IMHO hydrogen isn’t an answer to any energy problem out there, even way less so in South Africa. The challenges in the whole cycle from production to use are huge. So I don’t know why we are even looking at anything in that arena - when we cant even burn coal to make electricity.
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IIRC, storage and transport being the biggest issues with hydrogen; would that problem not effectively disappear when you produce and store it on site? That would mean you can store it at lower pressures because you don’t have to transport it.
So you use solar to produce hydrogen during the day, and use it during the night?
That should have made it even more of a no-brainer to sign. It isn’t even binding.
I don’t know that I agree. Why wouldn’t it work here?
I think the Dutch are after our sunlight. The Namibians took a big slice of that pie too, though they arguably have even more sunlight 
The last time I was in Namibia we were driving through Swakopmund and my dad said:
One day when I retire I am going to move here and start a business that rents out chainsaws…
He obviously wants to do as little as possible in retirement 
There is a company out there doing an investment-for-citizenship type deal, with retirement type setups on the coast. Swakopmund is not a bad place to live. I’ve heard that it is a little Clicky (just like Cape Town, but with Germans), so getting a business off the ground isn’t always easy, but as a place to do nothing… it’s exceptional.
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e.g. the Netherlands-UAE hydrogen MOU specifically states “This MOU is not legally binding” (the Australia one @plonkster linked says the same - just using more words).
The more relevant aspect the media does not seem to check is whether Gwede was actually requested/invited to be present during the discussions/meetings - reading between the lines he may not have been. If not, that is possibly telling. If he was just told, “we (Cyril?) negotiated something - come sign it”, his response of “hell no I won’t go” is, while somewhat petulant, maybe semi understandable. Where he then actually was - apparently a COSATU event - leaves ample room for speculation about an unhappy marriage…
On the topic of Hydrogen, producing it via greener methods, suitability to South Africa, and ahem…Gwede…and his (“his”?) opinion on Green Hydrogen, JET etc. (click for some further short quick insights) - is at Mogalakwena Platinum Mine btw.
Europe seems to be fairly set on hydrogen as part of the energy mix but it has to come from a less carbon producing process (like using PV to power the industrial processes rather than coal based electricity). A big part of the local (South African) focus seems to be to get in the race to tap into that export market while demand is high - problem is that there is not a single coherent approach to this.
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If I remember correctly the only potential way to really produce hydrogen that doesnt cause a lot of pollution is with nuclear. That is being investigated and some plants have a lot of promise for that - like the HTGR plants from X Energy,
There are so many inefficiencies in the process from generating hydrogen, storing and transporting it that doing it via PV isnt really green. Theres a good video by Sabine on this Hydrogen Will Not Save Us. Here's Why. - YouTube
There is a lot of funding and research for this now, so its a good field to be in. I’m not convinced yet that its the right solution. But I’m always open to change my mind when I see it working well somewhere.
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There is at least one recent breakthrough on PV based hydrogen generation which is looking quite good.
And concentrated solar (thermal) hydrogen generation is also really efficient.
Multi-fuel conversions can allow just about any ICE or turbine engine to run on hydrogen (although they do require specialised lubricants).
But hydrogen storage and transport is really horrible still.
Electricity distribution is far easier than hydrogen distribution. Electricity storage is far easier and safer than hydrogen.
But hydrogen storage energy density is much better than batteries (at the moment).
So for specific niches (like long distance transport) hydrogen can be a definite win for at least the next 10-15 years (by which point battery technology could hopefully catch up).
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All this talk of hydrogen and transportation … this was sent to me just now … unrelated to hydrogen, but transportation involved tires.
ok ok ok … it is pushing it, but just had to post this. 
How is it stored?
I read that it’s a challenge to keep it in a vessel…
Not really. It is nowhere near as bad as Helium, at least.
There are lots of strategies though, but most are tricky.
COPVs (Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels) seem to be the choice for vehicles at the moment. But these are obviously quite ‘fun’ in an accident.
Lots of research in adding storage matrices (crystals/metals) to tanks which absorb hydrogen, increasing storage density and lowering release rates. Would need to dig it up, but I saw a paper the other day on a matrix that gave better energy density than petrol in an unpressurised vessel.
And of course there is the old favourite of reacting it with CO2 to produce methanol - which can just be tanked.
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Could that be used to make a “green synthetic fuel”? I mean, if you could use CO2 from the atmosphere, then in theory you could make it carbon neutral.
Of course, there is one problem I can immediately think of with this method. Nox. It will still make Nox when you burn it in an engine.
Yup - it is classed as green because it is carbon neutral all CO2 released in operation is consumed in production. You could go for longer chains (there are a number of companies investigating this) - but then efficiency goes down.
NOx is a combustion byproduct. If you burn hydrogen directly in an ICE engine, or methanol, the results are the same.
You can use gaseous hydrogen or methanol in fuel cells without NOx emmissions.
Aaaah! That would be the ticket. FC is so much more efficient than burning it.
Also check out these guys. They have a commercial product already, and they have it fully integrated with a Victron system already.
Just note the 23kg for 500W… Power density of fuel cells is always an issue. That and service life of the exchange membrane.
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Something else that’s also horribly inefficient that I hope someone spends some R&D on is TEG generators…
I can make heat cheap cheap, I just need a economical way of turning that into electrical power that doesn’t involve steam
The Russians used RTGs (radioisotope thermoelectric generators) to power their lighthouses for years. Probably not economical (nor safe in the way they did it sometimes!), but at least no steam is involved
And don’t forget cardiac pacemakers! Why not just implant RTGs
And in other news … and it relates to Eskom and this thread …
Just shows how a well-run Munic can sort shiite out …
School going over onto hybrid solar systems … in a nutshell.
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