you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 1 point 9 hours ago (4 children)

Wouldn't hydrogen cells provide a solution? Very small hydrogen powered engines output colossal power proportionally to their size and weight.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 6 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

    Hydrogen is cool but comes with significant issues. It leaks, it's extremely reactive, it's hard to store and transport, etc.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 7 hours ago*

    Hydrogen is pretty horrible as a portable fuel. Its density is extremely low even in liquid form as it only has 2.4 kWh per US gallon (~8.5 MJ/L) of energy compared to a gallon of gasoline at about 33.6 kWh (130 MJ). Methanol is ~17kWh for that same gallon and is liquid at room temperature. That liquid form of hydrogen also requires extremely high pressures and cryogenic storage which means heavier containment. You also then have to contend with boil-off. The hydrogen molecule is so very small it can leak through fittings and valves. Lastly, hydrogen on flame is almost invisible in daylight.

    If this were a stationary application where weight and space considerations don't matter, hydrogen could be a better choice.

  • source
  • parent