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Comment by Hypx | Hacker News Reader

Looking backwards perhaps. Looking forward and it's the opposite. Batteries are stagnating whereas hydrogen storage is accelerating very rapidly.

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I'm not sure the idea batteries are stagnating is really accurate, especially since some of the material science advancements that would help hydrogen would also help batteries, especially graphene and fullerenes. Having said that, a quick poke around seems to hydrogen storage isn't as stagnated as I'd thought with metal-organic frameworks becoming potential contenders[0]. Not sure that's enough to save hydrogen from the rest of its pitfalls, but it does make things interesting.

[0] https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/04/gas-storage-me...

The problem is that we're hitting the limits of what's feasible with current technology. Without a revolution in material science, we're likely stuck with incremental improvements in batteries.

Fuel cells and hydrogen storage will benefit drastically from increased R&D and economies of scale. Something as simple as thinner membranes and catalyst layers will dramatically reduce cost, but until recently there has been minimal effort in such ideas. Same is true of just having more production facilities.

There are numerous new ideas being explored for hydrogen storage. Only this year has someone figured out how to make a true hydrogen "battery" for you home: https://dlmag.com/lavo-hydrogen-hybrid-battery-stores-electr...

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