AN OVERVIEW OF WORLDWIDE HYDROGEN APPLICATIONS

Resumen

Actual economies are highly dependent on fossil fuels; oil and energetic generation

crises make this obvious. Nowadays in developed countries, hydrogen comes out to be the

secondary energy carrier for electricity production for mobile and small-scale stationary applications

in connection with fuel cells. In the near future, these tendece will increase, becoming hydrogen a

useful way to reduce greenhouse emissions. A total transition from fossil resources to hydrogen in

generation and transportation in developed countries is not expected until the middle of this

centaury. This work presents an overview of hydrogen applications, mobile as well as stationary

ones. Automobile industry plays now an important role. In the last years, several manufactures

brought vehicles in the market and therefore the hydrogen demand increases day by day. The

solution found to feed fuel cell vehicles were electrolyzers and natural gas reformers. Residential

applications and the concerning projects are mentioned. The principal problem coming with fuel

cell applications is the hydrogen supply. Methods using fossil resources are well known, being

applied for more than 50 years in the chemical industry, though they have adverse impacts on the

environment. Renewable energy sources could provide a alternative solution, since they are

inexhaustible with low GHG’s. Nevertheless, yet these technologies are not competitive.