Archive:000/Fuel cell vehicles: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:29, 26 October 2024

A fuel cell produces electricity using hydrogen gas fuel (H₂) and oxygen gas from the air (O₂). The only exhaust is water vapor (H₂O).

Efficiency

Good

Fuel cell vehicles are more efficient than hydrogen combustion vehicles.

Platinum-group metals

Major problem

Platinum-group metals (PGMs) are an essential component of fuel cells. Unfortunately, PGMs are very scarce, and fuel cells need too many of them.

If the goal is to replace all gasoline or diesel vehicles with something electric, then fuel cell vehicles aren't the answer, because the Earth simply doesn't have enough PGMs. See this page for details.

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-Fuel cell [[electric vehicles]], or FCEVs for short, are vehicles powered by [[hydrogen gas]]. The fuel cell component takes in hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub>) and oxygen (O<sub>2</sub> from the air), and produces electricity to power the motor. The only exhaust is water vapor (H<sub>2</sub>O).
+A '''fuel cell''' produces electricity using [[hydrogen gas]] fuel (H<sub>2</sub>) and oxygen gas from the air (O<sub>2</sub>). The only exhaust is water vapor (H<sub>2</sub>O).
-==Viability==
+{{considerations}}
-It's '''uncertain''' whether this can be scaled up enough to replace even half of gasoline-powered vehicles.
-Potential issues to be dealt with:
+===Efficiency===
-{|class="wikitable"
+{{sum|Good|good}}
-|[[#Inefficient compared to batteries]]
-|Unavoidable problem
-|-
-|[[#Rare minerals in the fuel cell]]
-|Manageable
-|-
-|Energy to manufacture the fuel cell
-|Research needed
-|-
-|Safety
-|Mostly solved
-|-
-|Storing enough fuel in the vehicle
-|Solved
-|}
-==Inefficient compared to batteries==
+Fuel cell vehicles are more efficient than [[hydrogen combustion vehicles]].
-Whether fuel cells or batteries, the intention is to power vehicles with green electricity.
+===Platinum-group metals===
-* [[electrolysis|Converting energy to hydrogen]], then back to electricity again - is best-case only 40 to 48% efficient. {{x|80% efficiency for hydrogen production, multiplied by 50% to 60% efficiency for the best fuel cells}}
+{{sum|Major problem|bad}}
-* Whereas charging/discharging a [[lithium-ion]] battery - is 80% to 90% efficient.
-In other words, with fuel-cell vehicles we would need twice as much green electricity!
-It's already hard enough to meet [[energy demand]] with renewables as it is (hence most [[energy]] comes from [[fossil fuels]] currently). Hydrogen vehicles would make it somewhat harder. The good news is it's still more efficient than combustion engine vehicles (no matter the fuel).
+Platinum-group metals (PGMs) are an essential component of fuel cells. Unfortunately, PGMs are very scarce, and fuel cells need too many of them.
+* If the goal is to replace all gasoline or diesel vehicles with something electric, then fuel cell vehicles '''aren't''' the answer, because the Earth simply doesn't have enough PGMs. See [[hydrogen gas#Platinum-group metals|this page]] for details.
-<!-- TALK: I think we should import some content from [[Calc:If all vehicles were electric]] -->
-==Rare minerals in the fuel cell==
-Inside a fuel cell, there are surfaces coated in a thin layer of platinum, palladium, rhodium, and/or iridium. These are called ''platinum-group metals'' (PGMs) and are extremely scarce. PGMs are needed as a catalyst to make the hydrogen and oxygen to react properly.
-The same metals are also in the [[wikipedia:catalytic converter|catalytic converter]] of gasoline and diesel vehicles, but in lesser quantities. A catalytic converter has about 3 to 7 grams of PGMs, while a fuel cell vehicle has 30 to 60 grams{{x|Some scientists are working on reducing this amount, but it's hard to say how much progress can (or will) be made.}}.<!-- TODO: add links to some of that research. Replace {{x}} with {{p}} and put the links inside. -->
-If all vehicles were fuel cell-based,
-* Global [[Term:mineral reserves|mineral reserves]] would ''just barely'' be enough to meet the demand for PGMs.
-* The mining would take awhile.
-* It helps that PGMs can be recycled from old vehicle catalytic converters.
-Some relevant calculations:
-{{calc
-|(toyota_mirai.pgm - catalytic_converter.pgm) * world.cars
-|% pgm.reserves
-|new_pgm_needed
-}}
-{{calc
-|new_pgm_needed
-|years pgm.mine_production
-}}
-^ Math will be fixed soon.
 ==See also==
-* [[Hydrogen combustion vehicles]]
+* '''[[Hydrogen combustion vehicles]]''' - could be more scalable than fuel cells, '''if''' hydrogen gas fuel ever becomes abundant enough via surplus [[wind power]]
-* [[Green hydrogen]]