ABSTRACT
On a global scale, the consumption of energy is growing due to the increasing world population and the increased level of wealth standards. Nowadays, energy is mainly produced from fossil fuels.1 This situation leads to a further depletion of the limited cheap fossil reserves, increased dependency on fossil fuel imports and, furthermore, gives rise to an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases (mainly CO2) in the atmosphere. There are increasing indications that this is a signifi cantly contributing factor to global climate changes.2 One of the ways to reduce the anthropogenic contribution to this problem is the application of a CO2 neutral energy carrier instead of the net CO2 producing fossil fuels, which are currently used. The role of primary renewable energy sources in the global energy economy could be greatly extended if they could be converted to an energy carrier that is easily stored and transported and this could serve fl uid-fuel markets not readily served by electricity; see Ogden and Nitsch in Johansson et al.3 Potentially, hydrogen is a carrier that can also reduce the exclusive dependency on fossil fuels; see, for example, Turner.4
