Throughout history, natural disasters — excessive heat, flooding, wildfires, massive storms, etc. — have had severe implications on everything from the environment to human health and the economy. Within the past 50 years, there were approximately 11,000 weather-related disasters driven by climate change, accounting for 2 million fatalities and $3.64 trillion in losses.
Fossil fuels have accounted for 90% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide since 1900. Additionally, about 78% were derived from fossil fuel combustion and industrial operations between 1970 and 2011.
While at ACT 2022 last week Fuel Cells Works sat down with Nuvera’s chief commercial officer, Kedar Murthy. Nuvera is working on establishing itself globally as the go-to manufacturer of fuel cells for heavy-duty applications, but it does offer a variety of power output options in order to accommodate multiple power requirements as Kedar mentions below.
At the 2022 ACT Expo Fuel Cells Works sat down with SoCalGas’ Jawaad Malik who is its VP of strategy and sustainability, and chief environmental officer to talk about hydrogen. SoCalGas is deeply involved in hydrogen and fuel cells between its Angeles Link project, its purchases this year of Toyota Mirais, and other projects, and SoCalGas is the largest proponent of hydrogen use amongst utility companies in the United States.
While the ACT 2021 Conference and Expo may have been an impromptu splash for the hydrogen and fuel cell industry, the ACT 2022 Conference and Expo is definitely a purposeful event for the industry. ACT 2022 has about 8,000 attendees, over 150 exhibitors, and plenty of people here are eager to talk about any part of the hydrogen and fuel cell ecosystem.
Climate change presents a clear and present threat to everyone and everything on the planet. We have a plan to reduce the impact of climate change and prevent a full-blown climate crisis, but it hinges on being able to reduce global CO2 emissions dramatically. The goal is to reduce them by 50% before 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
There has been an uptick in ecological awareness of human impacts on climate change and more people are seeking greater energy efficiency. This is especially true when it comes to their residential HVAC systems.
Urban developers are adopting smart technologies to meet environmental and safety demands. Cities can improve residents’ health and well-being by powering smart devices with emission-free electricity. Transitioning away from fossil fuels requires significant grid alterations.
In 2019, 42 million commercial flights took to the air, carrying upwards of 4.5 billion passengers worldwide. That breaks down to an average of 115,000 flights every day. These flights rely on fossil fuels and contribute to global CO2 emissions. The aviation industry produces 2-3% of the world’s carbon emissions.
Space agencies are no stranger to hydrogen as a fuel or propellant. The Centaur and Apollo launches and even the space shuttle relied on liquid hydrogen to carry them into orbit. The average launch would burn more than 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen, losing another 239,000 gallons in boil-off and transfer.
