Chapter 1
Introduction
With the ever-increasing population, the energy demands of the world are continuously increasing. Already existing sources of energy like fossils fuel are harmful for
the environment and also depleting day by day. The need of the hour is to look for the
sustainable fuels which can satisfy the modern requirements of humans. Hydrogen is
the promising alternative to the conventional fuels because of high energy contents,
zero greenhouse gas emissions, and low environmental impacts. However, generation and storage of hydrogen involve several difficult procedures to increase the
efficiency, and nanotechnology plays an imperative role in increasing the efficiency
of these methods. The chapter will explain the various areas of sustainable hydrogen
production and storage which employs services of nanotechnology.
1.1 Hydrogen Energy
The report issued by international energy agency states that the energy demands of
the world will be twofold by the year 2030 [1]. The consumption of the power varies
directly with the human population. The increase in human population resulted in
incremental demand of the energy. The population of the world is assumed to be
tripled by the year 2030. The most common form of energy is methane or natural
gas which includes one carbon atom and four atoms of hydrogen. In order to obtain
the maximum of the available resources on earth, the world has started to convert
the energy from one form to the other. The fossil fuel energy resources are depleting
fast along with being the cause of pollution and global warming. The world is now
looking toward renewable energy. Different renewable energy sources like wind
energy, solar energy, and waves are promising alternatives to the conventional fossil
fuels. However, they are not enough to meet the demands of ever-growing population.
From the past few years, hydrogen has emerged as promising fuel and its demand
will be skyrocketing in the coming years [2].
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Farrukh et al., Nanotechnology and the Generation of Sustainable Hydrogen,
Green Energy and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60402-8_1
1
Introduction
With the ever-increasing population, the energy demands of the world are continuously increasing. Already existing sources of energy like fossils fuel are harmful for
the environment and also depleting day by day. The need of the hour is to look for the
sustainable fuels which can satisfy the modern requirements of humans. Hydrogen is
the promising alternative to the conventional fuels because of high energy contents,
zero greenhouse gas emissions, and low environmental impacts. However, generation and storage of hydrogen involve several difficult procedures to increase the
efficiency, and nanotechnology plays an imperative role in increasing the efficiency
of these methods. The chapter will explain the various areas of sustainable hydrogen
production and storage which employs services of nanotechnology.
1.1 Hydrogen Energy
The report issued by international energy agency states that the energy demands of
the world will be twofold by the year 2030 [1]. The consumption of the power varies
directly with the human population. The increase in human population resulted in
incremental demand of the energy. The population of the world is assumed to be
tripled by the year 2030. The most common form of energy is methane or natural
gas which includes one carbon atom and four atoms of hydrogen. In order to obtain
the maximum of the available resources on earth, the world has started to convert
the energy from one form to the other. The fossil fuel energy resources are depleting
fast along with being the cause of pollution and global warming. The world is now
looking toward renewable energy. Different renewable energy sources like wind
energy, solar energy, and waves are promising alternatives to the conventional fossil
fuels. However, they are not enough to meet the demands of ever-growing population.
From the past few years, hydrogen has emerged as promising fuel and its demand
will be skyrocketing in the coming years [2].
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Farrukh et al., Nanotechnology and the Generation of Sustainable Hydrogen,
Green Energy and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60402-8_1
1