Thoughts on Starting the Hydrogen Economy

George Crabtree, Mildred Dresselhaus, and Michelle Buchanan assert that the energy required to split the water molecule and release hydrogen is later recovered during oxidation to produce water. As any undergraduate student of thermodynamics knows, that statement is false; only some of the energy is recovered in any realizable manner. This fact points up the general fallacy in the public’s mind about hydrogen being an energy source. Unless and until we are able to connect a hose to Jupiter, hydrogen should be viewed not as an energy source but as a storage medium.

Moreover, as the authors aptly point out, hydrogen does not store energy nearly as efficiently as does gasoline. As long as gasoline is abundantly available, hydrogen will not be cost competitive. Given the stress on the federal budget, large-scale government funding of R&D related to the hydrogen economy is not likely to happen. My guess is that, for the foreseeable future at least, hybrid gasoline technology is where the action will be in the energy sector.