Home About Hydrogen Myths

Myths.

We need hydrogen because of the world’s needs for energy are growing, while our impact on the environment should be reduced. Hydrogen has the potential to play a major role in the energy transition.

However, many misconceptions about hydrogen and its uses still exist. Find out more below and learn to distinguish fact from fiction!

  • The hydrogen transition will not need enormous investments in addition to those that the energy industry is already making. Instead, it will displace many of those investments.
  • Hydrogen and fuel cells will not continue to need high investments. What do computers, televisions, wind turbines and solar panels all have in common? People initially thought that they were too expensive when they were first developed. As a new technology, the cost can be an issue. But, as demand increases, scientists make new breakthroughs and companies find ways to cut costs, the price will continue to go down. So, while cost remains an issue right now, hydrogen and fuel cells have the potential to be produced for even less than current technologies.
  • Hydrogen is not dangerous. Most fuels have high energy content and must be handled properly to be safe. Hydrogen is neither more nor less inherently hazardous than gasoline, propane, or methane. As with any fuel, safe handling depends on knowledge of its particular physical, chemical, and thermal properties and consideration of safe ways to accommodate those properties. Hydrogen, handled with this knowledge, is a safe fuel. Hydrogen has been safely produced, stored, transported, and used in large amounts in the industry by following standard practices that have been established in the past 50 years. These practices can also be emulated in non-industrial uses of hydrogen to attain the same level of routine safety.
  • Hydrogen did not cause the Hindenburg to blow up. The cause of the fire that destroyed the German passenger airship in 1937 in New Jersey is still unknown. An investigation in 1990, showed that the paint coating used on the skin of the airship caused the fire. The coating contained reactive chemicals similar to solid rocket fuel. It is the coating that you can see burning on the famous footage of the disaster, the hydrogen was long gone by then.
  • Using renewable energy to produce hydrogen is no waste of energy. The produced hydrogen can store energy that would otherwise go to waste. It would be ideal if you could plug in your solar panel or wind generator and use that power right away. However, it’s not always windy or sunny, so renewable energy projects need a storage system that provides energy whenever you need it.
  • Hydrogen and fuel cell products are still in development and not ready for today’s use is untrue. Hydrogen and fuel cell products are available today. Many hydrogen fuel cells are used today in forklifts in warehouses, buses in cities, and backup power for communications companies. Companies and governments recognize the performance, financial, environmental and health benefits. These early uses are playing a pivotal role in refining the technology and establishing infrastructure.
  • Hydrogen is a clean fuel as it doesn’t create any emissions when used in a fuel cell. However, it is only as clean as the energy source it is derived from. Producing hydrogen from fossil fuels does create emissions, but it is less than gasoline or diesel. It is also easier to control this pollution because the pollution is limited to the fuel production process. Hydrogen is best when produced from non-polluting renewable energy sources. Different countries will make different choices, depending on their current energy availability and future priorities.