The Hydrogen Economy

We are in the early stages of an historic change in the way we organize the earth’s energy. The Industrial Age, which began with the carrying of coal from Newcastle several hundred years ago, is now winding down in the oil fields of the Middle East. Our petro-geologists tell us that global production of oil is likely to peak as early as 2010 or as late as 2037.

The hydrogen economy will make possible a vast redistribution of power, with far-reaching consequences for society. Today’s centralized, top-down flow of energy, controlled by global oil companies and utilities, could become obsolete. In the new era, every human being with access to renewable energy sources could become a producer as well as a consumer of his or her own energy, using so-called “distributed generation.” Millions of end-users will be able to connect their fuel cells into local, regional, and national hydrogen energy webs, using the same design principles and smart technologies that made possible the World Wide Web. They can then begin to share energy — peer-to-peer — creating a new decentralized form of energy generation and use.

Jeremy Rifkin is the author of “The Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the World Wide Energy Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth” and president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, DC.

 

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