel option even after the challenges. For instance, there was a drop in hydrogen vehicle sales due to the rise in overall prices, competition, etc. People have become skeptical about purchasing such vehicles since then.
However, you must understand that hydrogen’s diverse applications make it the ‘fuel of the future.’ Advancements in production will lead to the development of better refueling infrastructure and storage facilities. As a result, costs will decrease, leading to the widespread adoption of this zero-emission energy carrier.
