Cummins investing in hydrogen power, although path to profitability uncertain

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7 thoughts on “Cummins investing in hydrogen power, although path to profitability uncertain

  1. I applaud this move and it makes a lot of sense. Electric cars are expensive and to sell, need a significant public subsidy to move plastic off the dealer’s parking lot. Electric doesn’t like cold. Citizen’s Gas has been using natural gas powered vehicles for 10 or 20 years. Instead of trying to jump start this” consumer” market, the Government should have always focused on public and commercial vehicles all along; IndyGo buses & school buses, Mail Trucks, delivery trucks. Wouldn’t a much quieter dump truck or garbage truck be much nicer than the diesel versions? You could perfect the tech on 1/4 of the nation’s vehicles.

    I’d like this idea to become broader. As some have mentioned, as well as the article; small neighborhood “cells”could be be installed to handle peak demand. Power demand varies (I believe, because IPL told me in their last “energy conservation” mailing that I used 30% more electricity than homes within a mile of me) a lot because of air conditioning, heat and appliance & lighting use. Yet there are a lot of small apartments in my area too. We might only need to use these devices in 10% or 20% of the neighborhoods to flatten the use curve.

    Why people are still paying for solar installations on their homes and business doesn’t really make much sense? Have you seen how much damage happens to a roof when they instal the support? Ouch. If all economic forces pushed one idea, it would make it cheaper for all.

    Also broaden it by making the engines work on Hydrogen to include propane, natural gas, and or gasoline or diesel (in a perfect world). Then you could change out a few components and use all of these fuels. Cummins generators, which use car and truck engines, all work on natural gas already. They could combine rooftop HVAC and Generators for building over ten stories. Why get locked into one technology? Still, this is an innovative idea from Cummins. Innovate or become obsolete. MORE POWER TO YOU ! – Steven Pettinga Indianapolis

    1. Out of curiosity, why are you talking so much about propane. Hydrogen fuel cells and propane are not even tangentially related as a fuel source. Fuel cell is the way of the future and emissions would be nil. Electric is not a green energy source. Batteries are dirty. Electricity is dirty. And we lack the infrastructure to roll out full scale electric (California can’t even power air conditioners without rolling blackouts…how do they plan to charge 20M electric cars every night?!). Not to mention it takes far too long to charge an EV. To make them practical for those who travel for work or long haul trucking routes. Hydrogen fuel cell IS the future. We just need someone to invest in brining that future to fruition. Hopefully Cummins is that company.

  2. Climate doesn’t change because of carbon emissions, if you want to reduce pollution ok. Most of alternative fuels, aren’t going to be stand alone. If you go full on hydrogen, and offer the 2 ways to produce it, guess who wins, natural gas @ 1.50. Politicians are still pushing battery power, be careful what you vote for. . .

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