DU: Beware the Hydrogen Economy Lies being pushed by the Fossil Fuel industry.

[NYC_SKP]

10. They could but it woudn't be practical for a number of reasons:

It's feasible but not practical to use renewable electricity to generate hydrogen gas.

The water and the air used for the process of electrolysis needs to be super pure, and that purification takes energy.

Then you have the losses in transforming the geothermal energy into electricity to use for the electrolysis process, which is itself not terribly efficient.

Then the hydrogen that's produced needs to be compressed for storage and transport, and that takes a lot of energy.

NOTE: 95% of the hydrogen generated in the US does NOT use electrolysis, it uses a process called "natural gas steam reforming":

Natural gas reforming is an advanced and mature production process that builds upon the existing natural gas pipeline delivery infrastructure. Today, 95% of the hydrogen produced in the United States is made by natural gas reforming in large central plants. This is an important technology pathway for near-term hydrogen production.
How Does It Work?

Natural gas contains methane (CH4) that can be used to produce hydrogen with thermal processes, such as steam-methane reformation and partial oxidation.

Why Is This Pathway Being Considered?

Reforming low-cost natural gas to produce hydrogen can provide the commercial hydrogen production capacity needed to support a full fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Over the long term, DOE expects that hydrogen production from natural gas will be augmented with production from renewable, nuclear, coal (with carbon capture and storage), and other low-carbon, domestic energy resources.

Greenhouse gas emissions are lower than gasoline-powered internal combustion engine vehicles. Producing hydrogen from natural gas does result in the emission of greenhouse gases, as shown in the chemical reactions above. When compared to internal combustion engine vehicles using gasoline, however, FCEVs using hydrogen produced from natural gas reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

http://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-natural-gas-reforming

In conclusion, there's a big push to shift to hydrogen from natural gas because it is (sort of) practical, but they make promises about one day using renewables. I call bullshit on that promise.

Once we're dependent upon hydrogen fuel stations and infrastructure there is no turning back.

We can be independent right now just using solar and wind and battery storage.