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The Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the Worldwide Energy Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth
The road to global security," writes Jeremy Rifkin, "lies in lessening our dependence on Middle East oil and making sure that all people on Earth have access to the energy they need to sustain life. Weaning the world off oil and turning it toward hydrogen is a promissory note for a safer world." Rifkin's international bestseller The Hydrogen Economy presents the clearest, most comprehensive case for moving ourselves away from the destructive and waning years of the oil era toward a new kind of energy regime. Hydrogen-one of the most abundant substances in the universe-holds the key, Rifkin argues, to a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable world.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
30 people are currently reading
508 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Rifkin
111 books532 followersAmerican economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 27, 2019
Brave new energy world?
Or a new shell game?
The title of this book is a little misleading since most of the book is about the effect that energy has had on the rise and fall of human societies from hunter-gatherers through agriculturists and the Roman Empire to the ascendency of the United States in the 19th century and into the current world economy. Rifkin sees cheap energy and the high per capita use of it as a prime indicator of a flourishing society. He notes that Rome rose when it was able to commandeer energy sources from conquered lands in the form of tribute and slaves; but when the booty from military conquests began to fall to diminishing returns, Rome itself began to fall.
He sees the same thing possibly happening to the United States in another but similar manner. He notes that US domestic oil production peaked in 1970. (p. 4) Whereas up until then, domestic production supplied most of the oil the United States used; since then we have become more and more dependent on foreign sources. He foresees a peak in world crude production sometime in the next decade or so, and after that a slide toward more and more expensive oil and more and more of our wealth flowing into the last bastion of crude reserves in primarily the Middle Eastern states.
What to do about this? Hocus-pocus, usher in the hydrogen economy in which hydrogen fuel cells will replace not only gas from the pump but will generate electricity for home, farm and office. There is just one little catch: at current prices the cost of converting either gasoline, natural gas or water (all requiring energy, usually electrical power) is prohibitive. Rifkin de-emphasizes this little problem as he enthuses about how decentralized and how clean-burning will be the "decarbonized" hydrogen economy. Right now, according to Michael A. Peavey in his book, Fuel from Water: Energy Independence with Hydrogen, it costs $7.40 to create enough hydrogen fuel to equal the energy provided by one gallon of gasoline (at electricity costing $0.10 per Kwh). Rifkin does not go into this non-cost effectiveness to any great degree, partly because he believes both that the cost of conversion will go down and the price of oil will go up.
A quick read might give the impression that one can use electricity to produce hydrogen from say water and use the hydrogen to create electricity or run engines with a net gain. Not so. The efficiency of the process of electrolysis (getting hydrogen from water) is about 50%. This is a big net loss. So why are automobile manufactures, oil companies and Jeremy Rifkin so excited about hydrogen technology?
First and foremost of course hydrogen is clean burning. It does not produce any greenhouse gases that are leading to global warming. And second, when used in fuel cell technology there is the prospect that energy use and production will be decentralized allowing individuals and small organizations freedom from the vast infrastructure and top down organization that characterizes the oil industry today.
Both of these advantages of hydrogen however depend on the use of renewable resources, wind, sun, downward running water, evaporation, the burning of biomass, etc. to isolate the hydrogen which is always tied up in molecules with other elements as in water, natural gas, oil, etc. So what the advantages accruing from the proposed brave new world of the hydrogen economy actually depend on is the same thing we cannot do today, that is, get the bulk of our energy from renewable resources.
As others have pointed out, essentially hydrogen is an energy storage device. The initial energy must come from somewhere else. Although we definitely need storage devices that can be placed where we want them to be utilized even when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow, storage devices themselves are not an independent source of energy and cannot by themselves be the solution to our energy problems.
Having said this, the book is still a very good read and an eye-opener about the coming end of the fossil fuel era, arriving at our doorsteps in just a few decades. Also Rifkin's speculations about the nature of the hydrogen economy are interesting and probably pertinent since the major car manufacturers and the major oil companies are already gearing up for the transformation. These mega-players in the energy game will dictate the rules in the years to come. They will use their existing infrastructures and their capital to ease the transformation for them and to maintain their power and profit margins. This is one of the salient points Rifkin makes in this book. The curious thing is, I'm not sure whether, amid all of his enthusiastic expression, he realizes what his message really is, namely that we are going to be burning fossil fuels and building nuclear plants well into the latter half of the 21st century.
