{"id":614237,"date":"2023-03-04T08:50:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T14:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/04\/hondas-aging-hydrogen-fuel-cells-get-new-life-in-data-center\/"},"modified":"2023-03-04T08:50:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T14:50:07","slug":"hondas-aging-hydrogen-fuel-cells-get-new-life-in-data-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/04\/hondas-aging-hydrogen-fuel-cells-get-new-life-in-data-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda\u2019s aging hydrogen fuel cells get new life in data center"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Honda bailed<\/a> on the Clarity \u2014 its only hydrogen-powered car in the U.S. \u2014 but the automaker hasn\u2019t quit on fuel cells.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the message Honda sent with a peculiar announcement today: It\u2019s putting some old Clarity fuel cells back to work, combining them into a backup power system for its data center just south of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

This is just a \u201cproof of concept,\u201d Honda told TechCrunch, but it aims to commercialize the tech and sees potential applications beyond helping data centers keep the lights on.<\/p>\n

The used fuel cell systems in Honda\u2019s backup-power demonstration once powered leased Clarities (via an electrochemical reaction that combines hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity). Honda retired these used fuel cells for transport, but they apparently still work well enough to drive its server farm in case of a power failure. Previously, Honda relied on diesel for backup power at the facility. (Honda said it uses this particular data center to \u201csecurely maintain and access its proprietary data,\u201d because \u201cautomotive design is data intensive.\u201d)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s nice to hear that Honda found a use for its old fuel cells, but crucially, this demonstration isn\u2019t as environmentally friendly as it could be. The company told TechCrunch that it isn\u2019t exclusively using green hydrogen in the pilot, which means at least some of it was generated via fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

This is the trouble with using hydrogen to generate electricity: Fuel cells do so while spitting out only water and heat as exhaust, but they\u2019re still indirectly pollutive if that hydrogen comes from dirty sources (as most hydrogen fuel does). Correcting this demands a whole lot more green hydrogen production, on top of whatever infrastructure is needed to deliver the hydrogen. This is why some automakers don\u2019t believe in the future of hydrogen-powered cars; they argue it\u2019s simply too much work to go that route.<\/p>\n

But! Honda still believes in hydrogen-powered cars. In fact, this demonstration is also kind of an ad for Honda\u2019s next-generation fuel cells, which the company developed with General Motors.<\/p>\n

As Honda tells it, the next-gen fuel cell systems will power its upcoming hydrogen-powered vehicle, which is \u201cbased on the Honda CR-V\u201d and is due in 2024.<\/p>\n

Honda also plans to use these new fuel cell systems for backup power as it scales the tech. That means this effort won\u2019t be as circular, if at all, when it\u2019s commercialized. Yet, on the upside, Honda said it intends to exclusively use green hydrogen when it commercializes the backup-power units.<\/p>\n

Beyond data centers, Honda added that it\u2019s considering other applications, including \u201cpeak shaving.\u201d This means Honda thinks industrial customers could use its generators at peak times, when electricity is priciest and grids are strained.<\/p>\n

Honda said it aims to develop its proof of concept into a \u201cnew business model.\u201d Yet, the pilot is also a convenient way for the company to talk up its new fuel cells. As battery-electric cars permeate the U.S. market, Honda has an interest in keeping hydrogen in headlines.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Harri Weber<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honda bailed on the Clarity \u2014 its only hydrogen-powered car in the U.S. \u2014 but the automaker hasn\u2019t quit on fuel cells. That\u2019s the message Honda sent with a peculiar announcement today: It\u2019s putting some old Clarity fuel cells back to work, combining them into a backup power system for its data center just south<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":614238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24900,111043,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-614237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-aging","8":"category-hondas","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}