Hydrogen is developing as a major alternative fuel source. This is an abundant, potentially limitless supply of fuel, and is a well known source of combustion energy. It’s used in spacecraft, and is the energy source behind the hydrogen fuel cell technology for cars. If hydrogen becomes the new energy source for the world, it will affect everything in human life from grid power generation to car insurance.

Photo: Robert Couse-Baker

Hydrogen basics

Hydrogen (H₁) is the first element on the Table of Elements. It’s common, particularly in the form of methane, (CH₄), or natural gas. Hydrogen is highly combustible, and therefore well suited to the many different forms of combustion used in industry and consumer products like cars.

Hydrogen has had a long history in industry. Hydrogen in gas form was once used to inflate Zeppelins. It was too dangerous and too combustible in this form, and replaced by helium, an inert gas for modern balloons. In industry, hydrogen is used in a range of products as part of many different compounds.

Hydrogen technology and economics

The use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source has been hotly debated. The concept of a global “hydrogen economy” is now under scrutiny at top scientific and government levels around the world.

Arguments for hydrogen

Hydrogen is envisioned by its supporters as an abundant source of fuel which will reduce pollution to zero and can be sourced from many different products cheaply. It’s considered to be a fuel which will have none of the problems of petrol, which is a very strong argument for environmentalist supporters.

The economic arguments in favor of hydrogen are particularly relevant to many modern issues in some areas:

• Hydrogen as a cheap fuel can drastically reduce freight charges, benefiting businesses and consumers, and promoting good commercial effects.
• Hydrogen is a sustainable source of pure energy, not a finite resource like oil, and has none of the drawbacks of solid fuels.
• The fact that hydrogen can reduce pollution from emissions to zero means that the costs of pollution, waste management, and related technology, which affect every product on the market, can be eliminated.

Arguments against hydrogen

Supporters of other types of energy sources and other economic arguments are considerably less enthusiastic.

They point out that:

• Hydrogen requires a large support technology.
• Hydrogen is highly flammable, and requires safeguards.
• The large scale distribution system for hydrogen hasn’t yet been defined.
• Commercial use requires extraction and involves a range of chemical processes creating a “supply chain” effect and requiring a large infrastructure.
• Technologies for the use of hydrogen are currently in their early stages, and facing problems with functional issues. The hydrogen fuel cell, for example, is efficient, but requires a large tank of hydrogen under pressure, and adds cost to end users.

The facts so far

Hydrogen’s actual capabilities as a fuel aren’t in dispute. The arguments are about technological efficiency, cost and overcoming the limitations of current technology for using hydrogen. Hydrogen really can be the fuel of the future, but there are some hurdles that must be overcome.

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