Note well this quote on page 189 from John Browne, the CEO of British Petroleum, making the "bullish" forecast that "50 percent" of world-wide energy demand "will be met by solar and other renewable resources by 2050." That, folks, is the bottom line: fifty percent by 2050, fuel cells or no fuel cells.
The bottom line for this book is that it is readable, informative--even at times, fascinating--but not exactly what it purports to be. Read it and judge for yourself.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
Or a new shell game?
The title of this book is a little misleading since most of the book is about the effect that energy has had on the rise and fall of human societies from hunter-gatherers through agriculturists and the Roman Empire to the ascendency of the United States in the 19th century and into the current world economy. Rifkin sees cheap energy and the high per capita use of it as a prime indicator of a flourishing society. He notes that Rome rose when it was able to commandeer energy sources from conquered lands in the form of tribute and slaves; but when the booty from military conquests began to fall to diminishing returns, Rome itself began to fall.
He sees the same thing possibly happening to the United States in another but similar manner. He notes that US domestic oil production peaked in 1970. (p. 4) Whereas up until then, domestic production supplied most of the oil the United States used; since then we have become more and more dependent on foreign sources. He foresees a peak in world crude production sometime in the next decade or so, and after that a slide toward more and more expensive oil and more and more of our wealth flowing into the last bastion of crude reserves in primarily the Middle Eastern states.
What to do about this? Hocus-pocus, usher in the hydrogen economy in which hydrogen fuel cells will replace not only gas from the pump but will generate electricity for home, farm and office. There is just one little catch: at current prices the cost of converting either gasoline, natural gas or water (all requiring energy, usually electrical power) is prohibitive. Rifkin de-emphasizes this little problem as he enthuses about how decentralized and how clean-burning will be the "decarbonized" hydrogen economy. Right now, according to Michael A. Peavey in his book, Fuel from Water: Energy Independence with Hydrogen, it costs $7.40 to create enough hydrogen fuel to equal the energy provided by one gallon of gasoline (at electricity costing $0.10 per Kwh). Rifkin does not go into this non-cost effectiveness to any great degree, partly because he believes both that the cost of conversion will go down and the price of oil will go up.
A quick read might give the impression that one can use electricity to produce hydrogen from say water and use the hydrogen to create electricity or run engines with a net gain. Not so. The efficiency of the process of electrolysis (getting hydrogen from water) is about 50%. This is a big net loss. So why are automobile manufactures, oil companies and Jeremy Rifkin so excited about hydrogen technology?
First and foremost of course hydrogen is clean burning. It does not produce any greenhouse gases that are leading to global warming. And second, when used in fuel cell technology there is the prospect that energy use and production will be decentralized allowing individuals and small organizations freedom from the vast infrastructure and top down organization that characterizes the oil industry today.
Both of these advantages of hydrogen however depend on the use of renewable resources, wind, sun, downward running water, evaporation, the burning of biomass, etc. to isolate the hydrogen which is always tied up in molecules with other elements as in water, natural gas, oil, etc. So what the advantages accruing from the proposed brave new world of the hydrogen economy actually depend on is the same thing we cannot do today, that is, get the bulk of our energy from renewable resources.
As others have pointed out, essentially hydrogen is an energy storage device. The initial energy must come from somewhere else. Although we definitely need storage devices that can be placed where we want them to be utilized even when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow, storage devices themselves are not an independent source of energy and cannot by themselves be the solution to our energy problems.
Having said this, the book is still a very good read and an eye-opener about the coming end of the fossil fuel era, arriving at our doorsteps in just a few decades. Also Rifkin's speculations about the nature of the hydrogen economy are interesting and probably pertinent since the major car manufacturers and the major oil companies are already gearing up for the transformation. These mega-players in the energy game will dictate the rules in the years to come. They will use their existing infrastructures and their capital to ease the transformation for them and to maintain their power and profit margins. This is one of the salient points Rifkin makes in this book. The curious thing is, I'm not sure whether, amid all of his enthusiastic expression, he realizes what his message really is, namely that we are going to be burning fossil fuels and building nuclear plants well into the latter half of the 21st century.
