Rifkin: Hydrogen "revolution" required to beat global warming:

"The prominent economist Jeremy Rifkin has argued that the transition to a hydrogen economy must be inevitable if the threat posed by global warming is to be effectively tackled.

In an interview with the European Wind Energy Association, Mr Rifkin, author of the book The Hydrogen Economy, said that the need to beat global warming would eventually result in an energy 'revolution' where hydrogen, used to create electricity through fuel cell technology, would become the basis of the economy.

'Our central mission over the next 30 years will be to make the third industrial revolution happen: we already have a new communications world order; now we need an energy revolution,' he explained.

'I see our energy future built on a shift from fossil fuels to renewables converted into hydrogen so they can be stored.'

Mr Rifkin further argued that hydrogen-powered technology should be preferred over nuclear power due to the cost and safety concerns associated with the latter. "