<P> Hydrogen is locked up in enormous quantities in water, hydrocarbons, and other organic matter . One of the challenges of using hydrogen as a fuel comes from being able to efficiently extract hydrogen from these compounds . Currently, steam reforming, which combines high - temperature steam with natural gas, accounts for the majority of the hydrogen produced . This method of hydrogen production occurs at temperatures between 700 - 1100 ° C, and has a resultant efficiency of between 60 - 75% . Hydrogen can also be produced from water through electrolysis, which is less energy intensive if the electricity used to drive the reaction does not come from fossil - fuel power plants but rather renewable energy instead . The efficiency of water electrolysis is between about 70 - 80%, with a goal set to reach 82 - 86% efficiency by 2030 using proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers . Once produced, hydrogen can be used in much the same way as natural gas - it can be delivered to fuel cells to generate electricity and heat, used in a combined cycle gas turbine to produce larger quantities of centrally produced electricity or burned to run a combustion engine; all methods producing no carbon or methane emissions . In each case hydrogen is combined with oxygen to form water . The heat in a hydrogen flame is a radiant emission from the newly formed water molecules . The water molecules are in an excited state on initial formation and then transition to a ground state; the transition releasing thermal radiation . When burning in air, the temperature is roughly 2000 ° C (the same as natural gas). Historically, carbon has been the most practical carrier of energy, as hydrogen and carbon combined are more volumetrically dense, although hydrogen itself has three times the energy density per weight than methane or gasoline . Although hydrogen is the smallest element and thus has a slightly higher propensity to leak from venerable natural gas pipes such as those made from iron, leakage from plastic (polythylene PE100) pipes is expected to be very low at about 0.001% . </P> <P> The reason steam methane reforming has traditionally been favoured over electrolysis is because where methane reforming directly uses natural gas, electrolysis requires electricity . As the cost of producing electricity (via wind turbines and solar PV) falls below the cost of natural gas, electrolysis becomes cheaper than SMR . </P> <P> Hydrogen fuel can provide motive power for liquid - propellant rockets, cars, boats and airplanes, portable fuel cell applications or stationary fuel cell applications, which can power an electric motor . The problems of using hydrogen fuel in cars arise from the fact that hydrogen is difficult to store in either a high pressure tank or a cryogenic tank . </P> <P> Combustion engines in commercial vehicles have been converted to run on a hydrogen - diesel mix in the UK, where up to 70% of emissions have been reduced during normal driving conditions . This eliminates range anxiety as the vehicles can fill up on diesel . Minor modifications are needed to the engines, as well as the addition of hydrogen tanks at a compression of 350 bars . Trials are now underway to test the efficiency of the 100% conversion of a Volvo FH16 heavy - duty truck to use only hydrogen . The range is expected to be 300km / 17kg; which means an efficiency better than a standard diesel engine (where the embodied energy of 1 gallon of gasoline is equal to 1 kilogram of hydrogen). At a low cost price for hydrogen (€ 5 / kg), significant fuel savings could be made via such a conversion in Europe or the UK . A lower price would be needed to compete with gasoline in the US, as gasoline is not exposed to high taxes at the pump . </P>

Why is hydrogen gas impractical to use as fuel for most energy needs
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