This morning's Duluth News Tribune had an article about Algeria beginning a massive solar project in the Sahara. One of the goals is to provide a goodly amount of Europe's electricity via undersea cables.
I wondered if it would be better to manufacture hydrogen fuel and ship that. Then the fuel can be used in cars or fuel cells to provide local electricity. The fuel would not be shipped as liquid but in a hydride form. With a quick search of the web I found two companies that produce the hydrides. One has a hydride slurry that safely store and release the hydrogen; I didn't delve into its current status. The other has a sodium-boron-hydride; it was being tested in a Chrysler Town and Country. The storage was equivalent to that for gasoline, the mileage was 30mpg gasoline equivalent, and the range was 300 miles.
Off the top of my head, I'd say transporting energy by cable would be more cost-effective. However, considering the bulk of some hydrides is about the same as gasoline, it would cost only twice as much to ship the hydride. The gasoline doesn't come back, but the depleted hydride does to be re-used.
