Tesla CEO Mr Elon Musk is well known for his hatred of hydrogen, having expressed his strong opinions on the matter several times. In a recent interview with Financial Times, Mr Musk reiterated his skepticism about hydrogen’s role in a more sustainable future. In his strongest words yet, Mr Musk said hydrogen is the dumbest thing I could possibly imagine for energy storage.Mr Musk said “I really can’t emphasize this enough, the number of times I’ve been asked about hydrogen, it might be, it’s well over 100 times, maybe 200 times. It’s important to understand that if you want a means of energy storage, hydrogen is a bad choice. It does not naturally occur on Earth, so you either have to split water with electrolysis or crack hydrocarbons. When you’re cracking hydrocarbons, you really haven’t solved the fossil fuel problem and the efficiency of electrolysis is poor. So you really are spending a lot of energy to split hydrogen and oxygen. And if you have to liquefy hydrogen, the amount of energy required to make hydrogen and turn it into liquid form is staggering. It is the dumbest thing that I could possibly imagine for energy storage.”In contrast, many others don't share the same views as Mr Musk. The International Energy Agency considers hydrogen to be a versatile energy carrier with a diverse range of applications across industry and transport. According to the deputy assistant secretary for energy transformation at the US Department of State Ms Anna Shpitsberg, hydrogen is a game-changing technology that speaks to a variety of other sources
Tesla CEO Mr Elon Musk is well known for his hatred of hydrogen, having expressed his strong opinions on the matter several times. In a recent interview with Financial Times, Mr Musk reiterated his skepticism about hydrogen’s role in a more sustainable future. In his strongest words yet, Mr Musk said hydrogen is the dumbest thing I could possibly imagine for energy storage.Mr Musk said “I really can’t emphasize this enough, the number of times I’ve been asked about hydrogen, it might be, it’s well over 100 times, maybe 200 times. It’s important to understand that if you want a means of energy storage, hydrogen is a bad choice. It does not naturally occur on Earth, so you either have to split water with electrolysis or crack hydrocarbons. When you’re cracking hydrocarbons, you really haven’t solved the fossil fuel problem and the efficiency of electrolysis is poor. So you really are spending a lot of energy to split hydrogen and oxygen. And if you have to liquefy hydrogen, the amount of energy required to make hydrogen and turn it into liquid form is staggering. It is the dumbest thing that I could possibly imagine for energy storage.”In contrast, many others don't share the same views as Mr Musk. The International Energy Agency considers hydrogen to be a versatile energy carrier with a diverse range of applications across industry and transport. According to the deputy assistant secretary for energy transformation at the US Department of State Ms Anna Shpitsberg, hydrogen is a game-changing technology that speaks to a variety of other sources
