Global energy consumption is expected to increase in the next decades due to the rising standards of living and a growing population worldwide. The increased need for more energy will require enormous growth in energy generation capacity, more secure and diversified energy sources, and a successful strategy to control greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, etc. are the main source of energy in our present day. It constitutes of about 80.6% of the total world energy consumption. But all these sources are limited. Thus new sources of energy are to be found out. Hydrogen can be considered as an alternate source of energy. The proposal of using hydrogen as an alternate source of energy is referred to hydrogen economy. The term was first coined by John Bockris.
Advantages of hydrogen as a fuel:
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in theuniverse; hence it can be easily obtained.
2. Hydrogen provides pollution free atmosphere as its combustion produce only water as the product.
3. Hydrogen is non-toxic.
4. It is more powerful and efficient than the commonly used fuels. It produces more amount of energy than other fuels.
5. It is a renewable source of energy.
Disadvantages of hydrogen as a fuel:
Isolating pure hydrogen in a massive scale is quite expensive.
2. Storage and transport of hydrogen is problematic.
3. It is quite expensive than the commonly used fuels.
4. Hydrogen is highly inflammable .Thus to use hydrogen as a fuel is quite risky.
5. In order to separate hydrogen from oxygen, non-renewable sources like coal, oil, and natural gas are required.
