The drive to replace all fossil fuelled vehicles with electric power drive systems is hiding a number of issues that will need to be resolved.
First is the supply of rechargeable batteries and the supply of of Lithium and Cobalt to manufacture them. As these batteries are likely to gradually reduce their power storage capacity over a time period of not more than 5 years what will be the costs of recycling the scrap batteries?
Second the very high concentration of demand for electricity as people recharge their batteries when they return from work. In addition there will be safety risks resulting from cables connecting cars to home charging points. This will be a much greater risk on dark nights in the winter.
Hydrogen as a fuel for powering vehicles will be possible with modifications to the engine similar to those done to enable vehicles to run on LPG. Whist there are 2 main production routes for Hydrogen the process using electrolysis is more climate friendly; particularly if the manufacturing process used can be switched to using excess solar and wind power when not needed for the national grid. Whilst most of current hydrogen production is derived from fossil fuels and hence generates waste gases there is a move towards using electrolysis as more emphasis is placed on reducing climate impact.
Another area where hydrogen could benefit is its use for domestic heating boilers which can be modified to run on hydrogen. This will be beneficial for heating properties where it will not be possible to install ground or air sourced heat pumps.
The provision of Hydrogen filling stations for vehicles is in its infancy; however a UK company has plans to speed up the provision of these stations. Hence from a convenience point of view hydrogen powered vehicles could be a better option than electric.
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