Hydrogen.

Editor,

Electric motors being far more efficient than internal combustion engines is one of the few encouraging consequences of the laws of physics and chemistry.

Major car manufacturers including Mercedes, Toyota, Honda, and BMW are all introducing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles this year, and other vehicular developments include hydrogen-powered forklifts, thousands of which are in use across the globe today, airport ground support equipment being tested by FedEx in Memphis, and range extenders for electric delivery vans, also being tested by FedEx.

Hydrogen energy density is probably not sufficient to power jet aircraft or enormous ships, but cars, trucks, and smaller watercraft are well within hydrogen's physical capabilities.

Today almost all commercially produced hydrogen, with the exception of biogas feedstock, is derived from natural gas (methane), which is problematic on its face. But hydrogen is easily generated by electrolyzing water, and much research is underway to develop cheaper, faster catalytic membranes for electrolysis as well as artificial photosynthesis.

No one technology will save us from global warming, but hydrogen will play an outsized role, particularly as wind and solar electricity are put to work electrolyzing water.

Re: "Rockefellers, Heirs to an Oil Fortune, Will Divest Charity of Fossil Fuels" (9/22/2014)