French city drops order for 51 hydrogen buses after realising electric ones six times cheaper to run

[Mr Gus]

https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-tra ... -1-1143717

Seems the hydrogen Buses are also 150,000+ euros more expensive to buy.

The deal involved a "small" solar powered hydrogen plant, ..so this is a scenario that really needs scrutiny rather than dismissal
(whether it would supply a fleets worth & at what long term cost is not stated when I skimmed this piece bearing in mind energy crisis prices in the making)

But:
Julie Frêche, the vice-president of the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, who is in charge of transport, told the French business newspaper La Tribune that the operation of the hydrogen buses would cost €3m per year, compared to €500,000 with electric ones — or €0.95 per km versus €0.15.

(No idea whether that is initial costs via required infrastructure build or ongoing per km cost over a lifetime)

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=montpellier+f ... &iaxm=maps

[AE-NMidlands]

2 more very interesting articles flagged up on that page too:
https://www.rechargenews.com/transition ... 2-1-951345 (blow-to-clean-hydrogen-sector-as-major-truck-maker-rules-out-h2-for-long-distance-transport) says

Clean hydrogen has long been touted as the only long-term green solution for long-distance trucking, due to claims that batteries will never be able to provide the power and energy required.

But one of the world’s largest heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers, Volkswagen-owned Scania, which has produced both battery- and hydrogen-powered vehicles, has concluded that H2 will be too inefficient and expensive for long-distance transport.

and https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-tra ... -1-1069478

'Hydrogen for heating and road transport is not efficient and does not make economic sense'
A group of concerned scientists write an open letter to the UK government to warn of the inefficiencies and added expense of using H2 in sectors where electric alternatives are cheaper

and in a box:

The oil & gas sector argues that hydrogen can be a direct replacement for the natural gas used to heat buildings in many parts of the world, that they could simply pump hydrogen along existing gas networks, with today’s gas-burning appliances swapped out for hydrogen boilers, ovens and stoves.

Yet such a system seems designed to meet the needs of the oil & gas industry, rather than cash-strapped consumers or the climate crisis.

To start with, burning hydrogen results in harmful greenhouse gas emissions — not CO2, but nitrous oxide that form when the flame reacts with oxygen and nitrogen in the air.

Secondly, converting the gas grid to run on hydrogen — which has smaller molecules than natural gas — would require all underground metal gas pipes to be replaced by polyethylene ones — including those concealed in walls and under floorboards in people’s homes. And every gas valve and compressor in the network would also have to be replaced.

On top of this, the energy needed to pump H2 around the gas grid would be three times higher than for natural gas.

[Mr Gus]

Yup, I hoped folk would see the side bar & take a look for themselves.

I'd have preferred a contextual explanation from the french local area government beyond the initial 150-200,000 per bus cost as this would go a long way (accountants don't always think straight) & obviously green hydrogen is more attractive IF you use that form of fuel than "blue"

As is there is not much beyond the headline to go on, we do know that the whole hydrogen making industrial process is very intensive, so a full circle explanation would be useful for all the right reasons, regardless of RE news pieces, i'm not a fan of hydrogen myself right now after the early rush to produce blue ((GREY))

[Stinsy]

The "hydrogen is just around the corner" red herring has been proffered as an excuse to do nothing by fossil fuel companies for decades. It is a nonsense technology that will never be viable.

Politicians in particular seem susceptible to the hydrogen fallacy!

[Mr Gus]

"Jam tomorrow"

"Energy too cheap to meter"