Wind turbines cover hundreds of acres of farmland in Willacy County in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune

Texas power struggle: How the nation’s top wind power state turned against renewable energy

Texas Tribune | Emily Foxhall, Kai Elwood-Dieu and Zach Despart | May 25, 2023

After decades of support for renewable energy made Texas able to produce more wind power than any other state, its political leaders have turned against wind and solar. This year, they’re pushing through legislation to prop up fossil fuel-burning power plants instead.

What they decide could have lasting consequences by raising the cost of electricity and spurring the construction of gas-powered plants that will produce carbon emissions for decades.

“Right now, the wind blows strongly against renewables, and that’s where we are,” said Bill Miller, a longtime lobbyist in Austin...

...The about-face by Texas elected officials came after renewable energy got so big that it threatened coal- and gas-fueled power in the country’s biggest oil and gas state. Cheap electricity from wind turbines and solar panels provided about 26% of electricity in Texas last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, up from 0.7% in 2002...more
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/25/texas-energy-renewables-natural-gas-grid-politics/

Looks like this would be increasingly popular even here...Because we are told endlessly (by a few that claim to fight climate change) that wind turbines and solar panels are "worthless" !! How can you tell the difference between a D and an R when it comes to renewable energy?

UtilityDrive | Stephen Singer | May 23, 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday announced nearly $42 million for about two dozen projects to produce, store and deploy clean hydrogen.

Clean hydrogen is produced with zero or next-to-zero carbon emissions and can be produced with renewables, nuclear energy and fossil fuels with carbon capture. Federal energy officials say it also can help expand clean electricity by providing a means for long-duration energy storage and offer flexibility and sources of revenue for clean power generation.

...“Today’s investments are a bold step in addressing some of our hardest to decarbonize sectors — heavy transportation and industry — by working directly with states and tribes to make hydrogen an available clean energy source,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm...

...The projects will advance DOE’s Hydrogen Shot goal of reducing the cost of clean hydrogen to $1/kg within a decade. And they will support DOE’s H2@Scale initiative that aims to expand the affordable production, transport, storage and utilization of clean hydrogen...more
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-hydrogen-research-resliency-decarbonization/



What if Hydrogen = $1.00 / Kg?

A full tank of hydrogen in a Toyota Mirai or a Hyundai Nexo would cost around $6.00

$6.00 worth of hydrogen would move the Mirai/Nexo around 300-325+ miles.

Refills would take ~5 minutes.

It would be like 1955, without the smog

In the future, energy CAN be cheap and plentiful!

Development of world’s largest carbon-free green hydrogen plant in full swing

Offshore-Energy.biz | May 22, 2023 | Ajsa Habibic

NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC), a joint venture created by ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM, has achieved financial close on the mega green hydrogen production facility in Saudi Arabia at a total investment value of $8.4 billion.

The financial close was reached following the signing of financial documents with 23 local, regional and international banks and investment firms.

The plant, set to be the world’s largest, is being built at Oxagon, in Saudi Arabia’s region of NEOM. It will integrate up to 4GW of solar and wind energy to produce up to 600 tonnes per day of carbon-free hydrogen by the end of 2026, in the form of green ammonia as a cost-effective solution for the transportation and industrial sectors globally.

NGHC has also concluded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement with Air Products as the nominated contractor and system integrator for the entire facility...more
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/development-of-worlds-largest-carbon-free-green-hydrogen-plant-in-full-swing/

Drone Flies For Five Hours With Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Lewin Day | May 18, 2023

Multirotor drones have become a regular part of daily life, serving as everything from camera platforms to inspection tools and weapons of war. The vast majority run on lithium rechargeable batteries, with corresponding limits on flight time. A company called Hylium hopes to change all that with a hydrogen-powered drone that can fly for up to five hours.

The drone uses a hydrogen fuel cell to provide electricity to run the drone’s motors and other electronic systems. Thanks to the energy density advantage of hydrogen versus lithium batteries, the flight time can be greatly extended compared to conventional battery-only drones. Details are scant, but the company has gone to some lengths to build out the product beyond a simple tech demonstrator, too. Hylium touts useful features like the short five-minute refueling time. The drone also reportedly features a night vision camera and the capability to transmit video over distances up to 10 kilometers, though some of the video of these features appears to be stock footage.