Note well this quote on page 189 from John Browne, the CEO of British Petroleum, making the "bullish" forecast that "50 percent" of world-wide energy demand "will be met by solar and other renewable resources by 2050." That, folks, is the bottom line: fifty percent by 2050, fuel cells or no fuel cells.
The bottom line for this book is that it is readable, informative--even at times, fascinating--but not exactly what it purports to be. Read it and judge for yourself.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
February 25, 2025
I would have given it 0 if i could. This is just the biggest crock of nonsense I’ve ever had the displeasure of having to ploughing through. How the USA needs to embrace hydrogen production to fight Saddam, OPEC and al-qaeda. If you’re making hydrogen you’re probably importing natural gas from somewhere. It’s not free. It’s not the internet. This reeks of reading the end of history and getting far too carried away. Also he barely talks about hydrogen - he spends the whole time talking about how it’s necessary and what it could do but he doesn’t talk about how it’s actually going to achieve the magical nonsense fantasy he’s selling.
October 6, 2010
I only thought this book was ok. It's short on substance and long on some vague notions of society potentially moving from fossil fuels to hydrogen as its main energy source. Only half a page was devoted to the concerns many people have about hydrogen safety, and there was a lot of filler that had little to do with the author's vision of a hydrogen economy. It was also dull.
There were no practical ideas about how to usher in this new era, just some ideas, as light and gassy as hydrogen itself, that hydrogen would bring us to a utopia.
There were no practical ideas about how to usher in this new era, just some ideas, as light and gassy as hydrogen itself, that hydrogen would bring us to a utopia.
April 26, 2008
Ready for some doom and gloom? While avoiding sounding shrill and alarmist by allowing the reader to reach their own conclusions, Rifkin nonetheless paints a pretty bleak picture of our immediate future. While we won’t run out of oil for at least another hundred years or so, there will be a radical restructuring (collapse?) of society when we reach the peak of oil production – or when supply and demand flip sometime in the next five to fifty years. Currently, supply neatly advances with demand, keeping the economy in balance. But what happens when demand outstrips supply? Well, prices shoot through the roof and our oil-based economy falls into a tailspin.
In terms of hope (although the reader gets the impression that Rifkin is just going through the motions here and doesn’t really believe that his solutions will come to pass), Rifkin looks to hydrogen energy with the hydrogen being produced by alternative, renewable resources. Bleak, bleak, bleak.
In terms of hope (although the reader gets the impression that Rifkin is just going through the motions here and doesn’t really believe that his solutions will come to pass), Rifkin looks to hydrogen energy with the hydrogen being produced by alternative, renewable resources. Bleak, bleak, bleak.
September 2, 2012
A little bit dated, but Rifkin has some compelling insights. This is less about the technology of hydrogen-based energy than a broad-reaching survey of the rise of the fossil-fuel economy and speculation about what the shift to a hydrogen-based system would mean. His vision that a hydrogen-based economy would mimic the internet and produce a new kind of globally connected but decentralized grassroots economy seems somewhat naive.
February 4, 2015
A manifesto for change that glosses over some of the very real limitations of Hydrogen power, largely predicated on Hydrogen generation. The assumption that we can generate enough clean energy to then generate the Hydrogen needed would require us to switch to a clean energy model to begin with, which is putting the cart before the horse.
September 17, 2015
Muy simplón. De la supuesta economía del hidrógeno sólo habla en un capítulo, los demás son casi una introducción y contexto para justificar el paso al hidrógeno como vector energético. Además el 25% del libro son la bibliografía y notas.
La traducción es algo mala, llega a cambiar de sexo a Lynn Margulis xD
La traducción es algo mala, llega a cambiar de sexo a Lynn Margulis xD
April 23, 2024
I did not like this book. I bought it because I wanted to learn more about how hydrogen will help to change the economy and what concerns many people have about hydrogen safety. The first two thirds of the books are a filler, that I could have lived with out reading it. It was also dull. There were no practical ideas about how to enter this new era, just some sentences that alluded that hydrogen was the salvation to humanity.
