Dispelling Myths

There has been concern around the safety of hydrogen. It’s used to make bombs after all! However, despite its name, the hydrogen bomb uses deuterium and tritium; neither of those elements are used in hydrogen fuel cells. Further, Fuel cells combine oxygen and hydrogen, which is used to generate electric power. There’s no explosion involved.

A number of factors actually increase the safety of hydrogen over other fuel sources. Being the lightest element means room temperature hydrogen is buoyant and dissipates quickly, minimizing the potential time it takes to burn. This stands in contrast to some hydrocarbon fuels that pool on the ground. A hydrogen flame also produces little radiant heat compared to a hydrocarbon fire, reducing the risk of secondary fires. And hydrogen in the air is benign to human health and the environment, meaning releasing it into the environment creates no negative impact.

However, hydrogen is an invisible, odorless, flammable gas, and like any chemical or fuel, it requires sound safety measures. It is important to note that gasoline and diesel are also highly flammable; technically, when using a traditional internal combustion engine, the driver is putting a substance into their vehicle that can catch on fire.

Energy.gov has released a fact sheet that breaks things down a little further. The government doesn’t release untested vehicles to the public. The tanks that hold the hydrogen are put through their paces and rigorously evaluated before going into vehicles.

Hydrogen codes and standards are under constant review in the US, and revisions will continue as hydrogen is deployed more broadly in a growing number of markets.

As more and more hydrogen demonstrations get underway; hydrogen’s safety record can grow and build confidence that hydrogen can be as safe as the fuels in widespread use today.