An Energy Carrier

Hydrogen, the lightest and most abundant element in the universe, is an energy carrier, not an energy source. Like electricity, hydrogen provides a link between an energy source and energy consumers.

The law of conservation of energy tells us that all the energy available from burning hydrogen must be derived from a primary source, e.g., natural gas or solar radiation. Since conversion is never 100 percent efficient, some energy is lost in the process. Therefore, using hydrogen as an energy carrier makes economic sense only if the cost of producing, storing and transporting a primary source of energy is more expensive.

Finding hydrogen is harder than you might think. Very little hydrogen exists in the form of free molecules in our atmosphere. It must be extracted from compounds in which the hydrogen is bound to atoms of carbon, oxygen or other elements.