Sincerely, do not read this book, it is a waste of time, if you want to learn anything about how hydrogen will change the world.
Sincerely, do not read this book, it is a waste of time, if you want to learn anything about how hydrogen will change the world.
May 11, 2025
Strangely enough, but this book is still actual in 2025. Jeremy made a great excursion and neatly revealed everything from the origins of climate change to the logical and sustainable solutions. Great and important work.
July 16, 2023
Amazing book analyzed how new developments have to transform the world
December 6, 2023
Too much about oil, not enough about hydrogen
September 22, 2015
Una sociedad aguanta si tiene energía. Sin energía, las sociedades dejan de existir. ¿Imagináis cómo podríais vivir sin electricidad, sin petróleo y sin gas? Pues eso es lo que nos va a pasar. Este libro hace un análisis de todo ello explicando la historia del petróleo y de cómo se está intentando orientar al hidrógeno, que también sería una buena nueva fuente de energía.
Por otro lado, hoy día, la energía la controlan las grandes petroleras, pero el hidrógeno no es algo tan controlable. Hablar del petróleo y del hidrógeno sería equivalente a hablar de los medios de información antes y después de Internet.
La edición que he leído es de hará unos 12 o 13 años y por ello algunas de las cosas que dice o algunas previsiones puede que estén algo pasadas.
Recomendado para quien le guste el problema de la energía y su historia en nuestra sociedad actual.
Por otro lado, hoy día, la energía la controlan las grandes petroleras, pero el hidrógeno no es algo tan controlable. Hablar del petróleo y del hidrógeno sería equivalente a hablar de los medios de información antes y después de Internet.
La edición que he leído es de hará unos 12 o 13 años y por ello algunas de las cosas que dice o algunas previsiones puede que estén algo pasadas.
Recomendado para quien le guste el problema de la energía y su historia en nuestra sociedad actual.
July 13, 2013
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
رائعة هي اللحظات التي تقاسمتها مع هذا الكتاب الهام و المفيد جدا للخبير الإقتصادي الأمريكي جيرمي ريفكين، فهو نبهنا إلي معركة الإدارة الأمريكية القائمة و ليست القادمة حول إنتزاع حقوق ملكية مادة الهيدروجين و إستغلالها الإستغلال الذي يمكن حضارتها من الإستغناء عن النفط و الغاز و ضمان مردود اكبر و أنجع لإقتصادها. ثم نجاح الكاتب في أخذ بيد القاريء ليحمله إلي داخل الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية و شرح له بأسلوب مبسط إستراتيجية واشنطن و الولايات الأمريكية أفرادا و جماعات في كيفية توظيف الهيدروجين من أجل الإستخدام العام النظيف، أعده العامل الأهم في رفع من قيمة الكتاب العلمية و الفكرية. حقا كانت الرحلة ممتعة و لم أندم أبدا علي إقتناء الكتاب و علي متابعتي لإصدرات السيد جيريمي ريفكين.
رائعة هي اللحظات التي تقاسمتها مع هذا الكتاب الهام و المفيد جدا للخبير الإقتصادي الأمريكي جيرمي ريفكين، فهو نبهنا إلي معركة الإدارة الأمريكية القائمة و ليست القادمة حول إنتزاع حقوق ملكية مادة الهيدروجين و إستغلالها الإستغلال الذي يمكن حضارتها من الإستغناء عن النفط و الغاز و ضمان مردود اكبر و أنجع لإقتصادها. ثم نجاح الكاتب في أخذ بيد القاريء ليحمله إلي داخل الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية و شرح له بأسلوب مبسط إستراتيجية واشنطن و الولايات الأمريكية أفرادا و جماعات في كيفية توظيف الهيدروجين من أجل الإستخدام العام النظيف، أعده العامل الأهم في رفع من قيمة الكتاب العلمية و الفكرية. حقا كانت الرحلة ممتعة و لم أندم أبدا علي إقتناء الكتاب و علي متابعتي لإصدرات السيد جيريمي ريفكين.
