Revisiting competitiveness of hydrogen and algae biodiesel

There is a shared belief across latest literature that hydrogen and algae biodiesel are promising substitutes for fossil fuels. However, hydrogen infrastructure for everyday mobility is still in its early stage from a global perspective and there is no algae biodiesel refinery in operation. Despite all this, recent geopolitical developments have caused a tipping point to be reached in the EU and hydrogen mobility has become cheaper (7 euro/100 km) than conventional fossil fuels (15.6 euro/100 km) for the first time. In many other countries the breaking point is also approaching and recent methods in waste refining could make hydrogen production even cheaper (5.4 euro/100 km). Switching to algae biodiesel is less technically challenging for the industry. Nevertheless, technological barriers in scaling up commercial-scale algae production make the hypothetical price of algae biodiesel far from price-competitive (292 euro/100 km). At the present state of knowledge it is recommended to refine algae for non-energy purposes.

Automated summary

According to recent literature, hydrogen and algae biodiesel are considered promising alternatives to fossil fuels. Hydrogen mobility has become cheaper than conventional fossil fuels in the European Union, and although algae biodiesel production faces technological barriers, it is recommended for non-energy purposes.