Hydrogen_economy - Wikiparency

# Hydrogen economy The **hydrogen economy** is the proposal to use [[Hydrogen|hydrogen]] as a major carrier of energy: made from water or fossil fuels, stored and moved like a fuel, and turned back into work in engines, turbines and [[Fuel_cell|fuel cells]] whose only exhaust is water. Hydrogen is not a source of energy. There are no pockets of free hydrogen gas to mine, so every kilogram must be made with energy from something else, and the hydrogen is better thought of as a chemical battery than as a fuel.[^murphy16] The case for it is that hydrogen can be made without carbon emissions and can serve the uses that electricity reaches poorly, such as fertilizer and long-duration storage. The case against it is the energy lost at each conversion and the cost of the new infrastructure it would need.[^kerlin12] On the Thury spine, the hydrogen economy is the reactive branch at the scale of a civilization. [[Electrolysis_of_water|Electrolysis]] runs the founding reaction of hydrogen and oxygen backwards to store energy, and a fuel cell runs it forwards without a flame. ## Microsims — p5.js <div class="microsim-player"> <iframe src="https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/Hydrogen_production.html" width="100%" height="620" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" allow="accelerometer; gyroscope" title="Hydrogen production — p5.js microsim"></iframe> </div> *Microsim (from [[Hydrogen_production]], HYD-003): drag the bars to change the electricity mix and the electrolyzer efficiency, and compare the carbon dioxide emitted per kilogram of hydrogen with steam reforming of natural gas. Splitting water takes at least 39.4 kWh per kilogram of hydrogen (higher heating value), so the hydrogen is only as clean as the grid behind it.* Videos: [16:9](https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/media/Hydrogen_production_16x9.mp4) · [9:16](https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/media/Hydrogen_production_9x16.mp4) <div class="microsim-player"> <iframe src="https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/Hydrogen_storage.html" width="100%" height="620" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" allow="accelerometer; gyroscope" title="Hydrogen storage — p5.js microsim"></iframe> </div> *Microsim (Hydrogen storage, HYD-002): size the tank that holds 5 kg of hydrogen, about 500 km in a fuel-cell car, as compressed gas, as a cryogenic liquid and in a metal hydride. The bars show kilograms of hydrogen per cubic metre, the quantity every storage method fights over.* Videos: [16:9](https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/media/Hydrogen_storage_16x9.mp4) · [9:16](https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/media/Hydrogen_storage_9x16.mp4) ## History and objectives ### Origins The phrase took hold in 1970. Lawrence W. Jones of the University of Michigan presented "Toward a liquid hydrogen fuel economy" that year,[^jones1970] and the electrochemist John Bockris is widely credited with coining "hydrogen economy" in a 1970 talk at the General Motors Technical Center. Bockris set the idea out in print in a 1972 article in *Science*, "A Hydrogen Economy."[^bockris1972] ### Later evolution Interest rose again around 2000. In 2002 the U.S. Department of Energy's *National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap* carried Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham's claim that "a hydrogen economy will mean a world where our pollution problems are solved." Thomas Kerlin's energy textbook quotes the line as an example of enthusiasm that "infected politicians, bureaucrats, and journalists," and concludes that hydrogen is more likely to play a real but much smaller role than its promoters said.[^kerlin12] Tom Murphy's text makes the same point: twenty years ago, predictions of a hydrogen economy replacing fossil fuels were common.[^murphy16] ## Current hydrogen market The International Energy Agency reports that world hydrogen demand reached almost 100 million tonnes in 2024 and passed 100 million tonnes in 2025. Nearly all of it is still made from fossil fuels: low-emissions production grew 10% in 2024 but remained less than 1% of the total, and demand for low-emissions hydrogen reached close to 1 million tonnes in 2025.[^iea2025][^iea2026] The pipeline of projects announced for 2030 shrank from 49 to 37 million tonnes a year between the 2024 and 2025 reviews.[^iea2025] ## Production Any compound that contains hydrogen can be a source of it. Most hydrogen today is made from [[Natural_gas|natural gas]] by steam reforming, a two-step process that releases carbon dioxide.