Review of the book: Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow\u27s Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet (MIT Press 2001). Illustrations, Foreword, Acknowledgments, Notes, Index. ISBN 0-262-08295-0 [289 pp. $32.95. Cloth, 5 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142- 1493]

Shaw, William H., III

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RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)Volume 13 | Number 1 Article 13March 2002Review of: Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow's Energy:Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for aCleaner PlanetWilliam H. Shaw IIIFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/riskPart of the Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, and the Transportation CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – School of Law at University of New HampshireScholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002) by an authorized editor of University ofNew Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact ellen.phillips@law.unh.edu.Repository CitationWilliam H. Shaw, III , Review of: Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow's Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet, 13 RISK185 (2002).Review of: Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow's Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, andthe Prospects for a Cleaner PlanetErratumThe citation for this review is 13 RISK 177 (2002) in most commercial databases.This book review is available in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002): https://scholars.unh.edu/risk/vol13/iss1/13Book Reviews 185Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow's Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and theProspects for a Cleaner Planet (MIT Press 2001). Illustrations,Foreword, Acknowledgments, Notes, Index. ISBN 0-262-08295-0[289 pp. $32.95. Cloth, 5 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142-1493].Tomorrow's Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for aCleaner Planet, by Peter Hoffman, discusses current research oncreating a hydrogen-based economy, the history of hydrogen energy,and the environmental dangers caused by fossil fuels. Hoffman beginshis book with an overview of the possible uses and benefits of hydrogen.Two major goals of international hydrogen research have been to findeconomical ways of making the fuel and to find out how to store iteffectively onboard a space-constrained car, bus, or truck. 1Hoffman journeys through the history of hydrogen from the firstexperiments dating back to the fifteenth century to Jules Verne in 1874to the boom in the early twentieth century leading to today's uses anddevelopments. A few key developments include: the NationalHydrogen Association, launched in Washington in 1989; a fuel cellpower plant, which began operation in California in 1996; and BMW'splan to offer the world's first commercially available hydrogen-fueledcar in 2001.2Hoffman further discusses how to produce hydrogen from water,natural gas, and green plants. 3 The proven process for making hydrogenon an industrial scale from water is electrolysis, used in countries such asCanada and Norway.4 Another technique is thermo-chemical watersplitting which uses heat and chemicals to break down the water into itselements. 5 Most of the world's hydrogen proponents say the future ofproduction rests in stripping hydrogen from fossil fuels through variouschemical processes. 61 Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow's Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospectsfor a Cleaner Planet 10 (MIT Press 2001).2 See id. at 46-51.3 See id. at 54.4 See id. at 59.5 See id. at 65.6 See id. at 66.13 Risk. Health, Safety & Environment 185 [Spring 2002]Hoffman asserts that there is no longer any real question thatadvanced transportation technologies employing hydrogen as an energymedium will be essential for the twenty-first century. 7 The difficultylies in how to carry hydrogen onboard a vehicle. Hoffman reviews thevarious experiments and ideas used to succeed, but submits that thereare no easy answers. He states that fuel cells are the leading technologyright now and are also the ones being explored the most. 8Peter Hoffman does a wonderful job explaining thoroughly thehistory and future of hydrogen as a fuel. He believes it is essential to theplanet and the economy for hydrogen use to be further developed.William H. Shaw III t7 See id. at 102.8 See id. at 160.f Mr. Shaw is a 2004 J.D. candidate at Franklin Pierce Law Center. He has a B.S.in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester,Massachusetts.

Review of: Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow\u27s Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet

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Review of: Peter Hoffman, Tomorrow\u27s Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet

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