The World in 2030

222 The World in 2030
Hydrogen Fuel
Of all the other renewable energy sources not yet discussed,
it is hydrogen (H 2
) that produces the most optimism for the
long-term prospects for the storage of clean energy produced
from electricity. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in
the universe (comprising 75 per cent of the mass and 90
per cent of its molecules 427 ) and harnessing it as a carrier of
power would provide humanity with a virtually unlimited
way to store and carry energy.
Hydrogen is a totally clean fuel that can be produced
(by applying electricity and other means) from a number
of sources (including coal and water) and which, when
burnt, produces only water. Devices called fuel cells 428 (first
described theoretically in Germany 1838 and first built in the
UK in 1959) are used to extract energy stored in hydrogen
and there is great hope that hydrogen-powered fuel cells
will one day become a universal form of propulsion for all
forms of motor transport (and, perhaps, aviation) and that
households and businesses will be able to generate their
own power locally from solar/wind-powered hydrogen fuel
cells and will cease to be reliant of national-grid-type energy
distribution systems.
The French futurologist and science-fiction writer Jules
Verne 429 knew about the potential for hydrogen as fuel storage
well over a century ago. In his 1874 novel ‘The Mysterious
Island’ an engineer called Cyrus Harding suggests that
when coal has run out, mankind will burn water to generate
energy: