In 1937, the German Zeppelin LZ 129, the Hindenburg, crashed and burned in Lakehurst, NJ. At the time, it was the most publicized aerial event after the landing of Charles Lindbergh in Paris in 1927. Although everything from the original design and construction to the testimony of the crew is known, there are still engineering discussions about the cause for the fire and explosion that doomed the giant “gas bag.” What isn’t in doubt is that the flammable nature of the lifting gas, hydrogen, was the major fuel of its demise.

Fast forward to today and we find that hydrogen is an up and coming, environmentally friendly choice for powering a variety of industrial and commercial engines, including for cars and trucks. Under strict safety designs, FCEVs (fuel cell electric vehicles) are powered by hydrogen and, according to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, are more efficient than conventional internal combustion engines while producing no tailpipe emissions—they only emit water vapor and warm air.

FCEVs use a propulsion system like that of electric vehicles, where energy stored as hydrogen is converted to electricity by the fuel cell. FCEVs are fueled with pure hydrogen gas stored in a tank on the vehicle and they can be fueled in less than 4 minutes with a driving range more than 300 miles. While the technology isn’t new, the infrastructure to support it is still in the build-out stage.  Major automobile manufacturers are offering a limited, but growing number of production FCEVs to the public in certain markets, in sync with what the developing infrastructure can support. As of August 2020, there were 44 publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations in the U.S., 42 of which were in California.

But FCEVs are not the only potential for hydrogen energy today. Efforts to decarbonize the power sector while maintaining a reliable, balanced generation mix remains a goal of the industry. Initial hydrogen turbine projects in Europe have demonstrated the viability of the technology, drawing acclaim for its promise to provide reliable baseload power.

With help from advances in battery storage, hydrogen is widely expected to make a star turn over the next decade, particularly as “gray hydrogen” — derived from fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal—slowly gives way to “green hydrogen” produced with renewable energy.

The increasing interest in hydrogen is causing an increasing interest in the necessary infrastructure by companies in the construction segment. Black & Veatch recently announce it has joined the CHS (Center for Hydrogen Safety), a global, nonprofit membership organization that supports and promotes the safe handling and use of hydrogen across industrial and consumer applications in the energy transition. CHS facilitates access to hydrogen safety experts; develops comprehensive safety guidance, outreach and education materials and activities; and provides a forum to partner on worldwide technical solutions. Participation in CHS provides assurance that groups of experts have a common communication platform with a global scope to ensure safety information, guidance and expertise is available to all stakeholders.

Fully integrating hydrogen into the energy mix will be a complicated endeavor. This will require strong collaboration between engineering leaders, such as Black & Veatch, along with technology integrators, investors, activists and regulators, all with the support of high-impact safety organizations such as CHS.

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