Elon Musk rejects hydrogen as an energy storage medium
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated his skepticism about hydrogen’s role in the proposed transition to a more sustainable future, describing it as “the dumbest thing I can think of for energy storage.”
During an interview with the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit on Tuesday.
“No,” he answered. “I really can’t stress this enough. How many times have I been ask about hydrogen, maybe more than 100 times, maybe 200 times,” he said. “It’s important to understand that hydrogen is a bad choice also if you want to store energy.”
Expanding on his argument, Musk went on to say that a “giant tank” would be need to hold hydrogen in liquid form. If you want to store it in gas form, he said you need a “bigger” tank.
Described as a “universal energy carrier” by the International Energy Agency. Hydrogen has many applications and can be use in sectors such like industry and transportation.
In 2019, the IEA said hydrogen “is one of the main options for storing energy from renewable sources. Also shows promise to be the cheapest option for storing electricity for days, weeks or even months.”
The Paris-based organization added that hydrogen and hydrogen fuels can ” transport energy from renewable sources over long distances – from areas rich in solar also wind resources. Such like Australia or Latin America, to energy-hungry metropolia thousands of kilometers away.