Hydrogen energy systems technology study

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Energy Programs initiated the Hydrogen Energy Systems Technology (HEST) Study in the autumn of 1974. The Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was made responsible for conducting the study and reporting the results, with active support from several NASA Centres through a Working Panel. Objectives of the study were defined to be the assessment of national needs for hydrogen, based on current uses and visible trends, and determination of the critical research and technology activities required to meet these needs, with attention to economic, social, and environmental considerations, providing a basis for the planning of a hydrogen research and technology program.The HEST Study found current U.S. hydrogen utilization to be dominated by chemical-industry and petroleum-processing applications, and to represent 3% of total energy consumption. The study's projections of hydrogen uses show growth the remainder of this century by at least a factor of five, and perhaps a factor of twenty. New applications in the manufacture of synthetic fuels from coal and directly as an energy storage medium and fuel are expected to emerge later this century. Of these new uses, electric utility energy storage for peak-shaving, supplements to the natural gas supply and special purpose transportation fuel such as aircraft, show promise.The Study concludes that the development and implementation of new means of supplying hydrogen, replacing the use of natural gas and petroleum feedstocks, are imperative. New production technology is essential to support even the lowest growth estimate. Methods based on alternative fossil feedstocks, such as coal and heavy oils, which are less expensive and nearer to technical maturity than non-fossil production systems, should be made operational while these feedstocks are abundant. Concurrently, the long-term tasks of advancing electrolysis technology, researching other water-splitting techniques, and integrating these with developing nuclear and emerging solar primary-energy systems, must be carried on, together with work on hydrogen combustion systems and research in materials and safety engineering. Systems studies and assessments of the economic, social and environmental impacts of hydrogen technology are also called for.