85. What's Been Holding Hydrogen Fuel Cells Back, and How to Change That

What’s Been Holding Hydrogen Fuel Cells Back, and How to Change That The technology used in modern hydrogen fuel cells is not new. In fact, NASA used fuel cells for its manned space missions in the 1960s. But fuel cells have not really “taken off” (pardon the pun) in earthly applications since that time. Some industry insiders believe that will change very soon. “We’ve been sort of monitoring hydrogen for a number of years and doing some research in it, and it became clear to us over the past few years that hydrogen can play a huge role in fighting the climate crisis and decarbonizing hard to decarbonize sectors,” Amy Adams, vice president of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies with Cummins, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. Among the ways Adams envisions hydrogen being utilized is in fuel cells powering such things as trucks, buses, trains, and ships. There are also stationary applications, including for electric power generation, that could be a good fit. So, what’s been hindering deployment of fuels cells to date? Adams suggested there were four main things holding back widespread adoption of the technology. “First of all is just technical readiness,” said Adams. However, she noted that fuel cell technology has been evolving, and advancements have led to longer-lasting, better-performing, more-efficient, and larger-scale fuel cell systems. “They’re now ready for primetime, if you will, in several applications.” Another barrier has been infrastructure readiness. “That’s got two pieces,” Adams said. “One is the availability of hydrogen, so having hydrogen refueling stations, and then the cost of the hydrogen at the pump.” Adams noted that Cummins has been involved in a number of refueling station projects that use electrolyzers to produce hydrogen. The company has also partnered with ETC in a joint venture called NPROXX, which is based in Europe and will provide customers with hydrogen products for both on-highway and rail applications. Adams said many companies within the industry are working to address th