I agree with you, and I think it’s interesting to look at why there is a short term uptick in youth crime.

Something something cost of living crisis something something

Congrats mate! Thank you for all your hard work on maintaining this little piece of the internet for us!

But the ambiguity comes from the crown ignoring the original, Te Reo document, in favour of the translates English version, then ignoring that as well.

I expect this to change. The problem is they pushed it out for light vehicles before it was ready. If it’s going to work anywhere, it’ll be heavy vehicles, shipping and aero.

But hell any new zero emissions tech is ok by me. Just…something other than dead rotten dinosaurs.

Look again. I’m not talking about light vehicles.

A BEV truck can weigh up to 5 tons more than a FCEV. Why would that not be a case use for hydrogen? Now scale up to a ship where volume is no issue. BEV shipping is a non-starter.

New battery tech is fantastic. But why would you assume new battery tech, currently prohibitively expensive, will come down with scale but hydrogen won’t?

Ammonia is significantly more harmful in the event of a leak. Yes, it’s more hydrogen dense than pure liquid hydrogen.

Ultimately I don’t see a reason to dismiss hydrogen like some are doing. Is it the perfect solution in all cases? Of course not. Does that mean it is not a viable fuel source for transport? Absolutely not.

Scale solves most problems. Hydrogen also has other uses, such as steel production, which further increases the scale.

For light vehicles batter EV is likely to be the leading type for some time, as volume is more of an issue then weight for the ranges we need.

That’s not entirely true. If you are purely looking at $/kWh then yes, of course this is the case. However that is not the only consideration when it comes to transport. Weight of the drive unit, use of rare earth metals, lifespan of the drive unit, energy density by weight, speed of recharge, ease of transport energy, and more are all considerations.

I’m not arguing that vehicles will become hydrogen electric. I agree they are not suitable without some serious technological advances. What I’m saying is that at a certain point, larger vehicles (trucks, trains, ships, even aeroplanes) will become more suitable to hydrogen.

I’m all for increasing rail and coastal shipping for cargo. Having lived overseas, it’s criminal how much we rely on trucks here.

I can’t find the exact figures, as it depends on battery range and battery tech. One study I’ve seen found a battery truck would weigh over 5000kg more than a hydrogen-electric version.

I’ve also seen figures of double the weight for a Li-Ion battery EV compared to HEV at ranges above 300 miles.

It is technically challenging, I don’t disagree, but it has high energy density by weight. It also, of course, has lots of other applications. Steel manufacture being one.

But to be honest, even if it never eventuates and we get carbon neutral biofuels, I’ll be happy. Anything is better than what we’re doing right now.

Of course it is, don’t be daft.

Price will come down with scale. Currently hydrogen is only produced at a very small scale. As production increases, price will drop. Simple really.

Freezing pumps is a problem I’m certain will be solved. In its infancy, EV charging stations were slow. Look how far the technology has come in a short number of years. As uptake increases and infrastructure is built, I am certain these problems will be overcome.

Absolutely. If there was the political will in this country, we would have an excess of cheap, renewable, power.

Yes, as I said above, this is true because a) hydrogen doesn’t currently have the scale to bring the cost down, and b) is more suitable for large vehicles anyway. It’s failure to be a viable consumer option doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work in mass freight transport.

There are problems with these articles, and it almost always comes down to scale. There currently isn’t the scale and infrastructure to bring the cost of hydrogen to make it cost effective compared to pure electric. With time that could change if there is a will to do so.

But regardless, as I mentioned in my other comment, hydrogen has a much better use case in large scale transport. Trains and ships, for example, where volume isn’t a problem and where the weight of batteries becomes untenable. This is, I think, where hydrogen will be viable.

There seems to be a general push against hydrogen electric transport recently. I agree that it isn’t suitable for small-scale transport, such as cars or even busses, but I do think there is a use-case for large transport.

Ultimately the problem comes how do we get the electricity from the generator to the vehicle where it needs to be. Obviously batteries are more efficient, but they come with their own problems. They weigh a lot, which damages infrastructure, they require rare metals, they have a maximum capacity per unit weight.

Of course they have advantages, but I think as the vehicle gets larger, and the charging time requirements drastically increase, I think there comes a point where hydrogen electric systems are worth looking at. Trains and shipping being the main ones, and potentially trucks.

Of course, if the hydrogen is not generated cleanly then it’s moot, but the same is true for pure electric systems as well.

Ultimately, I would like to see renewable generation that turns excess power into hydrogen for a train and coastal shipping fleet.

Honestly embarrassing for New Zealand.

Absolutely. Which is why I think having a digital currency is great, because it adds another tool we can use.

Those that want to can use it, and those that don’t can continue to use cash. I don’t agree with some of the naysayers that digital cash will lead to the removal of physical cash.

I hate cash. I just have a card wallet, and a note clip if I absolutely need it. Otherwise I carry no cash.

AFIK that’s the way premined currencies work. The “miners” (which are not miners, as you say they just validate the blockchain) are controlled and are not that many

To be fair I’m not that knowledgeable about XRP and other premined tokens.

There are transaction fees on cash too, it’s called GST, petrol tax, income tax, etc. This would just make it easier to levy taxes so we can eliminate more onerous taxes

Oh I get that, I’m all for reducing or removing regressive taxes such as GST in favor of progressive taxes. Dreams are free, but that ain’t going to happen.

Actually, a digital currency would make it much easier for businesses to collect and report GST. I’ve worked in retail before, it’s a real headache.

I don’t think this is universally true. Both my kids weren’t too fussed if their pocket money was cash, or deposited in their accounts.