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India launches first hydrogen-powered train built in the country to expand clean energy on railways (apnews.com)
submitted 4 days ago by FoxtrotDeltaTango@sh.itjust.works to c/science@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49581602

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[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Having battery electric trains run on a partially electrified network has proven to work fairly well.

You still run into the old rocket problem - needing more fuel to move more fuel - but it's definitely less of a problem than with fully unelectrified rail.

I want hydrogen power to work, but I have yet to see anything that has reasonable promise

I've seen much more success with synthetic gasoline and kerosene, from a safety and reliability perspective.

But it's more expensive than simple battery electricity per W, so... We get cheap and dangerous, instead.

[-] unknownuserunknownlocation@kbin.earth 5 points 4 days ago

Except you have that problem with everything that doesn't somehow take power from a catenary or similar - in the case of diesel, you're also moving your fuel, so I'm not sure how that would be different.

And I wouldn't exactly say batteries are cheap or dangerous. Yes, when you do have problems, the fires are quite big, but it's a rarity for problems to exist, especially with trains that are maintained to a much higher standard than your average car.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Except you have that problem with everything that doesn’t somehow take power from a catenary or similar

Energy density counts for a lot, which is another reason why H2 is a substandard fuel.

Yes, when you do have problems, the fires are quite big, but it’s a rarity for problems to exist, especially with trains that are maintained to a much higher standard than your average car.

The Indian rail network is not known for its high quality maintenance.

That said, I'd trust anyone with batteries over hydrogen, as a general rule.

[-] unknownuserunknownlocation@kbin.earth 2 points 3 days ago

Fair point about the Indian rail network

Mind you, Hydrogen is actually less dangerous than batteries. When there is a leak, it generally dissipates fairly quickly and fires or similar are quite rare. So in that case... Maybe it would be better if the Indian railways used Hydrogen after all

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago

Hydrogen is actually less dangerous than batteries

Tell that to the Hindenburg.

When there is a leak, it generally dissipates fairly quickly and fires or similar are quite rare

It's more the risk of hydrogen embrittlement, which can cause sudden catastrophic failure of their containers.

And, broadly speaking, it's not an issue because hydrogen cells aren't commonly in use for retail civilian consumption.

As soon as you've got a bunch of big tanks zipping around on bumpy tracks at high speeds...

this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2026
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