Introduction

Abstract

At the start of the twenty-first century, we are facing significant energy challenges. The world’s energy requirements are currently satisfied by fossil fuels, which serve as the primary energy source. Consequently, overwhelming scientific evidence concludes that this unfettered use of fossil fuels has caused the world’s climate to change, with potentially disastrous effect. Moreover, oil crises, which surfaced in 1973, provided a reminder that breaking an energy paradigm based on fossil fuel dependency would lead to economic and environmental advantages. In response, a sustained program of research and development into many areas of hydrogen as an energy carrier started in 1977, with the initiation of the International Energy Agency (Vijayaraghavan and Soom, 2006).