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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3803 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 9, 2022

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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It requires either extremely high pressures or extremely low temperatures to store an appreciable amount of energy per volume. That's why rockets use super-cryogenic liquid hydrogen and vehicles use expensive COPV vessels capable of containing thousands of PSI. These problems in themselves are not deal-breakers, but the other hydrogen fuel cells needed to utilize it effectively have stubbornly refused to come down in price, namely I think due to the inability to find a suitable replacement for the platinum catalyst.

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