Disadvantages Of Hydrogen

At its current stage of development, the disadvantages of using a hydrogen fuel source outweighs the advantages and it is not cost effective. As technology progresses, addressing these disadvantages is required in order to provide a fuel option that is cleaner than current carbon-based options. Until realized, the promise of hydrogen is too appealing to let go of the science.

Energy Loss

• The energy cost to gather hydrogen is higher than the energy output of the hydrogen gathered. While expected when regarding energy conversion, the difference between the two energy levels is still too high to make this a viable option. Scientists are examining the use of geothermal energy as well as other renewable sources in order to curb this loss of energy and if perfected then this could help make this energy loss acceptable. The value of these renewable sources is that the energy is much less expensive than that from non-renewable sources. This cost reduction helps reduce the significance of the heightened energy cost to gather the hydrogen.

Cost Effectiveness

• Current hydrogen prototypes are unable to produce enough energy to maintain a car engine for long enough to be viable. While these prototypes are improving, they will need to be able to sustain energy for as long as five times their current limit or produce five times more energy. This is primarily a consumer issue. People are unwilling to refill a hydrogen cell five times as often as they would their gas tanks while paying the same or more for each individual trip to the station.

Explosive Hazard

• Hydrogen is highly combustible and dangerous if stored carelessly; however, storage techniques such as hydrogen fuel cells are actually safer than gasoline storage. The real disadvantage is that consumers are generally unaware of this fact. Educating people on the safety of hydrogen use is required to overcome this disadvantage but this also means that ensuring safe storage and usage of hydrogen is vital to consumer confidence.

Expensive Conversion

• Cars designs do not include the use of hydrogen fuel cells. Converting automobiles is expensive, as is purchasing fuel cells. From a consumer perspective, the advantages of switching to hydrogen must outweigh the expense. The disadvantage is that from an economic point of view this case is impossible until the science is able to overcome the cost. Proving a long-term cost decrease could push consumers into this option when purchasing new cars; however, the technology would have to decrease in cost significantly before this could be a realistic option for automobiles in service.