Advancing towards a hydrogen energy economy: Status, opportunities and barriers

Performance reliability advances and cost reductions have been achieved with hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in both the transportation and distributed energy sectors. This paper reviews the status of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, identifies key business and policy drivers for the hydrogen economy, critically examines key barriers to implementing the hydrogen economy, identifies and discusses key national initiatives to advance the hydrogen economy, and identifies and discusses key intergovernmental initiatives and activities to advance the hydrogen economy. Hydrogen and fuel cell technology advances, coupled with a reduction in costs and improvements in performance reliability, present new opportunities for developed and developing countries to achieve energy, economic and environmental security. Substantial national research and development investments in hydrogen production, storage, transport, end-use technologies (e.g., fuel cells), safety and public education underscore future opportunities. Intergovernmental bodies such as Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) provide a multilateral framework for development of a global hydrogen economy. While the pathway forward for the hydrogen economy is precarious alternative energy options offer substantially fewer public benefits. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.