The first fuel-cell-powered automobile probably won’t be called the Honda Hindenburg. The Hindenburg gave hydrogen a bad name.

Yet when you burn hydrogen in non-zeppelin situations, it is as clean as can be: The byproducts are heat and water.

If we use renewable resources like wind and hydropower, geothermal energy and biomass, to free hydrogen atoms from their bonds in water (hydrogen is the H2 in H2O), the result is a powerful, portable fuel that just might change the world.

“The Hydrogen Economy.” That’s the dream postulated in a recent edition of E Magazine, but the magazine editors aren’t the only dreamers.

People who worry about terrorists look for ways to decentralize our energy distribution system. People who worry about war look for ways to lessen our dependence on the unstable Middle East for oil. Relying on fuel cells to power our cars and produce electricity might get us away from the “top down” energy systems of oil-burning, coal-fired and nuclear power plants. It would certainly help end the U.S. reliance on foreign oil.

Hydrogen-burning fuel cells have a record of safety and reliability in space missions. They’re two to three times more efficient users of energy than the internal-combustion engine. Automakers in Germany, Japan and the United States are scrambling to come up with a fuel-cell-powered car for the masses. They’re committing billions to put this bulky but dependable power source in buses, trucks and cars. Some of the auto prototypes will be on U.S. highways this year.

The U.S. Department of Energy is a partner on the FreedomCAR project, a cooperative research effort with U.S. automakers launched one year ago.

Even oil companies are looking into hydrogen, perhaps only with an eye to controlling the flow, but they too are looking. One of the exciting aspects of the hydrogen economy is that it might put energy conglomerates out of business. Home-based systems might produce hydrogen, too. So expect some resistance from the status quo.

Once the technology question is answered, there is still the question of implementation. How do we get from the fossil fuel economy to the hydrogen economy? Do we want a hydrogen station on every corner? Like the conversion from one type of television signal to another, standards are needed. They’ll make the switch faster and less painful.

Competition will drive the debate. Europe, China and the United States all are looking hard at how to make this economic quantum leap. It’s a smaller leap for poorer countries like China, where the fossil fuel infrastructure is not as great.

And commitment: As long as the threat of terrorism and war are linked to our fossil fuel dependence, people will shake their heads and think there must be a better way.

A hydrogen economy is one better way. Don’t think Hindenburg. Think renewable energy independence.


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