[^kerlin12] The low-carbon routes run through [[Hydrogen_production|hydrogen production]] by [[Electrolysis|electrolysis]], which splits water with electricity. Electrolysis captures typically 65–80% of its input energy as stored hydrogen.[^murphy16] ## Uses ### Industry Today's demand is, in the IEA's words, "concentrated in traditional uses in industry and refining," and refining and industry are also where low-emissions hydrogen is being adopted first.[^iea2026] Kerlin notes that most hydrogen is made from natural gas for use in the chemical and oil refining industries.[^kerlin12] ### Transport Transport is where the idea has fared worst. Kerlin lists three problems for hydrogen vehicles: the energy efficiency of making and using hydrogen is much lower than that of batteries; the changes to infrastructure would be large; and pressurized or liquefied storage adds weight, volume and safety concerns.[^kerlin12] Murphy puts numbers on the first: burning hydrogen made by electrolysis in an engine returns only 15–20% of the original energy, and a [[Fuel_cell|fuel cell]] raises the whole chain to about 50%, still short of a battery's 60–90% round trip.[^murphy16] ### Energy system balancing and storage Because hydrogen can be stored for long periods, it is proposed as seasonal [[Grid_energy_storage|grid energy storage]]: surplus electricity on the [[Electrical_grid|grid]] makes hydrogen, and the hydrogen later drives turbines or fuel cells when wind and sun are short. The penalty is the round trip. Kerlin gives the rule of thumb that about four kilowatt-hours of grid electricity are consumed to return one kilowatt-hour through hydrogen.[^kerlin12] ### Ammonia [[Ammonia|Ammonia]], made from hydrogen and atmospheric [[Nitrogen|nitrogen]], is the base of nitrogen fertilizer and also a way of carrying hydrogen. Michael Reese, who leads green ammonia research at the University of Minnesota's Morris center, put the case plainly: "It's about 100 times cheaper to store and transport ammonia than hydrogen."[^canary2026] ## Safety [[Hydrogen|Hydrogen]] molecules are so small that they pass through materials that stop other gases, so leakage by diffusion is a design problem in storage and transport. Some metals, especially high-strength steel, become brittle in hydrogen, which limits the materials that can hold it.[^kerlin12] Murphy judges hydrogen "more dangerous than gasoline as an explosion hazard."[^murphy16] ## Hydrogen infrastructure ### Storage Hydrogen boils at −253 °C, so at [[Standard_temperature_and_pressure|standard temperature and pressure]] it is a very light gas. Its energy per cubic foot is about a third of methane's. Compressing it to 3,000 psig raises that 180-fold, and liquefying it raises it further, but methane still holds more energy in the same volume in either state.[^kerlin12] That is why the storage microsim above measures every method in kilograms per cubic metre. ## Costs The first cost of a hydrogen economy is energy. Each conversion loses some: electrolysis keeps 65–80% of the input, and a hydrogen car burning its fuel keeps only 15–20% of the electricity it started from.[^murphy16] Kerlin argued in 2013 that funding for hydrogen should not come at the expense of more promising alternatives.[^kerlin12] ## Examples and pilot programs ### United States The U.S. Department of Energy selected its Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs in 2023. The Heartland Hydrogen Hub, led by the University of North Dakota's Energy & Environmental Research Center, was offered up to $925 million in federal funds to make clean hydrogen for low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer, with Minnesota among its partner states.[^doe-heartland] It received $20 million for its first, planning phase in January 2025.[^turbo2025] In October 2025 the department cancelled more than $7.5 billion in awards, including more than $2 billion for the two West Coast hydrogen hubs; Heartland was not among the cancellations.[^eenews2025] Its leaders have since described the hub as stalled for lack of new federal contracts.[^gfherald] ## Minnesota *This section is specific to Wikitube.* The University of Minnesota's West Central Research and Outreach Center at Morris commissioned what it describes as the first-in-the-world renewable hydrogen and ammonia pilot plant in 2013. A 1.65-megawatt wind turbine powers electrolysis, and the plant makes up to 25 tons of anhydrous ammonia a year.[^wcroc2023] A second wind-powered plant built with RTI International came online in spring 2026 and makes hundreds of kilograms of ammonia a day. Even at its planned 300–400 tons a year it is far from the roughly 50,000 tons a year a plant would need to be cost-competitive, against Minnesota's imports of about 900,000 tons of fertilizer a year.