The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate

"Vital, very readable guidance for investors, environmentalists, and interested bystanders looking toward a future without fossil fuels." -BOOKLIST

"It's hard to argue with the relentless logic...." -E/THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE

"Readers looking to separate facts from hype about cars running on hydrogen and large-scale fuel cell systems will find a useful primer here."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Lately it has become a matter of conventional wisdom that hydrogen will solve many of our energy and environmental problems. Nearly everyone -- environmentalists, mainstream media commentators, industry analysts, General Motors, and even President Bush -- seems to expect emission-free hydrogen fuel cells to ride to the rescue in a matter of years, or at most a decade or two.

Not so fast, says Joseph Romm. In The Hype about Hydrogen, he explains why hydrogen isn't the quick technological fix it's cracked up to be, and why cheering for fuel cells to sweep the market is not a viable strategy for combating climate change. Buildings and factories powered by fuel cells may indeed become common after 2010, Joseph Romm argues, but when it comes to transportation, the biggest source of greenhouse-gas emissions, hydrogen is unlikely to have a significant impact before 2050.

The Hype about Hydrogen offers a hype-free explanation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, takes a hard look at the practical difficulties of transitioning to a hydrogen economy, and reveals why, given increasingly strong evidence of the gravity of climate change, neither government policy nor business investment should be based on the belief that hydrogen cars will have meaningful commercial success in the near or medium term. Romm, who helped run the federal government's program on hydrogen and fuel cells during the Clinton administration, provides a provocative primer on the politics, business, and technology of hydrogen and climate protection.

Joseph Romm, author of this sobering volume, worked in the Department of Energy in the Clinton administration and has been involved intimately with hydrogen research and development for many years. His main point is that we must eventually have a hydrogen economy based on the hydrogen fuel cell, but that we must not expect this to happen without some major technological breakthroughs. His book is a warning that the global warming clock is ticking and ticking, and that we need to do something now if we hope to avoid a possible catastrophe.

The really scary thing about global warming is that we may pass over the point of no return without knowing it. Furthermore, a full-blown, runaway greenhouse effect would make nuclear winter look like a walk in the park. Look what happened to Venus, where on any spring day (or winter day for that matter) the surface is hot enough to melt lead. Could that happen here? The real and direct answer to that question is: we don't know.

Romm is not painting any such dire scenarios in this book, but he does state most clearly that "the primary reason why we should pursue fuel cells and a hydrogen economy is to help respond to global warming." (p. 188) He adds, "global warming is the most intractable and potentially catastrophic environmental problem facing...the planet this century." (p. 152) Romm identifies carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere as the primary cause of global warming.

What to do and how to do it? Because Romm addresses these questions in such compelling detail, this is the book I believe that will be--if it hasn't already been--read by high-ranking government officials and the CEOs of energy corporations throughout the world. I hope that Sen. John Kerry and President George W. Bush will read it. What they will find is that it will require a closely co-ordinated effort on the part of both government and the private sector to bring about a cost-effective hydrogen technology. This technology will include the building of an infrastructure for making and distributing hydrogen that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Romm makes it clear that none of this will happen until hydrogen becomes competitive with fossil fuels in terms of cost and efficiency. Right now hydrogen is most cheaply made from fossil fuels themselves, a process that does not reduce green house gases, and furthermore is much more expensive, no matter what currently-available technology is used, than gasoline itself, and will remain so for many years, probably decades, to come.

Ultimately the goal is to manufacture hydrogen from water using renewable resources such as biomass, wind, sun, downward running water, evaporation, ocean currents, etc. to split the water molecule into its component elements. Romm's immediate future scenario has us obtaining hydrogen from natural gas while using our renewable energy resources to produce electricity in an effort to begin to slow the belching of carbon dioxide into the air.

Romm believes that oil production will probably peak in the first half of this century. He adds that "Some believe this will occur by 2010." (p. 16) Given this, it is obvious that we will have to come up with some sort of fuel to replace oil. Since only "a limited number of fuels are plausible alternatives for gasoline" (p. 16), and since the one with the most going for it is hydrogen, it will be hydrogen. But transporting hydrogen the way we transport gasoline will be more expensive, perhaps prohibitively expensive since it has to be condensed and/or made into a very cold liquid under pressure. One might think we could transport water instead and make hydrogen at hydrogen stations, but the most efficient conversion methods require large scale operations at high temperatures.

There are several other very challenging problems to be faced, not the least of which is what Romm identifies as "the chicken or the egg" conundrum. That is, automakers will not make hydrogen fuel cell cars until the hydrogen infrastructure is in place, and the infrastructure will not appear until there are a sufficient number of fuel cell cars on the road.

While I think Romm maintains a cautious level of optimism in the face of these difficulties, he does on occasion let his pessimism show: "If the actions of Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden and record levels of oil imports couldn't induce lawmakers, automakers, and the general public to embrace EXISTING vehicle energy efficiency technologies...I cannot imagine what fearful events must happen before the nation will be motivated to embrace hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which will cost much more to buy...to fuel, and require massive government subsidies to pay for the infrastructure." (p. 162)

If you want to know where we really are vis-vis the so-called hydrogen economy, read this book.


An excellent book on energy alternatives and the CO2 issue   March 19, 2004
PAUL MORENO (DUNWOODY, GA United States)
28 out of 31 found this review helpful

Hydrogen's major disadvantage as transportation fuel is it's low energy density. Compressed hydrogen requires heavy storage vessels and significant energy for compression. Liquid hydrogen suffers from evaporation losses and unacceptably high liquefaction energy. Hydrate storage of hydrogen is a long way from being practical for motor vehicles.