Hylium claims the liquid hydrogen canister used for the drone is drop-safe in the event of a problem. Notably, the video suggests the company tested this by dropping the canister concerningly close to an active motorway, but from what we see, nothing went awry.

A drone that can fly for five hours would be particularly useful for autonomous surveillance and inspection roles. The additional loiter time would be advantageous in these roles. We’ve seen other aero experimenters exploring the use of hydrogen fuel cells, too...more
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/18/drone-flies-for-five-hours-with-hydrogen-fuel-cell/



The Hydrogen Energy Revolution continues...

Employees refuel a hydrogen-powered truck at Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone in Beijing, on October 18, 2022 -ZHENG LIANG

Fueling the future

Beijing Review | Zhou Lin | 2023-01-18

In the sprawling Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, adjacent to the new international airport in south Beijing, a large white building resembling a spaceship is an eye-catcher. Known as Hypower, it is the world's largest hydrogen refueling station. With eight fuel pumps and a daily hydrogenation capacity of 4.8 tons, it beats all competitors across the globe.

The demonstration zone operates with the support of targeted policies and funding, and the 139 enterprises in it are provided with hydrogen testing facilities and business services as well as assistance in putting their technologies in application. Ren Juanjuan, Deputy Director of the Economic and Information Bureau of Daxing District, where the zone is located, said the enterprises include both upstream and downstream hydrogen companies, who have built their research and development (R&D) and manufacturing centers there. The result is a full industrial chain of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and an integrated hydrogen energy innovation ecosystem serving Beijing and its two neighbors, Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province.

Hydrogen fuel future

The development of hydrogen energy has gained more momentum after China issued, in March 2022, a medium and long-term plan for the development of the hydrogen energy industry by 2035. One target of the plan is to build five hydrogen fuel cell vehicle demonstration city clusters. Beijing, one of the core cities, has its own plan for the development of the industry. The plan envisions the construction of an industrial chain ecosystem and a high-end hydrogen equipment manufacturing and application demonstration zone in the southern part of the city by 2025. Before the end of 2022, there should be five to eight leading enterprises in the industrial chain with international influence, and the value of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei industrial chain should be higher than 50 billion yuan ($7.1 billion). The capital would also have 37 hydrogen refueling stations by the end of 2022.

Hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer SinoHytec, the first company of its kind to be listed on the sci-tech innovation board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2020, is located in the Daxing demonstration zone. Though its production line has an annual output of 3,000 hydrogen engines, there are only eight human workers, whose job is to assemble the precision parts. Hi-tech robots shuttle back and forth along the production line, completing all the manual tasks such as lifting parts...more
http://www.bjreview.com/China/202301/t20230118_800318837.html

The sun sets behind wind turbines on the Burbo Bank wind farm in the Mersey Estuary in Liverpool, Britain May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Noble

British wind power overtakes gas for the first time in Q1 2023 - report

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Britain’s wind farms generated more electricity in the first quarter of 2023 than gas for the first time, a report from Imperial College London showed on Wednesday.

Britain is seeking to scale up its wind generation as it seeks to meet a goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and to become more independent of expensive imported energy following the supply disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Almost a third of Britain’s electricity, some 32.4% came from wind farms in the first quarter of the year compared with 31.7% from gas-fired power plants, marking the first quarter where wind power output was higher, the report said.

“There are still many hurdles to reaching a completely fossil fuel-free grid, but wind out supplying gas for the first time is a genuine milestone event,” said Iain Staffell of Imperial College London and lead author of the report...more
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/british-wind-power-overtakes-gas-first-time-q1-2023-report-2023-05-10/

"Worthless" ??

Water storage towers at a Florida power plant that is part of a NextEra hydrogen pilot program. PHOTO: ZACK WITTMAN for the WS JOURNAL

The Most Valuable U.S. Power Company Is Making a Huge Bet on Hydrogen

NextEra is talking about investing $20 billion in green hydrogen, banking on lucrative tax credits

Katherine Blunt | May 9, 2023 5:30 am ET | WALL STREET JOURNAL

NextEra Energy NEE 0.73%increase; green up pointing triangle grew into a clean-energy powerhouse by investing early in wind and solar farms. Now, it is staking its growth on hydrogen, a much-hyped energy source whose economics are unproven.

