The Power Of Hydrogen: MacroEconomic and Geopolitical Implications
Mahesh Venkitachalam & C.N.M. Lavanya
Great Lakes Institute of Management A project funded and run by European Union, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and United States, in Southern France is trying to create the second element in the periodic table, viz., Helium, by colliding two atoms of Hydrogen. This primary reaction will generate significant energy. Meanwhile, in the World Hydrogen Energy Conference, automobile majors have all confirmed plans to produce hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles by 2015. These two unrelated events have drawn little media attention. However, the materialization of these two projects would have a very significant impact on the world economy since the Industrial Revolution. Before dwelling into the implications, the importance of these two projects to the world economy is highlighted as under: In the year 2008, coal, natural gas and oil together contributed to almost 67% of the world’s source for electricity generation. However, burning any of these fossil fuels is not sustainable in the long-term. One of the available long-term options is for the world to go nuclear. Both nuclear fission and fusion are going to be prominent sources of energy of the world in the future. Automobile majors are in the aggressive pursuit of plans to come up with hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles. Petrol and diesel will start to see diminishing sales in the coming decades and the significance of petrol in world economy will possibly be low by the middle of this century. In this article, the macro-economic and geopolitical implications of these two transitions on the world economy are sought to be traced. A snapshot of the world economy somewhere around the mid to late part of this century has been provided towards the end of this article. Why Hydrogen? Earth is an abundant source of Hydrogen. It is the most abundantly available element in the universe. So, the only problem that stands before Hydrogen fuel cycle is the perfection of technology to extract energy out of Hydrogen economically. This may be a very difficult technology to come up with, but scientists are bullish about the prospects of this technology materializing. Control of Hydrogen: Unlike the current struggle to control oil and natural gas, the world would have abundant supply of Hydrogen and the probability, of power struggles due to Hydrogen, is seemingly low. Empowering poor: The disparity between the rich and the poor is startling. Inadequate access to electricity is, in a way, contributing to this problem. Access to Hydrogen energy would mean more economic opportunities. Unleashing the potential of Hydrogen energy, coupled with a good distribution network, would be the one of the foremost tools in lifting billions out of poverty. If all the countries could produce the energy that could satisfy their requirements, it would transform the balance of power. Local people would feel more empowered and communities would become more self-sufficient. The massive oil bill can be reduced by the oil/natural gasimporting nations. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????()???????????((??((