Weekend Edition: Heading towards hydrogen

Hydrogen is a hot topic right now, but while it's shaping up as an important part of the future clean energy mix, there are still many unanswered questions about how to produce, transport, and use it. In this weekend's edition we bring together New Atlas' coverage of recent developments from this important sector, from powerpaste to home hydrogen batteries. [Energy]( [Powerpaste packs clean hydrogen energy in a safe, convenient gray goop]( [This sludgy gray goop is a clean, high-density, safe and easily transportable hydrogen energy fuel called Powerpaste]( Ten times the energy density of a lithium battery, in a simple magnesium-based paste that can be refilled at a pump or changed out in cartridges. Fraunhofer's Powerpaste offers a safe, convenient, high-density way to store, transport and use H2 energy. [Read more]( [Automotive]( [Major manufacturer drops hydrogen trucks in favor of battery-electrics]( [Swedish truck manufacturer Scania says it's evaluated hydrogen fuel cells against battery-electric powertrains and is committing to batteries]( Where will hydrogen fit in the clean transport mix? Not in trucking, says one of the world's largest heavy duty vehicle manufacturers, which is scaling back its fuel cell big-rig research and development operations in favor of battery-electric power. [Read more]( [Energy]( [World-first home hydrogen battery stores 3x the energy of a Powerwall 2]( [The Lavo home hydrogen battery is not a battery, it's an electrolysis system, hydrogen storage array and fuel cell power system rolled into one attractive cabinet]( Australian company Lavo has debuted a hydrogen production, storage and conversion system for the home. It stores up to two days' worth of energy from your rooftop solar – and should outlast a lithium battery by many years. So what's the catch? [Read more]( [Energy]( [88-megawatt Canadian hydro-to-hydrogen plant to open in 2023]( [The Rundle hydro plant in the Canadian Rockies is one of the many hydro projects that put Canada at #4 on the list of hydrogen-producing countries]( German multinational Thysenkrupp has won the contract to build and operate a huge hydro-electrolysis facility in Quebec, which will use one of the world's most powerful electrolyzers to produce some 11,100 metric tons of green hydrogen annually. [Read more]( [Energy]( [California gas blending trial could shift a roadblock for hydrogen cars]( [Blending hydrogen into existing natural gas infrastructure at up to 20 per of the total volume could be an easy and effective way to get renewable hydrogen distributed across cities]( Blending renewably-generated hydrogen gas into existing natural gas pipelines could quickly and easily transport hydrogen across cities. SoCalGas is testing a system that can separate the H2 back out and compress it for use in fuel-cell vehicles. [Read more]( [Aircraft]( [Airbus proposes detachable hydrogen propulsion pods for aircraft]( [Multiple independent powertrains allows excellent redundancy and fast swap-out maintenance]( With the move towards electric aviation comes new opportunities to explore what a powertrain looks like, and Airbus is experimenting with a new design that builds entire hydrogen propulsion units, tanks and all, into detachable pods along the wings. [Read more]( [Energy]( [Modular nuclear reactors promise cost-competitive hydrogen production]( [Artist's concept of a NuScale reactor installation]( NuScale Power has released the results of a new evaluation that indicates that a single small nuclear NuScale Power Module (NPM) reactor could economically produce almost 50 tonnes of hydrogen fuel per day by breaking apart water molecules. [Read more]( [Energy]( [Big energy partners join Shell's giant NortH2 wind-to-hydrogen project]( [The NortH2 wind-to-hydrogen project will use a 10-gigawatt offshore wind farm to power an electrolysis plant for the production of clean hydrogen]( Oil giant Shell is planning the biggest wind-to-hydrogen project in Europe, a colossal 10-gigawatt offshore wind farm in the North Sea feeding a massive electrolysis plant on dry land that'll pump out a million tonnes of clean H2 a year by 2040. [Read more]( [Energy]( [Approval granted for project to heat homes using green hydrogen]( [From the end of 2022, 300 homes in Scotland will use green hydrogen instead of natural gas for heating and cooking]( UK gas distributor SGN has been given approval to supply hydrogen produced using renewables to around 300 Scottish homes. Participating households should be able to start heating their homes and cooking their meals with the gas from the end of 2022. [Read more]( [Energy]( [RMIT's new cost-effective, carbon-capturing poop-to-hydrogen reactor]( [A new RMIT process could turn sewage and wastewater into hydrogen fuel and valuable biochar, potentially eliminating emissions from the process while generating green energy]( A team from Australia's RMIT University says it's figured out a cost-effective way to produce hydrogen using wastewater and sewage. The process not only produces clean H2 gas, it also captures all the carbon in human poop and puts it to valuable use. [Read more]( [Energy]( [Sugary droplets turn algal cells into miniature hydrogen factories]( [An image of a sugary droplet packed with hydrogen-producing algal cells]( A team of researchers has made a discovery that could help our clean energy efforts along, demonstrating how algal cells can be turned into tiny hydrogen-producing factories by immersing them in sugary droplets. 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