May 16, 2014
Great book as a starter if you are interested in renewable energy or the future of the automobile . Although the beginning preface of the book is entirely wrong ,( peak oil to happen by 2010,) one must remember this book was written in the aftermath of September 11th. ( book was released in 2002) The book moves at a good pace and does not get lost in boring statistics. It does though , rear the ugly head of progressivism with a call for regulation and outright forcing consumers to comply by the way of " smart" thermostats. If you can stomach that, then the book will lead you to seek out more books on sustainability .
July 28, 2013
This could be the answer to future oil crises even though he did use global warming stats from East Anglia Univeristy, the book was printed in 2002 and the emails exposing the bogus research didn't get leaked until 2009. http://voices.yahoo.com/global-warmin... I think the author has really given some great ideas for how the grid can be made to use wind and solar to create the energy needed for the removal of hydrogen from water, storable for use day or night, windy or calm weather, without the need to have large battery banks in homes and cars.
July 19, 2013
Un bel saggio sulle grandi potenzialità dell'idrogeno che non solo potrebbe salvarci dall'imminente fine dei combustibili fossili ma anche salvare il nostro pianeta (e noi stessi). Il libro inoltre spiega tutti i complessi meccanismi chimici, sociali ed economici del petrolio.
Peccato che sia stato scritto nel 2002, molte informazioni infatti, visto che il mondo cambia rapidamente, sono datate. Comunque lo consiglio lo stesso!
Peccato che sia stato scritto nel 2002, molte informazioni infatti, visto che il mondo cambia rapidamente, sono datate. Comunque lo consiglio lo stesso!
September 26, 2008
Thorough (for the time--there's been more research since), and fairly presents all sides and possibilities. It made me hopeful and excited about possible future energy sources. I think it should be required reading for all our politicians! It's great for students too (I was one when I read it); it may inspire you to either go into hydrogen research or support others doing it.
January 15, 2013
I read this quite some time ago now, so my memory of it is stale. I credit it for introducing me to that genre of popular science that seeks to explore the possibilities of alternative power.
One take away I still hold in mind: there is no combination of alternative power sources that can replace the power contained in carbon fuels.
One take away I still hold in mind: there is no combination of alternative power sources that can replace the power contained in carbon fuels.
November 30, 2008
If you like crackpot ideas- you'll like this book. Rifkin believes that fuel cells burning hydrogen distilled from water, using alternative energy, will save the world and do your laundry. Hopefully Obama's energy team hasn't read this book- the economics of it would never work.
January 15, 2020
Non credo che questo libro sia invecchiato troppo bene. L'economia all'idrogeno immaginata da Rifkin una ventina d'anni fa non si è materializzata e sembra che non lo farà in un futuro particolarmente vicino...
February 2, 2008
Rifken is dead wrong on hydrogen; his case is never compelling.
July 25, 2009
A fantastic reading to appreciate the energy possible alternative to set mankind free of the grip of the oil based energy and the associate corporations dominating our lives.
April 21, 2014
Me ha convencido que esto del hidrógeno no tiene futuro.
November 23, 2013
Skim read only
February 16, 2018
Rifkin wrote at length about hydrogen as a dense energy source. The only sure way we have of making hydrogen is from natural gas. That does not solve the depletion problem.
After finishing it, I think that Rifkin was saying that we were going to synthesize hydrogen from wind and solar energy and pipe it around America. I disagree. We already have an energy distribution system of electricity that we can expand. There is no point building another distribution system. The conversion of wind electricity to hydrogen would be grossly inefficient.
Hydrogen as a motor fuel source has been a bust so far. They can get it to work in the lab, or in a small fleet experiment. It has no advantage over a lithium battery system or even lead acid batteries, in my observation.
After finishing it, I think that Rifkin was saying that we were going to synthesize hydrogen from wind and solar energy and pipe it around America. I disagree. We already have an energy distribution system of electricity that we can expand. There is no point building another distribution system. The conversion of wind electricity to hydrogen would be grossly inefficient.
Hydrogen as a motor fuel source has been a bust so far. They can get it to work in the lab, or in a small fleet experiment. It has no advantage over a lithium battery system or even lead acid batteries, in my observation.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews