ABSTRACT
Hydrogen may well emerge as a very important fuel toward the end of this century. Since hydrogen is not a basic energy resource (except in the sun), it must be supplied by using some other basic energy resource to generate hydrogen from water or other hydrogen-containing chemical compounds. Unlike carbon-based fuels, hydrogen used directly as a fuel produces only water at low combustion temperatures. At higher combustion temperatures, as in all combustion processes requiring air, nitrogen oxides form and must be vented. Hydrogen is also ideal for catalytic combustion at temperatures as low as 212°F (100°C); at this low temperature, essentially no NOX pollutants would be formed. Large-scale adaptation of hydrogen-use technologies may well produce other problems. For example, water electrolysis cells in the past used an asbestos membrane to separate the hydrogen and oxygen components.
