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Hydrogen is the quintessential eco-fuel. This invisible, tasteless gas is the most abundant element in the universe. It is the basic building block and fuel of stars and essential raw material in innumerable biologival and chemical processes. As a completely nonpolluting fuel, it may hold the answer to growing environmental concerns about atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide and the resultant Greenhouse Effect. In this book Peter Hoffmann describes current research toward a hydrogen-based economy. He presents the history of hydrogen energy and discusses the environmental dangers of continued dependence on fossil fuels.

Today hydrogen is manufactured by "decarbonizing" fossil fuels. In the future it will be derived from water and solar energy and perhaps from "cleaner" versions of nuclear energy. Because it can be made by a variety of methods, Hoffmann argues, it can be easily adapted by different countries and economies. Although the process of converting to a hydrogen-based economy would be complex, he demonstrates that the environmental and health benefits would far outweigh the costs.

Peter Hoffmann is editor and publisher of The Hydogen & Fuel Cell Letter. He is a former Washington correspondent for McGraw-Hill World News and the author of The Forever Fuel: The Story of Hydrogen.

Contents:

1. Why Hydrogen? Buckminster Fuller, Sheikh Yamani, and Bill Clinton
2. Hydrogen's Discovery: Phlogiston and Inflammable Air
3. A History of Hydrogen Energy: The Reverend Cecil, Jules Verne, and the Redoubtable Mr. Erren
4. Producing Hydrogen from Water, Natural Gas, and Green Plants
5. Primary Energy: Using Solar and Other Power to Make Hydrogen
6. Hydrogen for Cars and Buses: Steaming Tailpipes
7. Fuel Cells: Mr. Grove's Lovely Technology
8. Hydrogen in Aerospace: Clean Contrails and the Orient Express
9. Hydrogen as Utility Gas: The Invisible Flame
10. Non-Energy Uses of Hydrogen: Metallic H₂, Biodegradable Plastics, and H₂ Tofu
11. Safety: The Hindenburg Syndrome, or "Don't Paint Your Dirigible with Rocket Fuel"
12. The Next 100 Years

Code No. 010625, 289 pages, ISBN 026258221X, $36.00

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