A car that can be changed the “battery” in any establishment in just a few minutes and keep track. It seems children’s thing but it is the proposal of the French company NAMX with its HUV model (utilitarian vehicle to hydrogen). When it was announced it was received with great interest. It had the participation of one of the best known firms in the world in cars design, the Italian Pininfarina. In addition, with its technological proposal of six interchangeable hydrogen deposits you can minimize one of the obstacles to display the hydrogen car: the lack of service stations. In Spain, for example, there is only a dozen hydrogeneras (In Europe 250 and some 1,100 are calculated throughout the world. It is true that the green hydrogen road map establishes that by 2030 they are deployed between 100 and 150 in Spain and that “according to our census, there are currently 22 hydrogeneras projects,” explains Javier Brey, president of the Spanish Hydrogen Association. The manager also points to the announcement last week. Spain will receive 72 million euros from Europe for the construction of another 26 hydrogeneras. “We are going to go from 10 to 60,” says Brey.
Today there are two technologies that allow a vehicle to move with hydrogen, and both need hydrogeneras for recharge. «The fuel cell technology that eliminates CO2 emissions and serves to decarbonize transport. It is very similar to an electric vehicle, only that, instead of loading electricity in batteries, what is loaded is hydrogen in tanks. The fuel battery converts hydrogen into electricity. The main advantage of H2 is that it eliminates pollutant emissions from the wheel (such as electric), because there is no combustion. In addition, it is more energy efficient than a combustion engine, ”says Ricardo Novella, professor and researcher at the CMT Institute (Clean Mobility & Thermofluids) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, where he is responsible for the hydrogen line.
The second arouses more and more interest and is based on the same Acutal thermal combustion engines, but «replacing fossil fuels. Although there are prototypes, they have never been deployed. They are developing, but they could be in the market in the short term. They do not generate CO2 emissions from the wheel tank, but it has the same characteristics of other combustion engines, that is, it must be controlled nitrogen oxides emissions. An added advantage in this case, so it arouses so much interest, is that in the short term it would facilitate the integration of hydrogen into mobility and also allows to maintain all the industrial fabric around the internal combustion engines, ”continues the researcher.
The truth is that hydrogen cars do not abound. Japan, the state of California in the US and South Korea are three of the regions where these models transit. In Spain (where there are only two models for sale) In both 2022 and 2023, only five unit were solds. It must be added, however, some hydrogen bus fleets. «The EMT of Madrid or Barcelona has those buses. Madrid has its own connected electrolyzer, ”says Brey. Few brands have opted for this technology, BMW, Honda, Hyundai or Toyota, and yet the veteranthe Japanese Toyota announced at the end of 2024 his doubts about continuing with this line of business. Its hydrogen model, Mirai, has been on the market for more than a decade and was chosen as an official car in the JJ Oo of Paris in 2024, but sales have not taken off. The company also has pending in California a collective claim of customers who are considered deceived by recharge support promises that have not really had.
Scarce recharge infrastructure and cars that are not sold. It is the fish that bite the tail when talking about hydrogen -based mobility, despite the advantages it has as a quick to load with respect to an electrical model. In five minutes you can recharge enough fuel to travel about 600 km. Autonomy, as seen, is another of its advantages and does not generate CO2 emissions. At least from the tank to the wheel, because during the entire life cycle it depends on how hydrogen occurs. If it feeds on renewable energies and occurs through electrolysis, it is considered green. However, today more than 90% of what is produced and consumed is of fossil origin and the demand is concentrated in the chemical and refining sectors and also in the manufacture of fertilizers.
Missing production
In general, the hydrogen economy is starting: lack of production and demand. As for demanding the possibilities of hydrogen use are several. «Hydrogen is very versatile. Can be used as Energy storage for renewables. That would be the first use, but it can also be used to decarbonize the industry that cannot be electrified. Industries such as cement, etc., which need to generate very heat can replace natural gas with this molecule, although H2 can also be used as raw material. In fact, today in Spain we use hydrogen in refining or to produce ammonia or fertilizers. That fossil hydrogen could be replaced by a renewable one. The third use would be the residential use, That is, replace natural gas, butane and propane, the energy gases that we have today in our homes, to have a non -polluting gas with which we will heat locally produced. The fourth and last use would be The transport sector, But when we talk about transportation we talk about everything: buses, trains, ships, airplanes, ”says Brey.
Potential demand is distributed in those four uses. In this sense, The EU wants 20 million tons of this product to be consumed in 2030 (Currently about seven million are consumed but the green part is anecdotal, around 0.5% of the total).
As for production, Spain wants to position itself as a hydrogen hub to export to the continent; From there are born projects such as the Iberian corridor of hydrogen (H2med). «There is a plan in Europe to display 33,000 km of pipeline For hydrogen transport and important ports such as Bilbao, Huelva or Cádiz are preparing for hydrogen. Missing transport infrastructure for this vector. In northern Europe they will always need to buy hydrogen from Spain, but also from Morocco and Egypt, ”says Brey. For the moment, Spain has presented 46 projects (From a total of 132) to the European Bank of Hydrogen and in the last call of the Government up to 16 hydrogen valleys projects throughout the Peninsula.
In addition, the current objectives collected in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan estimates an installed electrolysis power of up to 11 GW for 2030 (On the road map only 4). Is it feasible? For Javier Brey the answer is yes. «Installed and operating there are 30 MW, little if compared to the 12,000 MW needed. However, we recently made a census of projects and asked the partners what they were doing and counted 167 commercial projects that totalize by 2030 about 13.6 GW of electrolyers ready and operating ».
Little cost of reposting, but high vehicle price
The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) made a comparative analysis of the fuel costs of electric cars, hydrogen and gasoline at the end of 2023.
According to its report, the average expenditure on electricity of an electric car is 400 euros every 10,000 kilometers, while the price of hydrogen is around 10 euros per kilo. If we think that a hydrogen battery car consumes around the kilo to travel about 500 kilometers, fuel spending can be considered at 800 euros per 10,000 kilometers. As for gasoline, the OCU estimates that a modern vehicle spends about 1,200 euros every 10,000 kilometers. “Although it is something cheaper, the savings does not compensate for the high cost of purchase of the hydrogen propelled vehicle,” said the entity. And it is that some of the sales models in Spain cost 80,000 euros.