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Hydrogen as a transportation fuel is a boondoggle - a pure scientific folly that will NEVER be practical except in the most exotic applications, such as space travel. And it works there ONLY because of its low mass, not because of its efficiency.

Go to a hardware store, buy a plastic 1-gallon gasoline tank, and fill it up at the nearest gas station. Now go get a 1-gallon dewar flask and fill it up with a full gallon of liquid hydrogen, at a temperature of -400 degrees. Forget about how hard it is to get hydrogen, how hard it is to liquefy it, and worse, how hard it is to keep it liquid, which is the only way to achieve a reasonable energy density.

Which tank has more hydrogen in it? The GASOLINE tank, by more than 50 percent!

We might eventually get to using hybrid cars with fuel cells and electric motors, but the fuel will be little different from what we use today - a mixture of light, liquid hydrocarbon compounds. The mixture might be cleaner, purer, and derived from different sources, but when G_d designed hydrogen and carbon he did a REALLY good job!

As for getting us off of the oil teat, hydrogen is a lost cause.

Which tank has more hydrogen in it? The GASOLINE tank, by more than 50 percent!

But which has more available BTU's in it?

I agree, hydrogen isn't going to save the day. It would be nice if it was easily stored though. I could be energy independent in less than a week : )

But like my mama used to say, if pigs had wings they could fly.

The Hydrogen Education Foundation appreciates the concerns about using hydrogen as a fuel. Including hydrogen in our country’s energy portfolio will be crucial to reduce our dependency on foreign energy imports, and reduce greenhouse gases. One of the key benefits for adopting hydrogen is that it truly is a universal fuel that can be produced using virtually any form of energy including wind, solar and nuclear. In fact, Iceland is currently producing hydrogen using geothermal energy by utilizing the earth’s natural heat to split water and produce hydrogen fuel.

Hydrogen is neither more nor less hazardous than gasoline, propane, or methane. Like any flammable substance, it requires caution when using. Hydrogen has been safely produced, stored, transported, and used in large amounts for decades for a variety of purposes such as in agriculture, oil production and even food processing (ever heard of the term “hydrogenated?” – take a look at a jar of peanut butter or the wrapper of a Starburst).

To learn more about the benefits of hydrogen, please visit www.h2andyou.org.