The coming hydrogen age: Preventing world climatic disruption

Abstract

Over the next decade economic and human disasters will be caused by climatic disruption attributed to greenhouse gases. The public response will assign much responsibility for these disasters to the energy sector. Prudent energy sector leadership should prepare strategies to mitigate or exploit these circumstances. These strategies must be built upon the knowledge that a practical technological pathway exists which can first blunt and then reverse energy sector contributions to greenhouse gas climatic disruption. It is difficult to argue scenarios that do not, in time, make this pathway inevitable. The hydrogen age sits at the end of the pathway. The introduction to this paper describes first the perception and then the reality of energy sector contributions to climate disruption. The perception will probably lead to a non-discriminating attack on the energy sector coupled with the traditional societal reaction: “We must do without.” Part 1 of the paper presents concepts and principles for assessing and responding to environmental impact. These include the role of process changes vs collectors, the impact of material flows, and the concept of investive vs consumptive resource use. These principles are subsequently used to develop a better appreciation of how energy sector emissions will contribute to anticipated climatic change, and the nature of the changes expected. Part 2 discusses the coming hydrogen age using two themes: by describing the underlying principles that will drive the transition to the hydrogen age; and by characterizing the nature of the age itself. The transition can be seen as occurring in two sequential but overlapping waves: integrated energy systems and neat-H 2 technologies. The former will provide a robust platform for the latter. Part 3 explains integrated energy systems—the first transition wave. This transition is developing naturally from the evolution of energy intensive industries today. But to gain the significant benefits that integration provides—improved systemic resilience, more effective use of resources, higher energy conversion efficiencies, and major reductions in CO 2 emissions—a more planned development will be necessary. This development will likely be guided by technical principles which are outlined in the paper. Still, the real need may lie more in creative inter-institutional linkages than in technological advances. Part 4 reviews the nature of the opportunity—from the optic of developing strategies that may be considered either business interruption insurance or business development positioning.