Getting the Word Out About Hydrogen
by James S. Cannon, Senior
Fellow, INFORM, Inc.
“That was interesting. Too bad that nobody knows and
nobody cares about hydrogen.” The words cut me to the quick. I had
just finished taping a radio show for a National Public Radio station last
November about my new INFORM book, Harnessing
Hydrogen: The Key to Sustainable Transportation, when the commentator
made this observation, thankfully out of microphone range.
It was painful, but uncomfortably close to the
truth. Few people are aware of the depth of the problems we face due to
our dependence on oil as our transportation fuel. An even smaller number
recognize the promise that hydrogen holds to solve these problems now and
forever. Yet, a fundamental change in personal transportation is not only
inevitable, it is underway and hydrogen can and should be on center stage.
Most of the problems presented by the current
regime stem from the presence of carbon in the oil molecule. Some 40 tons
of carbon dioxide, implicated in global warming, spew from automotive tail
pipes every second: carbon provides the backbone of most of the nastiest
air pollutants from oil use, including toxic and carcinogenic emissions;
and it is the carbon that marks the “fossil” in fossil fuel, defining
it as limited and nonrenewable.
Hydrogen, which has no carbon, is the ideal
fuel for vehicles of the future, providing the key to sustainable transportation.
It can be made in limitless quantities from solar energy and it can be burned
in conventional car engines or used in fuel cell-powered vehicles virtually
without pollution.
Obstacles No Longer
Extremely rapid scientific breakthroughs in recent
years mean that there are no longer insurmountable technological obstacles
to the development of commercially viable hydrogen-powered vehicles. The
infrastructure that is now being developed for natural gas vehicles can
pave the way for a transportation system for hydrogen and natural gas is
an attractive feedstock for hydrogen production until a solar-hydrogen industry
is in place.
Similarly, there are strong synergies between
hydrogen and electric-battery vehicle technology, so that the extensive
electric vehicle research that has been conducted over the past decade can
be applied to hydrogen as well. Because hydrogen systems are much lighter
and smaller than batteries and refueling is quicker than recharging batteries,
hydrogen used in hybrid electric configurations offers an answer to some
of the most vexing concerns about applying battery technology in transportation.
The promise of hydrogen is among the truly exciting
technological developments of our age. Thinking it over, perhaps my radio
station friend wasn’t right after all. Perhaps the truth is that “Nobody
cares because nobody knows.” If so, it is public education and constituency
building that are the most important challenges hydrogen advocates face
today.
It follows, then, that this NHA newsletter and
the many other educational activities now underway—including a documentary
film that will premier at the World Hydrogen Energy Conference this June
and a new periodical, Hydrogen Transportation, to debut this summer—are
important steps we can take to ensure hydrogen’s place in the sun.
©1996. All Rights Reserved. A Publication of
the National Hydrogen Association.
This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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