Hydrogen as a Future Energy Source

Abstract

Nowadays, the world confronts many serious problems about greenhouse gas emission and atmospheric pollution from the direct fossil fuel combustion and continuously increasing energy prices. In a future sustainable energy system based on renewable energy, environmentally harmless energy carriers like hydrogen, will be vital importance. The use of hydrogen as a future energy source is a way to support the hydrogen economy instead of fossil fuel economy. Hydrogen and fuel cell are now extensively expected as one of the key energy solutions in the future. These technologies will contribute considerably to depletion in environmental problems, enhanced energy security, creation of new energy industries. This paper describes the vision for hydrogen economy based on a clean and simple cycle: separate water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy such as solar; storage and distribute; use hydrogen to power a fuel cell to produce electrical energy and water. This process produces no pollution, no carbon dioxide and no particles. This paper also presents technologies of hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and distribution, and fuel cell operation and application within a sustainable energy vision.