The purpose of this article is to examine some aspects of the “hydrogen economy”. Using a variety of empirical data, I conclude that, while using hydrogen for transport and for generating electricity is technically feasible, the cost and additional infrastructure implications mean that widespread use of this element for energy is unlikely for the foreseeable future.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BockrisJ. O'M., The Origin of Ideas on a Hydrogen Economy and its Solution to the Decay of the Environment, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy27(7–8), July–August 2002, 731–740.
2.
OCS Alternative Energy and Alternate Use Programmatic EIS Information Centre, Hydrogen Generation, OCS Alternative Energy and Alternate Use Programmatic EIS Information Centre, Washington, DC. http://ocsenergy.anl.gov/guide/hydrogen/index.cfm.
Johanna Ivy, Summary of Electrolytic Hydrogen Production: Milestone Completion Report, NREL/MP-560-36734, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, September 2004, Table 2, 8. http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/pdfs/36734.pdf.
10.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Electricity Generation, OECD Factbook 2011–2012: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, 2011, 133.
TakahashiR.KinoshitaH.MurataT.TamuraJ.SugimasaM.KomuraA.FutamiM.IchinoseM.IdeK., A Cooperative Control Method for Output Power Smoothing and Hydrogen Production by Using Variable Speed Wind Generator, in 13thInternational Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference, 2008, 1–3 September 2008.
