Although hydrogen is present all around us, it is not found as a separate element. It cannot be extracted like other fuels; instead, it must be laboriously produced from various compounds. Despite its negatives, it is an important energy carrier with great potential.
Although hydrogen is present all around us, it is not found as a separate element. It cannot be extracted like other fuels; instead, it must be laboriously produced from various compounds. Despite its negatives, it is an important energy carrier with great potential.
Hydrogen as an element
Hydrogen makes up about 3/4 of the mass of the universe. Hydrogen is contained in every organic substance. On Earth, it occurs almost exclusively in the form of compounds. It is the lightest of all the elements (14 times lighter than air) and dissipates very quickly into the air when it escapes, not polluting soil or surface water. Hydrogen gas is odourless, colourless and non-toxic, and does not damage the ozone layer or produce harmful emissions. The 'combustion' of hydrogen in a fuel cell produces, in addition to considerable energy gains, only environmentally completely harmless water.
Hydrogen as an energy carrier
Hydrogen is not a conventional fuel, it is an energy carrier. In practice, this means that it cannot be cheaply and energy-efficiently extracted and used to produce primary energy. On the contrary, it has to be produced laboriously and with considerable energy loss. Hydrogen technologies are therefore only as clean as the primary energy sources and raw materials used in the production of hydrogen.
You can find interesting facts about hydrogen on our blog
Can hydrogen be produced environmentally? What about its safety? What is a fuel cell? Will we have a place to refuel hydrogen? Stay tuned for the next installments in our series.
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