[^canary2026] When the Heartland hub was selected in 2023, Governor Tim Walz called it "a major investment in Minnesota and the region's economy," and Xcel Energy is one of the hub's primary partners.[^mngov2023][^heartland-site] ## See also - [[Hydrogen]] - [[Electrolysis_of_water]] - [[Fuel_cell]] - [[Hydrogen_production]] - [[Grid_energy_storage]] ## References [^murphy16]: Murphy, Tom W., Jr. (2021). *Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet*. eScholarship, University of California. §16.5 "Hydrogen." https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9js5291m [^kerlin12]: Kerlin, Thomas W. (2013). *Future Energy: Opportunities and Challenges*. International Society of Automation (CC BY 4.0 edition, University of Tennessee). Chapter 12, "Hydrogen," §§12.1–12.9, pp. 269 ff. https://trace.tennessee.edu/ [^jones1970]: Jones, Lawrence W. (1970). *Toward a liquid hydrogen fuel economy*. University of Michigan, report UMR2320. https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/5800 [^bockris1972]: Bockris, J. O'M. (1972). "A hydrogen economy." *Science* 176 (4041): 1323. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.176.4041.1323 [^iea2025]: International Energy Agency (2025). *Global Hydrogen Review 2025*, Executive summary. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2025/executive-summary [^iea2026]: International Energy Agency (2026). *Global Hydrogen Review 2026*, "Demand." https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2026/demand [^doe-heartland]: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. "Heartland Hydrogen Hub." https://www.energy.gov/oced/heartland-hydrogen-hub [^turbo2025]: Cook, James (January 21, 2025). "DOE Awards $38.8M to Heartland, Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hubs." *Turbomachinery Magazine*. https://www.turbomachinerymag.com/view/doe-awards-38-8m-to-heartland-mid-atlantic-hydrogen-hubs [^eenews2025]: Dabbs, B.; Marshall, C.; Hiar, C. (October 2, 2025). "DOE cancellations hit hydrogen, air capture hubs." *E&E News*. https://www.eenews.net/articles/doe-cancellations-hit-hydrogen-air-capture-hubs/ [^gfherald]: McDermott, C. "Heartland Hydrogen Hub stalled amid policy uncertainty." *Grand Forks Herald*. https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/heartland-hydrogen-hub-stalled-amid-policy-uncertainty [^wcroc2023]: University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (April 27, 2023). "Taking the Lead in Green Ammonia." https://wcroc.cfans.umn.edu/news/lead-green-ammonia [^canary2026]: Martucci, Brian (June 12, 2026). "Minnesota now has a wind-powered green ammonia plant." *Canary Media*. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/wind/wind-project-farmers-fertilizer-prices [^mngov2023]: Office of Governor Tim Walz (October 13, 2023). Press release on the Heartland Hydrogen Hub. https://mn.gov/governor/newsroom/press-releases/?id=1055-596141 [^heartland-site]: Heartland Hydrogen Hub. https://heartlandh2hub.com/ ### Sources - Kerlin, Thomas W. (2013). *Future Energy: Opportunities and Challenges* — on the [[PORTAL_Hydrogen]] and [[PORTAL_Energy]] book shelves. - Murphy, Tom W., Jr. (2021). *Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet* — on the [[PORTAL_Energy]] book shelf. ## External links - [Global Hydrogen Review](https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2025), International Energy Agency - [Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office](https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-and-fuel-cell-technologies-office), U.S. Department of Energy  **Part of the [[WT!Thury_Hydrodynamics_Compendium|Thury Hydrodynamics Compendium]]** — main article for section 12, *The hydrogen economy*. Related sections: [[Electrolysis_of_water]] · [[Fuel_cell]] · [[Nuclear_fusion]] · [[Hydroelectricity]].   **Microsim — three.js (Wikitube framework):** *Hydrogen economy* <div class="wt-sim" data-src="https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/thury/Hydrogen_economy.html" data-title="Hydrogen economy"></div> *Built from `MICROSIM_GUIDE/specs/sims/Hydrogen_economy.json`; part of the [[WT!Thury_Hydrodynamics_Compendium|Thury Hydrodynamics Compendium]] set.*  ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Hydrogen_economy) · pinned revision [1371028233](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371028233) · 2026-09-10 ## Previous hub tags Hubs: `Life_Physics`, `Systems`. Portals: [[PORTAL_Thury_Hydrodynamics_Apex_Spine]], [[PORTAL_Hydrogen]], [[PORTAL_Energy]]. --- *Thury main articles, wave 2 · 2026-09-10 · drafted · Compendium section 12 · related microsims live (Hydrogen_production, Hydrogen_storage).*