The Hydrogen Economy

Although electrical energy today is considered to be a universally convenient energy source that is instantly available at the turn of a switch, we tend to take for granted the additional availability of two other energy sources—natural gas and oil-gasoline. These chemical energy sources have two outstanding operational advantages over electricity: (1) they can be stored up in varying amounts, either within their distribution networks or in portable containers; and (2) transportation of energy over long distances is far cheaper for natural gas or oil than for electrical power. Present trends in the use of energy accentuate these differences, as the user tends to concentrate his use of power into smaller peak periods of the day, and as the intense concentration of population in local areas strains the electrical transmission network. Moreover, as society is becoming increasingly conscious of the need to protect the environment it lives in, electric power cables are being forced underground at phenomenal expense, to lie out of sight in company with the existing natural gas and oil pipelines. Today’s increasing demands for electrical power are resulting in an increasing potential for atmospheric pollution resulting from the need to burn more “dirty” fuels at the electric power stations.