Fuel cells have been touted as the next big thing in transportation. However, fuel cells are extremely expensive and not durable. Especially discouraging is that automotive variety fuel cells will not be significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines.

Alternative hydrogen infrastructure systems are: 1) pipelines to fueling stations and 2) on site reforming of liquids such as methanol, ethanol of other hydrocarbons. All alternatives would require massive capital investment. Local reforming of alcohols or hydrocarbons would be inefficient (and wouldn't make sense because it would be more efficient to use them directly as fuel in internal combustion engines).

A strength of the book is that is deals with overall process efficiencies and carbon dioxide byproducts of various processes. Processes are briefly described for producing hydrogen from coal, natural gas and water + electricity, all of which are well known and energy intensive.

Electrical generation processes briefly discussed include nuclear, geothermal, combined cycle and combined heat and power. Wind and photovoltaic are mentioned but not given much coverage.

Romm makes a convincing case that hybrid diesel electric vehicles will be the logical successors to today's autos.

The concluding chapters deal with the carbon dioxide issue, which Romm finds extremely threatening.

The book is well written and easily readable. Although an engineering or scientific background is not necessary to understand it, not much is provided in the way of background.


Bravo for Sound Science and Policy   July 4, 2004
F David Doty PhD (Columbia, SC United States)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful

Joe Romm's marvelous new book, 'The Hype About Hydrogen', is 'must read' for policy makers, environmentalists, researchers, activists, investors, and all citizens who want a sound and honest appraisal of the possibility of a future 'hydrogen economy'. Dr. Romm's broad expertise in energy-related R&D is evident throughout this long-overdue and objective look at the seriousness of its technical challenges. For several years, a handful of insightful scientists around the world have been trying to get their voices heard regarding the serious issues that seem likely to prevent a hydrogen economy from becoming a reality for at least 40 years. Sadly, even the professional scientific journals and institutions, apparently fearful that the truth might jeopardize funding of pet projects, have hesitated to give audience to the daunting scientific objections to a hydrogen economy.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a detailed study, 'The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs', early in 2004 that was the first step by a distinguished body toward an objective look at the hydrogen economy. Anyone interested in a sound appraisal of current hydrogen technology needs to start here.

Joe's book, like the NAS study, points out in a clear, and scientifically sound manner why (1) hydrogen fuel cells are not likely to become cost competitive in vehicles, (2) hydrogen fuel will likely always be too expensive, (3) FC vehicles do not help reduce greenhouse gases, (4) the hydrogen infrastructure hurdle is immense, and (5) we must begin now taking meaningful steps to reduce CO2 emissions.

Our planet is facing the serious dual challenges of global warming and the end of cheap oil. Dr. Romm puts the issues of fuel cell manufacturing cost, hydrogen fuel cost, competition, infrastructure cost, and global warming in easy-to-understand language. My only criticisms are that I wish he would have included more on (1) the challenges of hydrogen production by nuclear energy and (2) promising next-generation biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel from mustard seed, bio-methanol, mixed-higher-alcohols from biomass, and biodiesel from high-oil algae. My recent paper, 'Fuels for Tomorrow's Vehicles', nicely complements 'The Hype About Hydrogen' in this regard. The Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment has also recently released a scholarly work that, like 'The Hype About Hydrogen', looks fairly at the putative hydrogen economy and comes to similar conclusions. -F. David Doty, PhD, engineering physicist



A sobering look at hydrogen's viability as a fuel   March 2, 2006
JoeB (Latin America)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

This was an excellent book that seems to be written by someone who would have liked for hydrogen to be the fuel of the future but who realizes that it may not be the most practical solution.

He mentions the high cost per KW for fuel cells, the difficulty with transporting and storing hydrogen and other barriers that may prevent hydrogen from being widely adopted as a transportation fuel.

He gives some background on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM), Molten Carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells and provides cost and performance information for them.

He examines other technologies such as hybrids, e-hybrids (plug-ins), natural gas and traditional fossil fuel engines and right now it seems that hybrids and e-hybrids may be better options for reducing greenhouse gases.

The book is very well written and well researched and is worth reading for anyone who wants to know what would be involved in establishing a hydrogen economy.


Extra, extra, why hydrogen can't save the Western world   December 21, 2005
Stephen J. Snyder (Lancaster, Texas United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Most oil is used in transportation.

And here, Romm puts it bluntly. Current gasoline-hybrid cars are nearly as efficient as **projected** fuel cell cars; a diesel-hybrid will be even more so.

Plus, on the CO2 side of the stick, he notes that no current method of hydrogen generation offers tremendous CO2 savings. For example, renewable electricity will save more C02 from the atmosphere if it's used to keep coal-fired electric power plants offline rather than used to electrolyze hydrogen from water.

Romm goes into details of the transmission, storage and fueling problems as well. He says that fuel cells may gain more applicability in the future as backup electricity sources for large businesses, but that's likely to be the only real increase in their use in the next 25 years.

In fact, he explicitly says that hydrogen-powered vehicles will have less than 5 percent of market share by 2030. And he takes folks like the Rocky Mountain Institute, as well as GM, to the woodshed for wildly hyped timetables of when hydrocars will hit the road.

So, what's that mean? He spells it out in black and white. We have to raise CAFE standards, especially on SUVs. No two ways about it.

Romm tells us to get real, and anybody and everybody concerned about Peak Oil, global warming or both needs to read this book.