Hydrogen is an environmentally friendly energy carrier. As a fuel for fuel cells, there are no emissions other than clean water. Fuel cells electrochemically convert hydrogen and oxygen into water, which generates electricity. Hydrogen is also a flexible energy carrier that can be used in combustion engines with minimal emissions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayHydrogen is the simplest and smallest element we have. So it is so easy that there is no free nature. Other energy carriers such as oil or wood can be found in nature. Hydrogen must therefore be prepared from hydrogen-containing raw materials, such as gas or water. As hydrogen can be produced relatively easily from a variety of feedstocks and with many different methods, many countries' dependence on oil can be reduced. Germany, Japan and the United States are large consumers of imported fossil fuels. These countries are at the forefront of developing technologies for hydrogen-based transportation. Dependence on oil, combined with the potential for commercial development and environmental improvement, is the main motivation for investing in hydrogen as an energy carrier on a global scale. Ordinary gasoline engines can be converted to hydrogen, but internal combustion engines have low efficiency. The highly developed combustion engine uses only 20 to 30 percent of the energy contained in the fuel. A hydrogen fuel cell already has an equivalent efficiency of more than 50 percent with current technology and the theoretical possibility of a much higher energy utilization rate. It is also developing planes and trains that use hydrogen as fuel. Other uses Hydrogen will increasingly be used in stationary turbine and fuel cell power plants. In many areas, hydrogen and fuel cells will replace batteries. Hydrogen can also be used in most areas where a gas burner is used. Today, hydrogen is produced primarily from natural gas where the gas is used in or is a waste product of different industries. This represents approximately 500 billion Nm3 H2 (standard cubic meter). 90 percent fossil material and approx. four percent from water electrolysis. The biggest consumers of hydrogen are the oil and fertilizer industry. About half of the world's production is provided by steam reforming of natural gas. In this process, natural gas is supplied with water vapor at 1,100°C, the process also produces CO2 which must then be cleaned and deposited. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get Custom EssayHydrogen produced from fossil materials will be the cheapest source of hydrogen for some time. This production generates large amounts of CO2, but one-off emissions from large production plants are easier to clean and deposit than cleaning up many small emissions (e.g. from gasoline cars).).