Hydrogen and Fuel Cells.
Hydrogen is the most plentiful element on Earth and is found in combination with oxygen in water, and in organic matter including living plants, petroleum, coal, natural gas and other hydrocarbon compounds. The great attraction of hydrogen is that, once isolated, it is a clean burning fuel that produces neither carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) nor toxic emissions and can be used for electricity production, transportation, and other energy needs.

Many see a movement to a hydrogen economy as the long-run solution to the environmental and security problems associated with fossil fuels. However, before hydrogen can be used as fuel it must first be extracted from hydrogen-bearing compounds either through electrolysis or high temperature reformation of organic compounds like coal. Many of the extraction processes can create substantial pollution and so for hydrogen to be truly pollution free the extraction process must be pollution free.

If the problems of extracting, traffic, hydrogen can be solved in a pollution free, cost effective manner and if technologies such as fuel cells can be made cost effective, then hydrogen has the potential to provide clean, alternative energy for a number of uses, including lighting, heating, cooling, and transportation.