In my opinion feasibility of hydrogen based economy depends largely on the reliability of fuel cell and the efficiency of hydrogen generation from a renewable source. Fuel cell is an elegant and attractive silent process for electricity generation, however there are two major obstacles hindering its implementation in today's society. One of the major problems is the cost of fuel cell catalyst which consists of highly dispersed platinum particles on a porous carbon support. The kinetic of hydrogen oxidation at the anode is fairly fast and needs a small Pt load about 0.1 mg /cm2 (from your question I understand you are interested in fuel cells that run on H2), however the sluggish kinetic of oxygen reduction at the cathode requires 5 times more Pt load than that at the anode. As of today and without fuel cells the price of Pt is considered to be very high, now think about a worldwide use of fuel cell for domestic electricity generation or to power our cars, this will drive further up the price of Pt. This is without mentioning other problems related to day to day fuel cell’s operations.

The other major obstacle is the source of hydrogen fuel, hydrogen generation from renewable source such as electrolysis of water powered by wind turbine, solar cells or hydraulic power plant is still expensive and non competitive compared to for example H2 generated via steam methane reforming (SMR).

I believe we need more fundamental research to understand oxygen evolution reaction which helps to engineer a better oxygen evolving catalyst and thus increase water electrolysis efficiency, to substitute Pt with a cost effective catalyst in fuel cell we need to do more on understanding Oxygen reduction reaction, we may need to explore different avenues and approaches that can lead to interesting result. And the dream of a world powered by a silent power plant (fuel cell) becomes real!

Mourad has answered this question pretty fully in terms of the technical obstacles for PEM fuel cells and electrolysis. Im not sure I agree totally with the Pt argument, as this is but one (albeit substantial) component of the PEM fuel cell cost. The membrane and engineering of the system is also quite significantl, but from an R&D point of view reducing the Pt content is an easy target and there have been some interesting developments in the last few years in non-precious metal catalysts. See the review we did for Int. Journal of Hydrogen Energy in January 2012.

Regarding hydrogen generation, yes there is also much that can be done to improve losses in electrolysis, but dont forget also the coupling of the wind turbine with the electolyser. If you google the papers by John Andrews et al from RMIT University, he has investigated this from a modelling perspective and validated the results with small electrolyser and wind turbine. For example, it is possible through careful matching of components to possbily eliminate the need for a maximum power point tracker, thereby reducing costs and improving conversion efficiency. At the end of the day, the likelihood of a hydrogen economy emerging is down to capital cost of equipment and conversion efficiencies, in comparison with alternative technologies. In this regard the PEM fuel cell running on hydrogen does not have a particularly high efficiency relative to its cost. You can improve this by using the heat that is also generated in the fuel cell, e.g. in a cogeneration or CHP system.

Having said all this, I am involved in 2 systems here in Australia that use renewable energy to generate H2 (by electrolysis) as a means of storing excess power. Both generate the power from sunlight using PV panels, but the principle is the same for wind turbines. One is a fixed installation with ca 350kW PV panels, 200kW electrolyser and a 60kW fuel cell, and the other is a smaller system at the 5kW scale. I will let you know in 12 months what the economics of these systems are like!

Oh and the thing that Mourad didnt mention is the cost of hydrogen storage. For stationary systems this is not so costly as for tvehicles, but there are cost implications for both.

Thank you both very much for your valuable insight to this subject. I shall conduct further research on the points you have raised and any additional points others add following today.

Mourad, you made an excellent point about PEM fuel cells driving platinum prices, thus impacting the prices of the hydrogen. Which fuel cell type would you think to be more efficient, both financially and productively?

Andrew, I would love to hear about how your projects get on in Australia, it sounds like an impressive set up you have other there! CHP is a great collaborative system, however it extends past my research field, although I do have preexisting knowledge of it. I shall add it to my further considerations section of my study and see how I may include it, even if only briefly. May I raise your opinion of the question I ask Mourad? I am intrigued by the possible variations of opinions of the different fuel cell types.

Thanks again for your input! It is greatly appreciated!

https://globaljournals.org/GJRE_Volume16/3-The-Feasibility-of-a-Hydrogen.pdf

Dear all,

I guess you will be interested in reading the following discussion about a highly relevant issues to this question.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_your_opinion_about_the_following_system_for_retrofitting_future_mixed_energy_production

IMHO, the hydrogen based fuels, and nuclear power are the future of bulk energy production, while the renewable energy sources will find a vital place for supplying off-grid loads, and similar applications such as small civil marine ships, flights. In addition, large scale variable renewable sources may contribute in the production hydrogen-based fuels.