Power Talk

We’ve been talking about hydrogen a lot at GLD Technical Consulting.

One of our clients is determined for her new property to be self-sufficient, power-wise, taking DIY to a whole new level. This led to GLD founder Laura Dunlop going back to school to investigate alternative power sources.

Laura emerged from her studies at the Fuel Cell Innovation Centre at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) with a passion for power and a sense of urgency about the need to bring use of non-fossil fuels into the mainstream, specifically focusing on hydrogen.

Hydrogen is already being used in places such as Aberdeen and Wrexham in the UK and across the globe. Indeed, there is a city in China which is fully-powered by hydrogen. The focus is now on making it commercially viable.

Yes, production of hydrogen power is expensive due to the method of extraction.

Too expensive?

Not if we lower the cost of extraction or raise the value of its worth in terms of its usage.

Scientists have focused on lowering the cost of extraction by swapping the use of precious metals such as platinum for nickel in the hydrogen extraction process (Science Daily, 2018). Equally cleverly, Wrexham’s plant takes advantage of hydrogen produced as a by-product from local industry to create hydrogen power. This approach could be replicated.

We can also focus on higher value usage of hydrogen fuel and MMU are encouraging firms to apply for grants to explore precisely this.

So this is a hot topic, one we’re exploring in order to service our clients.

How much hydrogen do we need to power a home, an average office, a leisure centre?

And do we wait until we are certain that it’s financially viable or do we move faster out of environmental necessity and focus on wider usage of hydrogen fuel?

Yes, and let’s get a move on.

When we consider that Aberdeen is running its buses on hydrogen (Energy Voice, 2018), why aren’t all cities? There seems to be a lack of confidence in what the future of fuel and transport looks like, possibly due to a lack of collaboration leading to a lack of consensus.

So let’s collaborate more. Out loud.

Indeed, if you want to have a conversation about hydrogen, we would love to talk to you.

#powertalk