Hydrogen makes renewable energy storable and hence transportable.
Hydrogen is thus a sustainable alternative, both as a source of energy for stationary uses and as an automotive fuel.

The commonest element in the universe, hydrogen (H2) is colourless, odourless, lighter than air and non-toxic. In nature it occurs only in the combined state, for example in combination with oxygen, in water, or in fossil fuels such as oil. Its advantage lies in its propensity to combine: energy is needed to separate the hydrogen, and this energy is released again when the hydrogen combines again, e.g. with oxygen to form water. Hydrogen is therefore a secondary energy source.

The vision: hydrogen as a carrier medium for renewable energy
The world possesses natural energy resources that are many times greater than our requirements. The sun alone supplies the Earth day after day with 15,000 times the daily primary energy requirements of the world's entire population. Alternative energy sources are also available to us in the fields of wind energy and hydro power, geothermal energy or bio energy. But renewable energy is not always needed when it is available. And the place it is produced is rarely the place it is used.

But hydrogen makes renewable energy storable and hence transportable. Using the simple principle of electrolysis, water (H2O) can be split into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) by inputting energy. The converse reaction, e.g. in a fuel cell, releases the energy invested in the splitting process – whenever and wherever it is needed, and without forming pollutants or carbon dioxide.

Hydrogen today
Large quantities of hydrogen are currently produced as a by-product in the chemical industry and in oil refining processes, or even as a principal product in the reforming of oil or gas, for example. Only 2% is produced from water by electrolysis. The proportion of renewable energy used in the production of hydrogen, as envisaged in the vision, is still very small.

As an interim solution, however, the traditional production methods are being used today to develop better storage and transport methods and to optimise its use in fuel cells.