ABSTRACT
The idea of a world in which energy needs are met by hydrogen instead of carbonbased fuels is certainly appealing and has captured both the public and scientific imagination. This idea is summed up in the phrase, “the hydrogen economy.” In the ideal scenario, hydrogen would be produced from water by electrolysis, powered by renewable sources such as solar or wind energy, and used in fuel cells with air, producing only water as a product. The far-reaching implications of this environmentally neutral water-hydrogen-water cycle perhaps best represent the attractiveness of the hydrogen economy. It would lay to rest the specter of diminishing fossil fuel reserves and the energy crisis that will inevitably come if current energy use is not modified. It would also address another great specter of our times that has captured the public imagination, if not completely the scientific community: global warming or climate change. The sociopolitical consequences would be enormous. Indeed, the establishment of the hydrogen economy has been described as potentially having a bigger impact than the Industrial Revolution.
