At the present time, hydrogen’s main use as a fuel is in the NASA space
program. Liquid hydrogen is the fuel that has propelled the space shuttle
and other rockets since the 1970s. Hydrogen fuel cells power the shuttle’s
electrical systems, producing pure water, which is used by the crew as
drinking water.
In the future, however, hydrogen will join electricity as an important
energy carrier, since it can be made safely from renewable energy sources
and is virtually non-polluting. It will also be used as a fuel for
?zero-emissions? vehicles, to heat homes and offices, to produce
electricity, and to fuel aircraft. Cost is the major obstacle.
The first widespread use of hydrogen will probably be as an additive to
transportation fuels. Hydrogen can be combined with gasoline, ethanol,
methanol, and natural gas to increase performance and reduce pollution.
Adding just five percent hydrogen to gasoline can reduce nitrogen oxide (NOX)
emissions by 30 to 40 percent in today's engines.
An engine converted to burn pure hydrogen produces only water and minor
amounts of NOX as exhaust.
A few hydrogen-powered vehicles are on the road today, but it will
probably be 10-20 years before you can walk into your local car dealer and
drive away in one. Finding hydrogen fuel today might be difficult.
Can you imagine how huge the task would be to quickly change the
gasoline-powered transportation system we have today? (Just think of the
thousands of filling stations across the country, and the production and
distribution systems that serve them.) Change will come slowly to this
industry, but hydrogen is a versatile fuel; it can be used in many ways.
The space shuttle uses hydrogen fuel cells (batteries) to run its
computer systems. The fuel cells basically reverse electrolysis hydrogen
and oxygen are combined to produce electricity. Hydrogen fuel cells are
very efficient and produce only water as a by-product, but they are
expensive to build.
With technological advances, small fuel cells could someday power
electric vehicles and larger fuel cells could provide electricity in
remote areas.
Because of the cost, hydrogen will not produce electricity on a wide
scale in the near future. It may, though, be added to natural gas to
reduce emissions from existing power plants.
As the production of electricity from renewables increases, so will the
need for energy storage and transportation. Many of these
sources? especially solar and wind are located far from population centers
and produce electricity only part of the time. Hydrogen may be the perfect
carrier for this energy. It can store the energy and distribute it to
wherever it is needed. It is estimated that transmitting electricity long
distances is four times more expensive than shipping hydrogen by pipeline.
Future of Hydrogen
Before hydrogen can make a significant contribution to the U.S. energy
picture, many new systems must be designed and built. There must be large
production and storage facilities and a distribution system. And consumers
must have the technology to use it.
The use of hydrogen raises concerns about safety. Hydrogen is a
volatile gas with high energy content. Early skeptics had similar concerns
about natural gas and gasoline—even about electricity. People were afraid
to let their children too near the first light bulbs. As hydrogen
technologies develop, safety issues will be addressed. Hydrogen can be
produced, stored, and used as safely as other fuels.
The goal of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Program is for
hydrogen to produce ten percent of our total energy demand by the year
2030. Hydrogen may reduce our dependence on foreign oil and provide clean,
renewable energy for the future.
