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PREFACE TO HYDROGEN: ITS TECHNOLOGY AND IMPLICATIONS

The United States, Western Europe, Japan, and several other countries are presently faced with an energy shortage due largely to an imbalance of energy consumption over fossil energy production. This problem was dramatized in October 1973 during the Arab embargo on the shipment of oil to the United States and the resultant large increases in the price of crude oil. This shortage in energy supply was then termed the "energy crisis." It was a clear demonstration of the nation's dependence on imported petroleum and its vulnerability on both political and economic grounds. It is clear that the above problems would worsen in the future unless more attention and effort are directed toward increasing domestic energy production from both depletable and nondepletable sources and reducing energy consumption.

In the short-term, until the year 2000, coal and nuclear energy are expected to play dominant roles in meeting the energy shortage despite the environmental restrictions that hamper the production and consumption of high-sulfur coal and similar difficulties (siting and radioactive waste disposal) that have slowed the development of nuclear energy. In the long-term, beyond the year 2000, it is imperative that all forms of renewable energy be developed. These include solar energy, in such forms as wind, ocean thermal gradients, and biomass; geothermal energy; and fusion.

Authors: K. E. Cox, K. D. Williamson, Jr.