Wait, What? Two New Hydrogen Bike Initiatives Maintain The Hopium Coming

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In at this time’s information that makes you hmmm… A few latest information objects from some well-known organizations caught my eye, not simply because they’re each engaged on hydrogen gasoline cell bike tasks, but in addition as a result of the names of each establishments have a sure cachet within the tech world that may lend respectability to their work it doesn’t matter what it may be.

Earlier than we go any additional, I ought to clarify that CleanTechnica not covers any information about hydrogen gasoline cell automobiles, or a minimum of not about hydrogen for small- or medium-sized automobiles, which is an editorial resolution that displays the truth that there are such a lot of points with hydrogen, from manufacturing to distribution to allotting to its use as a “gasoline” for transportation that compared with battery-electric automobiles, it’s clearly a dud. And sure, we all know the oft-touted statistic that hydrogen is “probably the most ample factor within the universe,” which makes it sound prefer it’s straightforward to simply go seize an enormous load of hydrogen anytime we wish to, however is definitely type of a non sequitur which isn’t germane to the viability of hydrogen automobiles.

We used to sometimes cowl hydrogen car improvement previously, however our long-time readers have most likely seen CleanTechnica’s stance on hydrogen automobiles and the so-called hydrogen economic system has modified over time. It has change into clear that hydrogen as a clear tech resolution for transportation isn’t a viable choice for many use instances, nonetheless, habit to hopium is certainly a think about that trade, no matter all the many challenges that hydrogen proponents would want to resolve first to be able to implement the know-how on any important scale. Mike Barnard has achieved quite a lot of deep dives into the feasibility of hydrogen for transportation, amongst different issues, which illuminate plenty of the magical considering in that sector, so in the event you’re , possibly begin right here or right here or right here. That being mentioned, let’s take a gander on the two hydrogen bike tasks which have gotten some media play lately.

First, from MIT Know-how Overview we be taught that MIT’s Electrical Car Crew (which seems to be an extracurricular membership, not a division inside the college) has been engaged on a prototype hydrogen bike, and whoever wrote the article determined to go along with a clickbait headline. “The way forward for bikes may very well be hydrogen” is a moderately huge stretch, however hey, I’m positive it will get extra eyeballs that approach. The issue is that for the layman, studying the piece would possibly make them consider that hydrogen bikes are a factor now, which they’re most decidedly not. And a number of the quotes within the piece are form of wild contemplating how easy it might have been to do some extra analysis about the usage of hydrogen in automobiles earlier than making a number of the claims.

In response to Aditya Mehrotra, a grad pupil who’s main the mission, “We’re hoping to make use of this mission as an opportunity to begin conversations round ‘small hydrogen’ methods that might improve demand, which might result in the event of extra infrastructure. We hope the mission might help discover new and inventive purposes for hydrogen.” Critically? Conversations round small hydrogen methods? New and inventive purposes for hydrogen? Hmmm.

After which there’s this gem, from one other workforce member, a sophomore in mechanical engineering: “Proper now we’re taking a look at hydrogen as a result of it looks like one thing that’s been much less explored than different applied sciences for making sustainable transportation.” Face, meet palm.

I’m positive there are some learnings that might come from a mission like this which may very well be utilized to different industries, however I used to be a bit confused to listen to statements like these from college students at one of many high tech colleges on the planet. Nevertheless, in the event you discover this mission intriguing, you may learn the total piece right here. [Update: Evidently this article on the project slipped through the CleanTechnica policy committee and was published in January.]

The opposite hydrogen bike mission, dubbed Hydrocycle, was introduced in a press launch from Fraunhofer IWU and titled as “The Bike for the Hydrogen Age.” This mission isn’t solely a Fraunhofer enterprise, however is definitely the hassle of a “German-Czech consortium of analysis establishments and manufacturing firms,” which additionally contains WätaS Wärmetauscher Sachsen GmbH, 1to1design, Czech Technical College, and ÚJV Řež. Every of these companions are engaged on totally different elements of the mission, as laid out right here:

“Within the Hydrocycle mission, Czech companions are engaged on car improvement, advancing work packages associated to car construction, ergonomics, and packaging (becoming the know-how into the obtainable house). German mission companions are specializing in the powertrain. WätaS Wärmetauscher Sachsen GmbH is creating a brand new era of gasoline cell stacks as the idea for the powertrain; Fraunhofer IWU helps the event of recent manufacturing applied sciences and the advance of stack functionalities with the Reference Manufacturing unit.H2. The Chemnitz analysis institute can also be accountable for system dimensioning and packaging. And the IWU is accountable for guaranteeing a easy interface between car and gasoline cell system improvement.”

That’s all nicely and good, as analysis and improvement processes in tasks like these can lead to enhancements or improvements that may be utilized throughout totally different disciplines. Nevertheless, this press launch will not be solely titled “The Bike for the Hydrogen Age,” nevertheless it additionally contains an AI-generated picture with the caption, “That is what a future bike with hydrogen gasoline cell propulsion might seem like. The deliberate, ready-to-drive demonstrator can be accomplished by the tip of 2025.” And that, of us, is a positive method to get your hopium mission revealed on-line by web sites which can be additionally on the lookout for clickbait content material (a fast net search unearthed a minimum of 4 latest articles main with that AI picture) with little to no regard for whether or not the mission will ever be greater than a prototype or analysis car.

Till subsequent time, preserve your skeptic hat on and your vaporware radar activated, as a result of it’s a wild world on the market on the net, even within the clear tech trade.