If the hydrogen economy is going to take off and hydrogen cars are to become a reality with the ability to travel cross country and gas up at hydrogen fueling stations along the way, how will this infrastructure be built?
An article in Scientific American named “A Power Grid for the Hydrogen Economy” lays out a proposal for transitioning away from the current electrical power grid to a new “Super-Grid”. This super-grid will use both renewable and non-renewable energy resources to supply power using ultra high tech superconducting tape, cooled by liquid hydrogen.
The superconducting tape would fit inside a pipe or super-cable and would not only deliver electricity where it’s needed and when it’s needed but hydrogen as well. The uniqueness of this design would be that the revamping of the electric grid using super-cables would also build the hydrogen distribution infrastructure as a side benefit.
This may sound like science that is “way out there” but no big breakthroughs in science would be needed in order to make this happen. The hydrogen traveling along the electrical grid could be used for backup power for the grid or sold and distributed to hydrogen fueling stations. To some this may sound pie-in-the-sky, but it’s well grounded in research and if this idea is further developed it will have a major impact on the future of the hydrogen infrastructure and overall hydrogen economy as well.