Hydrogen has pros and cons, but clean energy potential is there

It’s the most abundant element in the universe, making up about 75% of all matter, and it may hold the key to a future of abundant clean energy.It’s also difficult to store in a pure state; corrodes and weakens metals; is expensive to isolate using existing processes; and it’s highly combustible … as in “burn up the airship Hindenburg on the landing dock in 1937” combustible.Despite its drawbacks, hydrogen is a longer-term entrant in the “green energy” derby, which is being powered by the rising costs of fossil fuels, the push to decarbonize the Earth’s atmosphere, and the need for industry and governments worldwide to be free of despots who control much of the world’s oil.The pros and cons of the “hydrogen revolution” were the topic of an Oct. 25 Tech Council Innovation Network luncheon in Madison, where the dean of the UW-Madison College of…

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