Hydrogen: Hype or hope?

Hydrogen is the most abundant element on the earth and has been considered as the clean fuel of the future. Hydrogen has a high energy density by weight and a fuel cell is two or three times more efficient than an internal combustion engine. According to a recent report from Pike research, fuel cell vehicles (FCV) will be commercially launched in most regions of the world by 2014, and cumulative sales of fuel cell cars and trucks will surpass 2.8 million vehicles globally by 2020. Pike research forecasts that Western Europe will be the leading region for FCV sales with a 37 per cent share of the world market, followed closely by Asia Pacific with 36 per cent. Researchers at the University of Glamorgan in Wales have received a total of £6.6m funding to investigate hydrogen production from renewable energy, develop hydrogen fuel cell and combustion engine technology, and to plan the location of more refueling stations along the M4.