by John Walter

Created on: May 12, 2008

The world has come to a crossroads. In the five billion years that the planet has existed, the natural resources that move us from place to place are disappearing. Take that great substance called oil. The oil that we use today came from plants and animals from around 300 million years ago (Kidzworld.com). What does that mean to us? The simple fact that the fuel we consume will run out. The petroleum companies in the world today are researching and developing new and cleaner ways to help transport the world. Among the lists of fuels that are being developed is Hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered a renewable source and will prevent economic catastrophe around the world. Governments around the world see this and are supporting this research. The United States government needs to support the use of Hydrogen as the primary fuel for the transportation world to help reduce the amount of natural resources that are swiftly dwindling.

Hydrogen is the third most abundant element in the world. This element is lighter than air and can be found in ninety percent of all organic material in the world. The most identifiable resource that contains hydrogen is water. Seventy percent of the Earth is covered in water. The break down of water is one oxygen atom attached to two hydrogen atoms (USGS.gov). With the amount of water that covers the planet, I believe there is plenty of hydrogen to go around. Utilizing water electrolysis, you can split water and obtain the hydrogen for production. This process exists and is being researched for large scale production for transportation fuel.

This fuel has been used in the past. History shows that this fuel can be used for transportation and can be beneficial to us all. The Hindenburg and all blimps used hydrogen to keep the ships off of the ground. In 1937 the Hindenburg caught fire and crashed killing 35 people. It is a sad and tragic event, but the investigation showed that hydrogen was not the cause of the disaster. The outer skin was coated with a metallic paint and was set on fire by lightning. The hydrogen filled bags in the blimp discharged and escaped into the air above the incident. Although not the reason, this put hydrogen as a resourceful fuel on the back burner (Hydrogen Now). Even today when someone discuses the use of hydrogen as a fuel, the Hindenburg is mentioned in the debate. Hydrogen is combustible, but it does not stop the use of it. Chevron uses one million kilograms a day for industrial use (Chevron.com). Children in

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