Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe making up 90 % of all known matter – all the energy we find on earth initially came from the combining of hydrogen atoms within the sun’s core. However, we don’t find naturally occurring pure hydrogen on earth and thus we have to extract it from various substances (e.g. water).
Hydrogen is also the most simple element in the universe with only electron and one proton – giving it the first place in Medeleev’s periodic table. It is a colourless, odourless and nontoxic gas at room temperature.
There have been many advances in the use of hydrogen as a fuel in recent years. It is the most efficient fuel with the highest combustion energy per Kg, offering 2-3 times more energy than other common fuels. Not only this, but it is one of the cleanest fuels possible as well with its only byproduct being water – providing a potentially carbon neutral fuel that has miniscule amounts of pollution in comparison to fossil fuels.
Hydrogen can be produced in a number of ways, such as the reforming of natural gas by applying heat, or electrolysis produces hydrogen through the passing an electrical current through water and separating it into its constituent elements.
