Wodór jako źródło czystej energii jest opcją wcale atrakcyjną. Jednakże ma tee wadę, iż jego produkcja jest procesem dosyć skomplikowanym i - przede wszystkim - energochłonnym. I jeżeli owa energia do jego produkcji ma pochodzić z paliw kopalnych - to uzyskane paliwo wodorowe - niestety - przestaje być nieskalane. Są jednakże już miejsca, gdzie uzyskuje się spore nadwyżki (po zaspokojeniu potrzeb lokalnych) w produkowaniu ekoenergii ze źródeł odnawialnych. Takim miejscem jest - na przykład - szkocki archipelag Orkadów, gdzie zieloną energię produkują wiatraki, elektrownie pływowe i elektrownie falowe. I te nadwyżki energii jak wyżej, można przeznaczyć na produkcję wodoru. O tym jak to w praktyce może wyglądać - traktuje podlinkowany materiał.


"Unlike petrol or marine diesel, burning hydrogen does not, in itself, produce any harmful by-products. Now, as we drive through Orkney’s capital of Kirkwall, hydrogen combines with oxygen inside the van to produce an electrical reaction that powers the engine. The only tailgate emission is pure water. In other words, there’s no air pollution and no greenhouse gas emissions (such as carbon dioxide) that contribute to global warming. Beyond cars, hydrogen could be used to heat buildings, power electrical facilities, propel trains, ferries and cargo ships and for industrial processes.
Another benefit of hydrogen? If you have too much, you can store and transport it at a large scale with relative ease. As one Bloomberg New Energy Finance consultant wrote in a column published last year, hydrogen “is one of the most promising ways of dealing with longer-term storage, beyond the minutes, hours or days that could be met by batteries”.

"But producing hydrogen is complicated. Even though it is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe, very little of it is freely available as a gas, instead forming strong bonds with other elements (for instance with oxygen to create water). You need to break up those links to “free” it for use. That process requires a great deal of electricity – electricity which may not come from “clean” sources itself, and that could be used for other purposes, for instance powering electric vehicles to begin with.
A cheaper way to produce hydrogen, meanwhile, involves using methane and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Some experts argue it might make more sense at scale, but might not be as clean. However, research published in February 2019 suggests that hydrogen produced using renewable electricity might be cost competitive and might match CCS within a decade.
But for Orkney, hydrogen via electricity works just fine. The islands already boast one of the highest densities of electric vehicles in the United Kingdom. And most crucially, thanks to sources like tidal and wave energy, Orkney creates more clean electricity that its inhabitants need. Even after exporting to the UK national grid, the islands’ winds, waves and tides generate about 130% of the electricity its population needs – all of it from clean sources."

www.bbc.co(*)ding-the-way-in-hydrogen-power