Crude oil prices continue to renew record highs, culminating last week as the benchmark New York oil contract surpassed $60 per barrel.

In this climate, many nations are seeking to replace fossil fuels, like petroleum, by using alternative energy sources and one of the strongest candidates is hydrogen.

Hydrogen, which releases explosive energies via the reaction with oxygen inside fuel cells, has many compelling strengths; it is easily available, non-toxic, nonpolluting and renewable.

The element is by far the most abundant one in the universe and is also rich in this planet.

Usage of hydrogen, via the combination with oxygen, produces only water as a byproduct, scrapping concerns on greenhouse gases emitted from burning fossil fuels.

But hydrogen is not likely to replace fossil fuels overnight because it has to overcome many obstacles before becoming a mainstream power source.

Although the substance is plentiful, it exists in the form of chemical compounds such as water or hydrocarbons that must be transformed to yield hydrogen.

In addition to the hydrogen production, the technologies to store, carry and use it via fuel cells should be developed for the advent of the hydrogen economy.

Researchers point out they should find routes to produce and store hydrogen economically to sue the element en masse.

It is basically an economic problem. Hydrogen needs to supply energy in quantities and at costs that are competitive with fossil fuels to become a bona fide alternative of the future, a Seoul scientist said.

Differing Predictions on Hydrogen Economy

Experts are divided on the possibility of a hydrogen-based economy; proponents hail it as an answer to today's energy crisis while critics call it an illusion.

Korea National Open University professor Lee Pil-ryul heads the opposition, claiming that hydrogen has a critical hitch - it must be acquired through fossil fuels.

Hydrogen should be extracted from natural gases or water at the moment. To do this, we need energy and we are required to depend on fossil fuels again, said Lee, who also leads the Center of Alternative Energy.

His reasoning is that producing hydrogen from fossil fuels would rob the hydrogen economy of much of its logic that it should replace fossil fuels without putting a strain on the environment.

In response, hydrogen-fueled economy advocates counter that the hydrogen era may start with the help of conventional fossil fuels, but eventually forge ahead without them.

Hong Seong-ahn, an official at the state-backed Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), argues that the hydrogen economy is not a matter of if but when.

You should know that the hydrogen economy is a twophase scheme. In the first phase, hydrogen must come from energy made by fossil fuels. But hydrogen will eventually prevail without the help of fossil fuels, Hong said.

Thanks to the high efficiency of fuel cells, even the process of making hydrogen for energy with fossil fuels will make sense. That is the concept of the firstphase hydrogen plan.

Hydrogen fuel cells boast higher efficiency, roughly 60 percent, compared to 20-plus percent for gasoline or 45 percent for diesel combustion engines.

Fuel cells refer to batteries making electricity as a product of direct chemical reactions; the oxidation of hydrogen at a relatively low temperature.

The commercialization of fuel cells will herald the first phase of the hydrogen economy and the second phase is expected to dawn when non-fossil natural resources start to pump up hydrogen, Hong said.

Currently, four new methods of engendering hydrogen without using fossil fuels are under development: via photo catalysis, microbe, splitting water with electricity generated by alternative sources, such as wind, or with high-temperature nuclear reactors.

Hong predicted that next-generation nuclear reactors that radiate heat amounting to 950 degrees Celsius, hot enough to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, may be the answer.

In the short run, hydrogen can be produced economically by the electrolysis of water with fossil fuels. In the future, however, a major possibility is the direct use of heat from nuclear energy using a chemical process enabled by high-temperature reactors, he said.

Korean Breakthrough

A hydrogen economy is very attractive for Korea, a nation that does not produce one drop of petroleum and relies on foreign imports for roughly 97 percent of its energy.

Contrary to oils, most of which reserves are limited to a handful of countries, hydrogen is stributed throughout the world regardless of national boundaries.

Recognizing its potential, Korea established a four-stage goal to switch the nation from a fossil fuel-based economy to a vibrant hydrogen-powered one by 2040.

First, KIST spearheads the country's three top oil refineries - SK Corp., LG Caltex and the Korea Gas Corp. - to construct three hydrogen filling statioons in 2007.

After commercializing fuel cells between 2012 and 2020 in the second phase, KIST looks to make the hydrogen economy take firm root by 2030.

The final target is to establish hydrogen-producing technology with renewable energies, including wind and solar power, over the next decade through 2040.

In fact, Korean researchers have been aggressively pursuing the use of the futuristic hydrogen technologies, led by Hyundai Automotive Group, the nation's biggest carmaker, and other top scientists.

After unveiling a fuel cell car model in 2001, Hyundai Motor is now trying to take the driver's seat in the global market by commercializing the energy-efficient car.

We expect mass production of fuel cell cars to begin between 2010 and 2015, and by 2040, up to 90 percent of new car demands will be for fuel cell cars, a Hyundai Motor spokesman said.

Although we lagged about a century behind advanced nations in jumping into the car industry, we can now compete head-tohead with fuel cell cars.

Furthermore, a team of scientists, headed by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology professor Lee Huen, discovered an affordable way to store hydrogen in ice in April.

Purified water does not have space to embed hydrogen but Kim found that water combined with organic metals creates a nano-space to stably hoard hydrogen at about 0 degrees Celsius, when water turns to ice.

Among hydrogen-related technologies, the storage method has been the biggest headache. For example, the current method for on-vehicle hydrogen storage is the ultra-high pressure containers that are risky and expensive.

Hydrogen has been stored at a 350 barometric pressure or liquidized under a temperature of up to minus 252 degrees Celsius, ways that are not practical for everyday use, Lee said.

Lee expected his team's new technology of condensing hydrogen inside ice will become the industry standard for hydrogen storage in the future.

We will be able to pile up hydrogen inside ice at a nearambient temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and use it as a fuel or for other purposes with the addition of heat that frees hydrogen from ice, he said.

Indeed, the hydrogen economy has great appeal as a potential solution to the fundamental energy concerns thanks to its abundant supply and minimal environmental impact.

The debates of its potential are starting anew due to high oil prices. However, one thing is certain - future energy sources must be highly efficient with zero emissions and in the sense hydrogen is a strong candidate.