Hydrogen-based economy

In addition, there will be a transition to a hydrogen-based economy. This market timeframe is most likely to see central and distributed generation integrated with fuel cell technologies. 

A hydrogen-based economy could be the ideal scenario for personal transportation. The ultimate goal is a fuel cell car that is competitive in price and performance with the internal combustion vehicle. Some early users will pay a premium for new technology, but most drivers will not pay 20-30% more for similar performance. 

A hydrogen-based economy in the long term where hydrogen is the final product (transportation fuel used in combustion engines or fuel cells, hydro gen-fuelled power plants to regulate electrical grids with intermittent power sources...). 

Renewable electrolysis can help overcome one of the key barriers to realizing a hydrogen based economy by replacing the carbon intensive one that exists today. There is an excellent opportunity for research in renewable hydrogen production both in terms of understanding the operation of the electrolyzer under variable sources and optimizing, in terms of efficiency, cost, and robustness, the link between a renewable source and electrolyzer stack. 

The final step in the hydrogen flow through a hydrogen based economy is consumption for useful work. While internal combustion engine technology has been known for some time, the major research effort is on fuel cells. Fuel cells also date to the 19 century, but application has only been likely with recent improvements in power density. While increasingly sophisticated stationary and mobile fuel cells have been fielded over the last 10 years, durability and cost have inhibited wide scale production in mobile applications. 

Water electrolysis is currently only of interest where favorable conditions hold (accounts for < 3% of hydrogen production), but could become important in a future hydrogen-based economy... 

Hydrogen produced by electrolysis is also used where particularly pure hydrogen is required such as in food technology (margarine production) or for small users. The process eould in the long term beeome important in a hydrogen-based economy in the post-oil era. 

A hydrogen-based economy could be the ideal scenario for personal... 

Some First World countries are embarked upon an aggressive, well-financed, and deeply coordinated effort to switch from petroleum-based economies to hydrogen-based economies. A hydrogen economy is considered as the final task, coupled with major vehicle efficiency... 

A key finding from our interviews, that is confirmed across other expert accounts (reviewed by Ricci, 2006 McDowell and Eames, 2006) is that hydrogen futures are assessed in very different ways by different stakeholders, so that the overall desirability of hydrogen as an energy carrier becomes problematic. The same can be said about public attitudes towards moving to a hydrogen-based economy. 

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