8 June 2019 | New Scientist | 5FOR a fuel that supported humans on
their way to the moon, hydrogen has
singularly failed to get off the ground.
The fuel cells that provided the juice
for the Apollo lunar modules 50 years
ago followed a principle of efficient
electricity generation we have known
for two centuries. You react hydrogen
and oxygen, making electricity and
just one, clean waste product: water.
Useful stuff when you are in space.
Useful stuff when you are on the
ground, too. The world is lacking in
transportable fuels that aren’t oil.
Whether in fuel cells, directly in internal
combustion engines, or in a host of
other contexts as a substitute for fossil
fuels, hydrogen promises a greener
alternative. With zero emissions at
the point of use, it is also a potential
solution for the foul air of our cities.Interest is burgeoning. Climate
laggard Australia is looking to burnish
its green credentials by developing a
national hydrogen strategy (see page 20).
In the UK, the H21 North of England
initiative, the “world’s largest clean
energy project”, envisages converting
the domestic gas supply of 3.7 million
households to hydrogen, starting in- One estimate is that hydrogen
could meet 24 per cent of total energy
demand across Europe by 2050.
Caution is needed. Hydrogen is
the most abundant molecule in the
universe, but it isn’t present on Earth
in its free form. We must first produce it.
That can be done cleanly by splitting
water into hydrogen and oxygen using
renewable electricity from solar and
wind power. But the cheaper and more
prevalent method is to extract it from
natural gas or coal, which emits carbon
dioxide and locks us into further
exploitation of fossil fuels. Projects
touting hydrogen’s green credentials
often rely on sequestering waste CO 2
from its production, a technology as
yet untested on the scale required.
Limiting global warming to
“safe”levels is the moonshot of our
generation, a huge technological
challenge. Hydrogen can be part
of the solution – if we do it right. ❚Two cheers for hydrogen
It can be a clean, green fuel – but only if we produce it the right way
The leader
Countries
are vying to
become the
main producers
of potential
superfuel
hydrogenCH
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