SOLAR HYDROGEN - ENERGY CARRIER OF THE FUTURE - INEXHAUSTIBLE - CLEAN - RISKLESS

Hydrogen in today's world energy supply system is statistically hardly relevant; the energy carrier hydrogen is only irreplaceable for space travel applications. Environmental threats due to fossil and nuclear energy systems, however, may enforce the transition to the environmentally benign energy carrier hydrogen and its solar primary energy earlier than anticipated today. Even solar energy and hydrogen are not entirely without potential ecological consequences in their land use requirements, material and energy intensities. The technologies of a future solar hydrogen energy economy are available; they require further decades of development and market adaption. Criteria for the relative comparison of energy systems, a list of early hydrogen energy application niches and an epilogue on "nuclear energy and hydrogen" complete this paper.