Hydrogen and fuel cells: fake promises?

Ulf Bossel of the European Fuel Cell Forum, an organisation that supports technical and scientific advances on fuel cells, challenges what he calls ‘the hydrogen illusion’.

“Hydrogen is clean only if it is made from renewable electricity,” says Bossel. But he adds that if a hydrogen-based economy becomes a reality, it will be characterised by a massive increase in demand for electric power, which he says is unlikely to be met by renewables alone.

According to Bossel, a substantial part of the increased demand for power will therefore need to come from coal-fired or nuclear power plants with all the known consequences for the environment and for safety.
EurActiv