Sasolburg set to become new green hydrogen base

Hanno Labuschagne

Journalist
Staff member
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Messages
6,542
Reaction score
4,840
Sasolburg set to become new green hydrogen base

Sasolburg is preparing to host a new green hydrogen system at Sasol 1, the operational base for Sasol, following a recent agreement signed in China.

The green hydrogen produced at the site could be used to produce eMethanol and create eSAF, a sustainable aviation fuel, in the town.
 
the government is selling off SA talent and industry, so that this will be a short term blip of money, most going as kickbacks to comrades, and long term, like the Denel and OMC products, the money and designs will be other countries, each of them making a massive profit from those SA designs, almost all of them actually pre 1994 in development.
 
Image from the article. I have now been living in Sasolburg since 1983, and that pharmacy has been in the same location. According to my wife, who's been in Sasolburg since birth, it's been there as long as she can remember.
1786434287715.png
 
That's a lot of Hindenburgs... all handily concentrated in one place.....

Time to start building houses in blast bunkers.....
 
the government is selling off SA talent and industry, so that this will be a short term blip of money, most going as kickbacks to comrades, and long term, like the Denel and OMC products, the money and designs will be other countries, each of them making a massive profit from those SA designs, almost all of them actually pre 1994 in development.
Yeah it seems like a lot of first world countries that have been here for decades get pushed out of business by government policies only to be replaced by a Chinese company.
 
Green hydrogen is a scam. Anything hydrogen and fuel related is essentially a scam.
Aviation fuel is unfortunately the one place where you cannot really swap with electrical. The energy density of batteries is just not high enough.

It's not a bad idea to be able to produce the stuff in case Iran gets a nuke.
 
Green hydrogen is a scam. Anything hydrogen and fuel related is essentially a scam.
Not really, I see BMW new X3 lineup is Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid, Full EV and Hydrogen. They wouldn't be making a hydrogen powered car if it was all that bad or a scam. Toyota and Porsche are doing similar. Options matter. We can't be reliant on one thing only.
 
A friend lives in Zug in Switzerland. All their buses run from hydrogen and have done for the past 6 years. No exhaust smell and the engines are quiet
Yeah, not everyone wants to be smelling smoke from cars. And all the smog in JHB is killing thousands of people a year. Most of it is due to the coal power stations though.
 
Not really, I see BMW new X3 lineup is Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid, Full EV and Hydrogen. They wouldn't be making a hydrogen powered car if it was all that bad or a scam. Toyota and Porsche are doing similar. Options matter. We can't be reliant on one thing only.
Hydrogen is a scam.

The economics do not work, the only thing its good for is government subsidies, such as this one which BMW is getting - https://bgh2a.bg/en/news-and-resour...to-launch-hydrogen-series-production-by-2028/
 
Last edited:
Hydrogen is a scam.

The economics do not work, the only thing its good for is government subsidies, such as this one which BMW is getting - https://bgh2a.bg/en/news-and-resour...to-launch-hydrogen-series-production-by-2028/
Economics don't work for everything that starts out. 30 years ago, any discussion to using solar on utility scale would have been laughed at and here we are. Tech develops; things get cheaper. There are home kits that are still very expensive and energy intensive but leave it to the smart people to bring the costs down and make this more accessible.

Look at Lithium batteries. Lead acid was much cheaper back in the day and now Lithium is actually cheaper. If I had to get the same 12kWh GEL battery bank today I will pay 20k. You can get Lithium for less nowadays.

I support anything that doesn't involve me paying more coz some old people (who should have retired) on the side of the world decided to bomb each other. Not every country or person has crude oil processing sitting in their backyard.
 
The problem with Hydrogen is that it is not really storable, it will diffuse through any container, and in doing so will make it weaker. Hydrogen car past 5 years cannot be driven, because at that time you will find all the hydrogen storage and piping under high pressure now needs replacing, which likely will be equal to the cost of the vehicle then. Unlike EV battery packs, which have proved they can last 20 years now, and where they do not fail just from sitting at any state other than completely empty, those high pressure vessels and metal hydride packs will fail and need a pressure test, and likely will fail that.

Also same applies for the transport and storage, the tanker that delivers it will have the same, so whoever is supplying it will need to put into their depreciation that the tanks will need to be pressure tested every 5 years, might do 2 tests before they fail, and need to be replaced. I would hate to be in a fuel station when a tank or fitting fails, invisible flame and flash blast that incinerates the surrounding area of the leak, and same for the refineries, where the most common source for hydrogen is to use methane, crack it with catalyst and steam, and throw half the energy away in the reaction, to make CO2 and Hydrogen, while it is much easier to compress the methane to a liquid, much easier to store, and, as SpaceX is proving, much more energy dense fuel as well, as it is a liquid at workable temperatures, and so much easier to store as well.

Rather like making a car that runs on AA batteries, saying it has zero emissions, and you can stock up at any large retailer, convenieltly not saying it has a short range, and the batteries all come from China, and you need a container full per store to do this.
 
The problem with Hydrogen is that it is not really storable, it will diffuse through any container, and in doing so will make it weaker. Hydrogen car past 5 years cannot be driven, because at that time you will find all the hydrogen storage and piping under high pressure now needs replacing, which likely will be equal to the cost of the vehicle then. Unlike EV battery packs, which have proved they can last 20 years now, and where they do not fail just from sitting at any state other than completely empty, those high pressure vessels and metal hydride packs will fail and need a pressure test, and likely will fail that.

Also same applies for the transport and storage, the tanker that delivers it will have the same, so whoever is supplying it will need to put into their depreciation that the tanks will need to be pressure tested every 5 years, might do 2 tests before they fail, and need to be replaced. I would hate to be in a fuel station when a tank or fitting fails, invisible flame and flash blast that incinerates the surrounding area of the leak, and same for the refineries, where the most common source for hydrogen is to use methane, crack it with catalyst and steam, and throw half the energy away in the reaction, to make CO2 and Hydrogen, while it is much easier to compress the methane to a liquid, much easier to store, and, as SpaceX is proving, much more energy dense fuel as well, as it is a liquid at workable temperatures, and so much easier to store as well.

Rather like making a car that runs on AA batteries, saying it has zero emissions, and you can stock up at any large retailer, convenieltly not saying it has a short range, and the batteries all come from China, and you need a container full per store to do this.
Screenshot 2026-08-13 104654.jpg
 
They use COPV wound tanks, which are really reliable, ask Oceangate. Even those for water use have a use by date, irrespective of them actually being pressurised, so 10 years after the manufacturer changes model your tanks expire, and the vehicle is now scrap.
 
Are you sure you know what a scam is ?
Yes.

In green hydrogens case especially, the economics do not work, will never work, and the only thing its useful for is taking taxpayer money and burning it on idiocy.

It benefits those in government in on the scam, and those taking part in the scam, but for everyone else, its a complete loss.
Extremely similar to how the ANC does their my cousin/sister/brother supplies the X for Y^Z price.
 
Yes.

In green hydrogens case especially, the economics do not work, will never work, and the only thing its useful for is taking taxpayer money and burning it on idiocy.

It benefits those in government in on the scam, and those taking part in the scam, but for everyone else, its a complete loss.
Extremely similar to how the ANC does their my cousin/sister/brother supplies the X for Y^Z price.
How do the economics not work ?

This guy is running an entire island on hydrogen he generates from solar, with infrastructure he built himself:


I don't see where the "Scam" is, looks like you have an odd phobia.
 
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X