Renewable hydrogen economy in Asia - Opportunities and challenges: An overview

Renewable alternative energy sources are getting more attention due to the depleting nature of non-renewable fossil fuels. Increasing global warming, caused by the combustion of fossil fuels, triggered the intense research in finding out better energy options with low emission. Among the potential energy options, hydrogen is a clean fuel candidate as it simply produces water as byproducts when burning. Hydrogen can be generated from different renewable sources and Asia is one of the continents which is rich in renewable energy resources. The resources, safety parameters, public acceptability, and proper government incentives are the major factors affecting the implementation of hydrogen as an economical energy source in Asian countries. The present review deals with the necessity of employing hydrogen as an alternative fuel, its production paths, storage issues, transportation and the available sources. Special emphasis has been given to the discussion of renewable hydrogen economy in some Asian countries like, Japan, Korea, China, India and Malaysia. The challenges in the execution of hydrogen as an economical fuel in Asia are also highlighted. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.