Re: Charging
"Only problem is that until we have an excess of carbon-free lecky (lets get some nuclear plants built pronto) then you don't have a zero/low carbon source of hydrogen."
The EROI sucks and it doesn't matter how cheap you can make the electricity. It's also better to use the electricity someplace else with a better efficiency.
Hydrogen is a dead end. You can't get past the energy it takes to break the bonds to free it. It CAN make sense to use wind turbines to power an ammonia plant that takes in local water and Nitrogen from the air (Haber process). Ammonia is a major feedstock for all sorts of chemicals and I've seen reports that make the ROI on turbines even better when making ammonia than selling the power to the grid. Once you have ammonia, you can synthesize DiMethylEster and other diesel replacements with high energy densities and the convenience of a liquid. I can't recall the efficiencies of that, but farm machinery is one of those niches where rapid fueling is a big deal. Those machines may also sit for ages between use so batteries would wind up degrading unless they were plugged in and maintained at an optimum storage level of charge. An Ammonia plant can be purchased installed in a standard 20' or 40' shipping container. Just pour a foundation and drop it next to a big turbine and hold you nose. In the US, there is a vast Ammonia pipeline. I've seen a business model that has wind turbine powered plants place alongside in locations with good wind and a water supply. When the wind blows, the plant feeds ammonia into the system.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
