Hydrogen future: facts and fallacies

Abstract

A transition to a ‘hydrogen economy’ is a sea change in our energy infrastructure and is not to be taken lightly. As an energy carrier, hydrogen is to be compared to electricity, the only wide spread and viable alternative. When hydrogen is employed to transmit renewable electricity, only 50% can reach the end user due to losses in electrolysis, hydrogen compression and the fuel cell. The rush into a hydrogen economy is neither supported by energy efficiency arguments nor justified with respect to economy or ecology. In fact, it appears that hydrogen will not play an important role in a sustainable energy economy because the synthetic energy carrier cannot be more efficient than the energy from which it is made. Renewable electricity is better distributed by electrons than by hydrogen. Consequently, the hasty introduction of hydrogen as an energy carrier cannot be a stepping stone into a sustainable energy future. The opposite may be true. Because of the wastefulness of a hydrogen economy, the promotion of hydrogen may counteract all reasonable measures of energy conservation. Even worse, the forced transition to a hydrogen economy may prevent the establishment of a sustainable energy economy based on an intelligent use of precious renewable resources. This article is meant to direct attention to some fundamental problems of a Hydrogen Economy.