{"id":2524,"date":"2016-04-29T10:03:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T14:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plugpower.local\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2016-04-29T10:03:06","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T14:03:06","slug":"happy-earth-day-2040-andy-marsh-looks-at-the-future-of-hydrogen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.plugpower.com\/blog\/happy-earth-day-2040-andy-marsh-looks-at-the-future-of-hydrogen\/","title":{"rendered":"“Happy Earth Day 2040\u201d \u2013 Andy Marsh Looks at the Future of Hydrogen"},"content":{"rendered":"
By: Andy Marsh, CEO, Plug Power<\/strong><\/p>\n Well we\u2019re not quite to 2040 yet, but on Earth Day 2016, I visited Texas, a place I called home for twenty years, to drive home what it will take to make hydrogen fuel cells the leading power source over the next quarter of a century.<\/p>\n I spoke last Friday at the Hydrogen Energy in Texas Summit, held at the Embarcadero Building at Fair Park in Dallas, where other business, government and NGO energy stakeholders gathered to explore the future of hydrogen.<\/p>\n I took the opportunity to remind everyone that hydrogen and fuel cells present an opportunity to businesses to go green without breaking the bank. In fact, hydrogen and fuel cells are allowing major companies, some in Texas, the opportunity to increase their productivity and reduce operational costs, all while lowering their greenhouse gas emissions. Let\u2019s take a look into my presentation<\/a> to understand the big picture.<\/p>\n Infinite Drive<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The foundation of my predictions for the future is based on the growth and success of Plug Power whose mission is to \u201cchange the way the world moves.\u201d Plug Power has created a market for fuel cells in material handling applications where one did not previously exist. This first-mover advantage has allowed the company to garner:<\/p>\n Plug Power has a premier customer list including P&G, Walmart, Kroger, BMW and Home Depot, all using Plug Power products today and showing the viability of fuel cell technology.<\/p>\n 2040 Vision<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 2040 will be the year that hydrogen fuel cells are the power source of choice for all kinds of devices. And while hydrogen fuel cells are a great solution, they are not going to make economic sense for every application. Lithium-ion batteries and future battery chemistries, along with new power generation, storage and fuel technologies may be good fits in some of these applications.<\/p>\n Plug Power\u2019s success today in the fuel cell market sets the stage for where the industry is headed over the next quarter century, but there is much to be done to make the world a more innovative, efficient and environmentally conscious place by 2040.<\/p>\n Fuel \/ Technology and Availability<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n By 2040, I envision that advancements in renewable electricity and biogas will drive down costs allowing for competitive green hydrogen fuel. This can be done on-site or centrally with distribution to the site. The latter option will include using liquid hydrogen due to the density of the fuel, which can be better transported and require a much smaller footprint for future fueling stations. Today in Germany, companies are starting to bury liquid tanks, much like gas tanks are buried at stations today.<\/p>\n I believe that both CAPEX and OPEX cost reductions will be required, improved reliability to drive confidence and open markets and new technologies will need to be leveraged and created. But the industry won\u2019t get there overnight \u2013 it has to have a plan to target the markets that are scalable in order to continue to make progress.<\/p>\n Captive Vehicles Help to Build out the Infrastructure<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Thinking about success with captive vehicles like fork lifts, yard dogs, ground support equipment and people movers, I discussed how they leverage two things: they are electrified vehicles where economical fuel cell solutions can be \u201cdropped in,\u201d and they are captive fleets which simplifies fuel distribution greatly.<\/p>\n The next great market is one that shares some of these factors. For example, vehicles that are tethered and local, that is those that leave, but come home each day such as delivery trucks, shuttles, postal trucks, fleet cars. Over the next year to five years, this opportunity looks similar to that of the captive vehicles, but just in a slightly bigger area. The ratio of dispensers to deployed fuel cells will be very similar to the captive market.<\/p>\n Beyond that \u2013 in the next four to seven years hydrogen will make inroads into non-industrial local equipment, like buses, taxis, fleet cars and utility vehicles, which are similar to the hydrogen fuel solution used by captive and tethered vehicles, but need smaller, efficient distributed liquid hydrogen fuel assets. Regional and national vehicles, such as consumer, class 8, drones and autonomous vehicles, will come over time as we gain traction in the captive, tethered and local vehicles and as the network of hydrogen fuel improves.<\/p>\n\n