Why this Hydrogen Breakthrough Matters

Do you think these kinds of advancements will spur more interest in hydrogen? Go to brilliant.org/Undecided to sign up for free. And also, the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium membership. If you liked this, check out The Problem With Tesla’s Solar Roof https://youtu.be/sFwZQHZAJDc?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi7UWp64ZlOKUPNXePMTdU4d

I would love an episode or 2 looking back on how many of the technologies you've covered have actually made it to market and their impact.

Please, please, lets get this straight: hydrogen is not an energy source, it is an energy storage medium. This distinction is important because hydrogen has got the potential to become a vital part of stabilising the energy grid in the future, and producing hydrogen should not be seen as a competition of wind\solar farms. This is saying that the canned meat industry competes with breeding livestock, nonsensical and paradoxal at the very least.

2:57 Hydrogen is not the smallest element, Helium is. Because it has the same orbital as H, but a higher nucleus charge, the orbital is pulled further to the core, despite having two electrons in it. Furthermore Helium is an atomar gas, while normal Hydrogen is a molecule made up of 2 atoms.

I think that answer to most of the problems when it comes to hydrogen is to think outside of the box. We are trying to deal with it like its any other resource, but answer is not to store it in mass and transport it like we are used to. This is because it is easy to produce, and i think that they should be working on smaller scale decentrilized grids that produce it locall

Whoever you hired to do those 3D animations did such an incredible job omg

It is easy when looking at the many challenges of efficient hydrogen, production, storage, and transportation, to forget to include safety management strategies. Hydrogen poses many unique challenges when considering safety management, like metal embrittlement, extreme cryogenic temperatures and/or high storage pressures, nearly invisible flame, and of course its tendency to explode!

I've been thinking of this method quite a bit lately and it seems to me this method of eliminating the formation of bubbles in a compressed gas can be used in rocketry to prevent the formation of bubbles in fuel tanks and fuel supply lines as well as in oxidizer tanks and supply lines. All you need is a good engineer to design the part.

I never comment, but always watch and like your videos. With every new video, I’m eager and decided to watch the next one. Major kudos to you and your work, man! You are helping to spread out technology breakthroughs to the common mortals. Keep going, you have a fan here 🙏🏼🔥

The one thought I had about this tech for any kid looking for a science project - that capillary action is really just - a sponge. For a very short term demonstrator, this looks like something that could be built from parts easily sourced online (found pem membrane almost immediately upon searching.) 3d print a support structure, experiment with different sponge-type materials (magic eraser sheets come to mind,) watch your power usage vs output - who knows? maybe a STEM student will try this and stumble upon a further refinement no one has yet thought of?

Keep in mind that green H2 is essentially free...IF it is made from Renewables (wind/solar) that can't otherwise use it. During peak sun (or wind) the grid might not be able to use all of it...hence the benefits of storage (batteries,pumped hydro, etc). If the grid can't use it and storage is already "full", the surplus can be dumped to H2 production---thus "free" H2. Overbuilding off-shore wind (and rooftop solar) is the best way to get off fossil fuels--all the excess can be stored as a buffer or used for H2 production.

Interesting. Thank you for making me aware of these new developments in both hydrogen production and fuel cell technology. I wasn't previously aware of these new/upcoming approaches. I'm now dangerously close to changing my mind about hydrogen. With just a few more breakthroughs, it seems that it might actually become a viable technology. Thanks for this!

Thanks, Matt, for breaking these technologies into diagrams, animations, and pictures, for an old man that is endeavouring to learn something new each day! Great channel!!!

I thought of something while watching this. You said something about the industry not wasting even a single drop of hydrogen. Somehow, We are supposed to believe that the energy sector will do everything they can to reduce the amount of hydrogen they lose....But TODAY, we don't even come close to doing that with water or natural gas. Natural gas is leaking all over the place, which is not only bad for climate change, but raises costs...and water...ohhh boy, the amount of water that we lose through all these old pipes that we won't replace is insane. So we are expected to believe that they will collect and contain the hydrogen, which by the way, has the ability to seep THROUGH metal ( causing the metal to become brittle ) because it's so small, but we can't stop water from leaking literally everywhere, when water is able to be contained infinitely easier than not just a gas, but the lightest gas, made of the smallest element. And at the end, you said "we need a variety of clean energy sources for a cleaner future". Please don't call Hydrogen ( or batteries ) an energy source. They are an Energy Carrier. They are not a source of energy. They are storage mediums. They don't "produce" anything...at all...what-so-ever.

Hydrogen is also useful in the creation of ammonia, which is a vital precursor for fertilizer, plastics, and explosives. Imagine synthesizing fertilizer using nothing but sun, water and air.

great stuff, i'd love to see more videos on the other hydrogen advancements you mentioned :)

Pet peeve of mine is people calling hydrogen an energy "source". Hydrogen is an energy /transfer/ medium. So it can be used to store energy, or as a fuel for generators or vehicles, but the energy /source/ always comes from something else (as shown by the 'grey' 'blue' 'green' graphic in the video).

I suspect extremely pure water is necessary for this and any electrolysis process. Dissolved minerals precipitated out most likely will clog any electrolysis process and reduce efficiency.

Great video, Matt! I'm always in awe of the technical animations in your videos. Would you mind sharing what software is used to make them ?

Another good video. I always learn something, even on the rare occasions when your conclusions are ones as don’t agree with. Keep it up!