<story><title>Germany Turns to Hydrogen in Quest for Clean Energy Economy</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-02/germany-turns-to-hydrogen-in-quest-for-clean-energy-economy</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>hannob</author><text>It is often interesting how things are framed in international media when you know the local discussion.&lt;p&gt;To put this in perspective: The role of hydrogen in the German energy system is extremely small. There are a couple of test plants, but that&amp;#x27;s about it.
Yeah, lately there have been a few calls for more investments in that area, some articles discussing a larger role in the future. But it&amp;#x27;s certainly not at the center of the debate. The headline seems heavily overblown.</text></comment>
<story><title>Germany Turns to Hydrogen in Quest for Clean Energy Economy</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-02/germany-turns-to-hydrogen-in-quest-for-clean-energy-economy</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>scottLobster</author><text>At the end of the day it&amp;#x27;s a matter of infrastructure.  BEVs benefit from a pre-established electric grid, end of story.  Sure that grid might need improvements&amp;#x2F;hardening&amp;#x2F;modernization as BEVs become more popular, but the fundamental infrastructure exists.&lt;p&gt;Hydrogen needs entirely separate refineries&amp;#x2F;production facilities, specialized transport vehicles and fuel stations, all of which must be built entirely from scratch and negate many of its efficiency benefits.  A viable hydrogen vehicle market would likely need tens if not hundreds of billions in initial capital just to get off the ground and be self-sustaining; and even if such an effort was politically feasible why not put that money into BEVs where it will arguably do more good?</text></comment>