The new strategy is a huge bet for the Florida-based business, which has become the most valuable power company in the U.S., in part because it outperformed its financial targets: Its 2022 profit was up roughly 70% from a decade ago. Over the past two decades, NextEra’s market capitalization has soared to more than $150 billion from roughly $11 billion.

NextEra now says it sees the potential to invest more than $20 billion in so-called green hydrogen after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides significant tax credits for such projects. There is a limited market for green hydrogen currently, and NextEra is hoping the new law, coupled with an increasing push to cut carbon emissions, will simultaneously create supply and demand.

Despite the risks, it is a familiar playbook for NextEra, which grew from a regional utility by capitalizing on tax credits that spurred the build-out of wind and solar farms...more
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-most-valuable-u-s-power-company-is-making-a-huge-bet-on-hydrogen-4c1896d

Source: KCRA 3 SACRAMENTO

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
An Elk Grove father said he is thankful to be alive after his Tesla caught fire Saturday while he was driving.

“It’s just all gone,” Bishal Malla said. “I’m just so lucky to be alive.”

Malla said he had been out running errands nearby and was about to get on Highway 99 near Cosumnes River Boulevard when he felt his car start shaking. He thought it might be a flat tire, he said.

“The moment that I opened the door, I saw smoke coming from the bottom,” he said.

Read more: https://www.kcra.com/article/elk-grove-father-says-hes-grateful-to-be-alive-after-tesla-catches-fire-near-highway-99/43816716

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Washington State takes the lead on hydrogen-powered aircraft development | KING 5 Seattle. “The world's largest hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft is being developed right here in the greatest, most innovative state: the state of Washington,” said Governor Jay Inslee



The future of flight is renewable hydrogen - Zero Avia

From 20 seat regional trips to over 100 seat long-distance flights, ZeroAvia enables scalable, sustainable aviation by replacing conventional engines with hydrogen-electric powertrains.

https://www.zeroavia.com






GRUENER WASSERSTOFF NICHT IRGENDWANN SONDERN JETZT

Thanks Hannover Messe!

Hyundai launches U.S. hydrogen fuel cell truck strategy

Hyundai pitches fuel cell trucks as the zero-emission replacement for diesel big rigs as it introduces a Class 8 version for the U.S. at the ACT Expo.

AutoNews.com | Jerry Hirsch | 2 May 2023

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Leveraging its experience offering fuel cell passenger vehicles, Hyundai Motor Co. plans to offer a hydrogen-powered heavy-duty truck in the U.S. this year.

Hyundai unveiled the production version of its Xcient Fuel Cell Class 8 truck on Tuesday at the ACT Expo just a block from Disneyland in California.

"Our hydrogen fuel cell technology has pioneered the industry with a real-world proven track record of its efficiency and durability," said Ken Ramirez, the Hyundai executive vice president who heads the company's global commercial vehicle and hydrogen fuel cell business...

Hyundai launched the first version of the Xcient in 2020 in Switzerland, hauling goods for several large retailers. It now operates in Germany, Israel, South Korea and New Zealand, accumulating more than 4 million operating miles. Hyundai said it is the only heavy-duty fuel cell electric model with a proven record of real-world application and technological reliability...Much more
https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/hyundai-launches-us-hydrogen-fuel-cell-truck-strategy



RELATED:

China: JINNAN Steel Group to Deploy 10,000 Hydrogen Heavy-duty Trucks by 2025
https://chinahydrogen.substack.com/p/jinnan-steel-group-to-deploy-10000

"We can't build an infrastructure" - Typical statement from many Americans regarding H2

Whose parents generation could build an interstate highway system while simultaneously sending astronauts to the moon - with hydrogen fuel cells to provide energy and water. What went wrong? Hopefully someone can figure it out before the US is completely broken and no one in the world wants a "greenback".