Hydrogen Age

Hydrogen is a significant source of energy which can be burned to produce power with no negative impact on the environment, unlike power produced by burning fossil fuels.

Hydrogen gas can be easily produced by splitting water into its constituent elements – hydrogen and oxygen. In a new paper in the journal Nature Chemistry published earlier this year, scientists at the University of Glasgow outline how they managed to replicate the way plants use the sun’s energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen at separate times and at separate physical locations.

Experts heralded the importance of this discovery, saying it could make hydrogen a more practical source of energy.

What needs to take place in order for hydrogen technologies to become more widely used?

The speed of hydrogen age – to use hydrogen scientist and engineer David Sanborn Scott’s term – will depend largely on energy and environment policies at the local, regional and international levels.

There are people who claim that hydrogen does not have a level playing field. Hydrocarbons still benefit from significant government subsidies, either open or hidden. Hydrogen, including hydrogen fuel cells (see page 38), presents an obvious solution to both economic and environmental challenges. But in this dire economic climate, the environment is not a top priority. Times are changing though. The recent resurgence of natural gas as the bridging technology (to hydrogen) for energy needs indicates that positive changes are on the horizon. In addition, the tremendous recent advances in hydrogen fuel cells for material handling purposes and the steady course of car makers and industrial gas and energy companies, which are working to bring hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to market within a 2015-2020 time frame, suggest that the hydrogen age  may come within our lifetime !

Are there new or different things  to be covered by International Standards ?

We quickly realized that we needed to focus on two key areas :

Social : to improve collaboration, team work and technical expertise

Technical : to improve the technical quality of our committee’s products

The hydrogen advantage

Fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) have many advantages over conventional fuel and battery-powered vehicles. They have no tailpipe emissions and, if hydrogen is produced from renewable sources, can provide truly emission-free mobility. Unlike battery vehicles, their range is comparable to existing gasoline vehicles and they can be refueled in minutes. Although they are expensive and are available only in limited markets, several major auto makers remain committed to producing commercial quantities by 2015.


With strong support from the committee’s participants, we have now implemented a new structure that takes care of these key areas. Collaboration, team work, evidence-based and best practices are the four keywords that are driving our work. These measures allow us not only to improve internal collaboration, but also to increase stakeholder participation by attracting new liaisons and cultivating old ones.

 Standardization is a powerful tool. It’s also a double-edged sword. It can foster innovation but, if used incorrectly, may also hinder progress. What many people don’t realize is that standardization faces the same chicken-and-egg  dilemma experienced by hydrogen vehicles and its infrastructure roll-out. What should come first ?

For example, a premature prescriptive standard based on work-in-progress practices and limited knowledge may actually hinder progress and innovation, particularly in new technology areas. Hydrogen is no exception. Used by industry for over a hundred years, hydrogen has a different outlook today with new market opportunities and a wider user base. This requires an innovative approach to ensure hydrogen technologies reach their maximum performance without compromising on safety.

The focus for now should be on component standards, where the requirements are largely independent of local conditions. And when it comes to infrastructure roll-out support, timely guidance consisting of knowledge and best practice would serve as a useful tool for both industry and regulators. This would leave time to field-test these recommendations and promote best practices without overly restricting innovation and experimentation. The winning options could then be formalized in an International Standard.

Article & Image Credits: ISOorg