Hydrogen: saviour or fatal distraction

摘要

Should developing a "hydrogen economy" be the number one priority for meeting our long-term energy needs while cutting greenhouse emissions? Or should we be investing in more immediate ways to cut emissions, such as burying the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels? Energy experts are bitterly divided on the issue. John Turner of the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, is a leading advocate of hydrogen. He argues in the journal Science (vol 305, p 972) that using renewable energy to generate hydrogen is the only "green" way to produce the energy to run our cars and trucks. Electricity from renewable sources such as wind, wave and solar would be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen could then be burnt directly or used to power a fuel cell.