Doesnt it take more energy to make hydrogen than is contained in that hydrogen?
Short answer: yes, but this is true of all fuels including gasoline, diesel, propane, natural gas, and, most importantly, electricity. (The only exception being the much maligned corn ethanol that most experts estimate contains 20% to 25% more energy than was used from fossil fuels to make it, with the difference being provided by sunlight when the plant matter was growing.) Long answer: converting natural gas to hydrogen requires approximately 33% more natural gas energy than is contained in the resulting hydrogen. But electricity is much worse. A typical natural gas combustion turbine requires something like 3 times more natural gas energy than is contained in the resulting electricity…in other words, older natural gas electrical generators are 33% efficient. By the time you account for line losses in electricity transmission, 3.4 units of natural gas energy are consumed to deliver one unit of electrical energy to our homes and buildings. Modern combined cycle natural gas power pla
