Energy policy is technology politics- The hydrogen energy case (with an eye particularly on safety comparison of hydrogen energy to current fuels)

Germany's energy supply status shows both an accumulation of unsatisfactory sustainabilities putting the nation's energy security at risk, and a hopeful sign: the nation's supply dependency on foreign sources and the accordingly unavoidable price dictate the nation suffers under is almost life risking; the technological skill, however, of the nation's researchers, engineers, and industry materializes in a good percentage of the indigenous and the world's energy conversion technology market. Exemplified with the up and coming hydrogen energy economy this paper tries to advocate the 21st century energy credo: energy policy is energy technology politics! Energy source thinking and acting is 19th and 20th century, energy efficient conversion technology thinking and acting is 21st century. Hydrogen energy is on the verge of becoming the centre-field of world energy interest. Hydrogen energy is key for the decarbonization and, thus, sustainabilization of fossil fuels, and as a storage and transport means for the introduction of so far unoperational huge renewable sources into the world energy market.-What is most important is hydrogen's thermodynamic ability to exergize the energy scheme: hydrogen makes more technical work available (exergy) out of less primary energy! Hydrogen adds value. Hydrogen energy and, in particular, hydrogen energy technologies, are to become part of Germany's national energy identity; accordingly, national energy policy as energy technology politics needs to grow in the nation's awareness as common sense! Otherwise Germany seems ill-equipped energetically, and its well-being hangs in the balance. Never in the anthropogenic energy history a novel energy was added to the mix because any one of the "old" energies neared its depletion point and were to replaced; in each case the addition took place because of technological advantages of the novel energy! The novel secondary energy hydrogen will not be any different, it is entirely depending on existing technologies bolted together or on newly developed ones. (c) 2006 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.