Gaseous hydrogen has long been a challenge for mankind, though the gas has enormous potential for its harnessing by man. Who can forget the Hindenburg disaster with the loss of 35 lives in 1937, or the enormous disruptions caused to the industrial world, by the gas’ embrittling mechanism exposed in seamless steel cylinders, in the 1970s?
It’s a mischievous gas and now almost four decades on, hydrogen has reappeared to be a potential saviour. It is hydrogen’s ‘green’ credentials, which are now being developed as a potential fuel, primarily for the automobile industry– though other energy hungry applications are also looking to exploit it. The current fervour has been catalysed by the fact that now hydrogen can be produced from carbon-neutral sources such as solar energy or wind power (technologies which, aided by governmental initiatives and aid, have taken huge strides in recent times) with nuclear fusion power not so far behind.
Hence, with the potential of carbon-neutral and emission-free sources of energy, there is now a strong possibility that hydrogen will return to favour.
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