The bad news about hydrogen is coming in. Alex Farrell at UC Berkeley and David Keith at Carnegie Mellon University conclude that the switch to hydrogen will quite likely just displace the production of carbon dioxide, creating as many problems as it solves. Meanwhile, researchers at Caltech reckon the hydrogen itself could produce global warming effects if routinely leaked into the atmosphere from cars and homes.
Still, I reckon that Hydrogen has passed its tipping point – the switch is now inevitable. Industry and government support is building and the political and ideological dividend from scaling down dependence on Middle Eastern oil will continue to be irresistible to US leaders. The rest of us will certainly fall into line nicely.
From the World Future Society‘s newsletter The Futurist.