ABSTRACT
This last chapter will be devoted to what some people call “the fuel of the future,” hydrogen (H2), and to the economy that is associated with it, “the hydrogen economy.” Hydrogen is not a resource, but a carrier of energy and its useful component, exergy, and we will discuss its production, transportation, storage, and conversion to its final application, be it heat, work, electricity, fuels, or chemicals. But we will not do this without paying attention to the corresponding thermodynamic efficiency to put things in a proper and realistic perspective. Throughout this chapter, we will try to substantiate the options of a hydrogen economy within the boundary conditions of the laws of thermodynamics, the only way out from what is obviously a labyrinth.
