Hydrogen Energy: An Alternative Fuel for the Future

Abstract

Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can transform our fossil-fuel dependent economy into a hydrogen economy, which can provide an emissions-free transportation fuel. Literature reviews and independent research were the main methods of research. Hydrogen storage and transport are issues of intense research due to hydrogen’s characteristic low density. Hydrogen is the fuel of the future. As an avid researcher of alternative fuels and an ambitious chemistry student, this researcher understands the importance of a shift to a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be used in internal combustion engines or fuel cells producing virtually no greenhouse gas emissions when combusted with oxygen. The only significant emission is water vapor. Hydrogen production and storage is currently undergoing extensive research. A solar-hydrogen system can provide the means of a totally emissionsfree method of producing hydrogen. Although steam reformation of methane is currently the major route to hydrogen production, the emissions involved can also be controlled much more efficiently than our current system of transportation fuel. Much work is in progress to initiate a shift from a fossil-fuel economy to a hydrogen economy.