| Hydrogen has the highest energy content per unit weight of any known fuel and is the most abundant element in the universe. The amount of energy produced by hydrogen is about 3 times that of an equal weight of gasoline, and 7 times that of coal. It is also a remarkably clean and virtually inexhaustible fuel that could meet most of our future energy needs while avoiding negative impacts on our health and environment.
Hydrogen has the potential to power the vehicles on our roads and the base-load power plants that light our cities. Hydrogen fuel cells can also be used as a storage medium to firm the wind's inherent intermittency, enabling wind power to account for a much larger portion of our generation needs.
Hydrogen is not a fuel, however, that exists in nature in a readily usable form, such as oil or coal. It more closely resembles electricity-an energy carrier that must be generated from another fuel source. Hydrogen can be produced from many domestic sources of energy, including fossil fuels, such as coal, and renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar. Karbon Zero is currently working to identify wind power development opportunities that will support the production of hydrogen for on-site storage and firming systems, as well as provide for the transmission of hydrogen to population centers in the future.
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