Hydrogen

Hydrogen is not a source of energy, but an energy carrier. It is, perhaps, the ideal energy carrier, because when combusted or during its direct conversion into electricity in fuel cells, water alone is released, not CO₂. It is a real ‘zero-emission’ fuel that could improve the quality of life in densely populated areas. For many, the ‘hydrogen economy’, in which transport runs entirely on hydrogen, is the ideal image of the future.

Whether or not hydrogen will make an important contribution to future energy supply systems will largely depend on the possibility to produce it in a sustainable, economically sound manner, e.g. from sunlight, or using wind or nuclear power. Currently, a lot of hydrogen is already being used in the chemical industry amongst others, but this is produced almost entirely from natural gas, from which CO₂ is released, just as it is during combustion.

Added to the above, important breakthroughs are still needed in conversion and storage technology: fuel cells and compact, lightweight storage systems that give sufficient action radius. Dutch hydrogen researchers are amongst the best in the world.