Remember the hydrogen economy? : "Remember the hydrogen economy? A few years back, you couldn�t move for stories of how pollution-free fuel cells were going to keep us all powering ahead into a low-carbon future. Now it�s all gone rather quiet. So has hydrogen been oversold? Simon Hadlington sorts hope from hype.

For a world panicked by peak oil and rising temperatures, hydrogen has a simple, seductive appeal. We don�t have to abandon our cars or dim the lights: we just switch from hydrocarbons to hydrogen. After all, cars, buses, trucks, not to mention domestic generators and who knows what else, could be powered not by fossil-fuels but electricity produced in onboard fuel cells. They�d take in hydrogen � plus oxygen from the air � and all that would come out of the exhaust pipe would be water clean enough to drink.
The concept is compelling. The prototypes work. There are fuel cell motors in operation out there � even in experimental commercial service, notably on London�s RV1 bus route [see right]. Enterprising initiatives are out there demonstrating the technology in other �real life� applications, from the latest in road signs to lighthouse lamps. Surely all we have to do now is scale up into the bright new tomorrow. So what are we still waiting for?
Four things...
A means of producing hydrogen in large volumes � cleanly.
The infrastructure for transporting the gas from its point of production to where it�s needed (a filling station, say).
Good ways of storing hydrogen gas safely on board motor vehicles.
The fuel cells to convert this hydrogen, once in place, to electricity.
Crack that lot, and everyone would be happy � not least the motor industry (though for the oil companies it would be a clear case of adapt or die). In a fully fledged hydrogen economy, not only would al"