China is already among the world’s leading hydrogen producers, but to date the gas has been used mainly by the petrochemical industry, and obtained by recourse to coal gasification.

Other leading companies in the global hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market include General Motors, BMW, Groupe Renault, Daimler AG, Hydrogenics, Mazda Motor Corporation, Kia Motors Corporation, Tata Motors Limited, and The Hyundai Motor Company. In 2019, the global hydrogen market was worth $0.25 billion.

Some Countries Already Have Hydrogen Targets

• Japan.
• South Korea.
• Australia.
• Netherlands.
• Norway.
• Germany.
• European Union.
• France.

Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells to generate electricity, or power and heat. Today, hydrogen is most commonly used in petroleum refining and fertilizer production, while transportation and utilities are emerging markets.

In fact, many feel that H2 can be considered to be considerably safer than cars powered by gasoline. In the event of a hydrogen leak, the gas simply dissipates harmlessly. Moreover, the tanks that contain H2 are thick walled and carefully designed to prevent leaking, even after a substantial crash.

The transportation of hydrogen for use at refueling stations poses additional safety risks — stations use sensors to monitor for leaks. There have not been serious incidents reported in California, and the industrial sector has been transporting hydrogen for decades.

The key challenges include: Weight and Volume. The weight and volume of hydrogen storage systems are presently too high, resulting in inadequate vehicle range compared to conventional petroleum fueled vehicles.

Green hydrogen could curb one-third of fossil fuel and industry emissions by 2050. A major rollout of green hydrogen technologies could offset up to one third of global greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels and industry by 2050, according to a new report by BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Hydrogen, by contrast, is clean-burning. Hydrogen, however, is not a ready source of energy like oil and natural gas. Rather, it is a means of storing energy since pure hydrogen isn’t available on Earth in quantities necessary to fuel an entire energy economy.

It can be transported as a gas by pipelines or in liquid form by ships, much like liquefied natural gas (LNG). It can be transformed into electricity and methane to power homes and feed industry, and into fuels for cars, trucks, ships and planes. Hydrogen can enable renewables to provide an even greater contribution.

Hydrogen has a wide flammability range in comparison with all other fuels. As a result, hydrogen can be combusted in an internal combustion engine over a wide range of fuel-air mix- tures. A significant advantage of this is that hydrogen can run on a lean mixture.

Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) Rocket Fuel. Liquid hydrogen fuel has many benefits, including its low molecular weight and high energy output when burned together with liquid oxygen. Liquid fuels are often a popular choice for secondary/upper rocket stages after solid rocket fuels provide the extra thrust required for liftoff.

In combination with an oxidizer such as liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen yields the highest specific impulse, or efficiency in relation to the amount of propellant consumed, of any known rocket propellant.

NASA’s hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are used for many purposes. NASA has relied upon hydrogen gas as rocket fuel to deliver crew and cargo to space. With the recent focus on human missions to the moon and eventually Mars, hydrogen will continue to be innovatively stored, measured, processed and employed.

Merlin. Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Merlin engines use a rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was originally designed for recovery and reuse.