Does hydrogen cost more to make than to use?

Answer 1

In terms of energy expended, it is.

Now here's the thing: Everyone talks about how sexy a hydrogen fuel cell is--the exhaust is just water, right? Well...you gotta get your hydrogen from somewhere because it doesn't exist on earth as free hydrogen. You can either pull it out of water (which requires a LOT of energy to do--more than you get from using the hydrogen) or you can pull it out of methane (which generates carbon dioxide).

I think they need to forget using hydrogen and go with methane fuel cells instead. Methane is easy to get--either as natural gas or by making it from manure. It is more hydrogen dense than elemental hydrogen, as one methane molecule contains four hydrogen atoms whereas one hydrogen molecule contains only two. And decades of experience with Compressed Natural Gas and LPG vehicles have taught us exactly how to store it in a car--something we're still working on with hydrogen. In use in a fuel cell two methane molecules produce one carbon dioxide plus four water molecules. Bubble the "exhaust" through a solution of calcium hydroxide--which they sell as "slaked lime" in every garden store in America--and it traps the CO2 to produce calcium carbonate, a chemical that's very easy to sell because there are so many uses for it.

Answer 2

It depends on the method used to produce hydrogen. Traditional methods like steam reforming can be costly due to the energy required to convert natural gas or other feedstocks into hydrogen. However, renewable methods like electrolysis powered by solar or wind energy can be more cost-effective in the long run, especially as the technology improves and scales up.