ABSTRACT
The prosperity of the present-day developed world has been based on the abundance of fossil fuels as energy source and carrier. Yet these reserves of stored solar energy are nite and, in addition, are mainly composed of carbon. Thus, even if fossil fuel deposits were unlimited, they should be abandoned in the next decades, owing to the massive release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the resulting greenhouse effect, subsequently leading to climate change. Herein lies the necessity for new energy sources and carriers that are based on renewable energy sources such as solar energy. In the opinion of many authors, if the ultimate goal is to develop a sustainable energy economy, the most promising candidate to play the role of storage and transport medium in the near future appears to be hydrogen, provided it will be produced from renewable energy sources. In addition, hydrogen is mainly stored on earth in water of any form, whereas its combustion produces again water; therefore, the cycle closes without environmental decits of any kind.
