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Tomorrow’s Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet Peter Hoffmann MIT Press Cambridge, MA 2001, 320 pp., $28 ISBN: 0-2620-8295-0 Over the past decade, hydrogen and fuel cells have received growing attention as technologies that could become key parts of a future energy system, with near-zero emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases and the ability to use a variety of widely available primary energy resources. Peter Hoffmann has written a valuable new book that chronicles the exciting recent progress in these fields, while setting forth the motivations for hydrogen and the historical context in a comprehensive way. Accessible to the general reader with an interest in energy, the book contains a wealth of historical information of value to the hydrogen or fuel cell specialist. I have never seen the fast-moving developments of the past 10 years so well chronicled. Or, indeed the events of the past 200 years, as Hoffmann starts with the discoveries of hydrogen and the fuel cell and brings us to the present. Peter Hoffmann is perhaps uniquely qualified to write this book. He is a well-respected science jour© 2002 American Chemical Society
nalist and editor of the widely read Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Letter, who has been covering the hydrogen and fuel cell world for more than 20 years. He is a careful and thoughtful craftsman, who strives to get the science right, and he succeeds admirably in Tomorrow’s Energy. His account begins with a discussion of the environmental and energy supply drivers that motivate the development of hydrogen as a future fuel. Hoffmann then moves to a fascinating historical review of hydrogen’s discovery and application in energy from classical times to the present. I didn’t know that Lavoisier, an early experimenter with hydrogen, ended his days on the guillotine, or that as early as 1820, an English clergyman named W. Cecil proposed hydrogen combustion engines as an alternative to the up and coming new technology of the day, the steam engine. Chapters follow on hydrogen production and use in ground transportation, stationary power, and aerospace applications. Additional chapters cover fuel cells and hydrogen safety. The technical and societal issues surrounding hydrogen energy use are discussed in the context of hydrogen’s development. Along the way, we meet a large cast of scientists, engineers, inventors, dreamers, industrialists, and policy makers who have contributed to the development of hydrogen and fuel cells, and get a good look behind the scenes. The final chapter, “The Next 100 Years”, muses about the future of the “hydrogen economy” and the timescales involved in radically changing the present energy system. I recommend Tomorrow’s Energy to anyone interested in hydrogen and fuel cells, or more generally in the future of energy. The book fills a gap in the literature. A number of technical books and articles on hydrogen and fuel cells address the motivations for hydrogen. Tomorrow’s Energy is the only one that also captures the feel of what it has been like to be in this
field over the past 10 years, while giving a comprehensive look at the history and possible future of the hydrogen economy. Reviewed by Joan M. Ogden, Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; email:
[email protected].
Books Breaking Gridlock: Moving Toward Transportation that Works, J. Motavalli (Sierra Club Books, 2001, 256 pp., $33). A book for general readers, Breaking Gridlock examines the present state of transportation in the United States and suggests innovations, technology, and choices for relieving congestion and reengineering the system. Changing the Atmosphere— Expert Knowledge and Environmental Governance, C. A. Miller, P. N. Edwards, Eds. (The MIT Press, 2001, 385 pp., $26.95). This readable book is a study of how expert knowledge and global environmental governance interact in dealing with anthropogenic changes of the atmosphere. Heavy Metals Release in Soils, H. M. Selim; D. L. Sparks, Eds. (Lewis Publishers, 2001, 328 pp., $99.95). This collection of articles by contributing scientists describes and quantifies desorption/release kinetics and dissolution reactions for heavy metals in soil and also reviews new techniques, theoretical analysis and kinetic approaches, and practical environmental engineering applications. Learning to Manage Global Environmental Risks, Volume 1—A Comparative History of Social Responses to Climate Change, Ozone Depletion, and
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Acid Rain, The Social Learning Group (MIT Press, 2001, 376 pp., $30). Volume 1 of this two-volume study provides an overview of the interplay of ideas and actions applied to environmental problems, of global environmental management in general, and of the three central environmental issues studied. Learning to Manage Global Environmental Risks, Volume 2—A Functional Analysis of Social Responses to Climate Change, Ozone Depletion, and Acid Rain, The Social Learning Group (MIT Press, 2001, 226 pp., $24). Volume 2 of this two-volume study by 37 scholars from nine nations contains the management function studies and shows how the highlighted issues have been handled internationally and in selected nations. Modeling Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics for Soil Management, M. J. Shaffer, L. Ma, S. Hansen, Eds. (Lewis Publishers, 2001, 672 pp., $89.95). This book’s coverage ranges from theoretical comparison of models to application of models to soil management problems, from laboratory applications to field- and watershed-scale applications, from short-term simulation to long-term prediction, and from DOS-based computer programs to object-oriented and graphical interface designs. Principles and Practices of In Situ Chemical Oxidation Using Permanganate, R. Siegrist, M. A. Urynowicz, O. R. West, M. L. Crimi, K. S. Lowe (Battelle Press, 2001, 366 pp., $75). This technical book provides guidance on evaluating and designing in situ chemical oxidation systems with a focus on the use of potassium and sodium permanganate for remediating organically contaminated sites. Remote Sensing for Sustainable Forest Management, S. E. Franklin (Lewis Publishers, 2001, 424 pp., $89.95). This text provides tools for understanding and choosing remote sensing solutions to forest management problems. River Water Quality Model No. 1, P. Reichert, D. Borchardt, M. Henze, W. Rauch, P. Shanahan, L. Somlyody, P. A. Vanrolleghem, Eds. (IWA Publishing, 2001, 142 pp., $63). This
scientific and technical report presents RWQM1, a standardized, consistent river water quality model that overcomes the deficiencies found in more traditional models, most particularly the failure to close mass balances between the water column and sediment. The Precautionary Principle—A Critical Appraisal of Environmental Risk Assessment, I. M. Goklany (The Cato Institute, 2001, 124 pp., $17.95). In this book, the author argues that the use of the precautionary principle to justify environmental policies is flawed and could be counterproductive because it ignores the possible calamities those policies create or prolong. The Silver Lining—The Benefits of Natural Disasters, S. R. Reice (Princeton University Press, 2001, 240 pp., $14.84). In this book for general readers, the author, an expert in nonequilibrium ecology, argues that disturbances such as hurricanes, floods, fires, and volcanic eruptions help create and maintain biodiversity.
Web Sites The Institute for Scientific Information’s Web site (www.isinet.com/isi/about/overview. html) accesses research information in a range of scientific disciplines. ISI’s Web of Knowledge (www.isinet. com/isi/products/webofknowledge/ index.html) provides high-quality content and improves access and links between users of scholarly information and research repositories. It integrates journal, patent, proceedings, and life science literature with Web resources and other scholarly content. Its subsidiary, ISI ResearchSoft, offers bibliographic management software products that integrate with the ISI Web of Knowledge. A link to ISI’s ISIHighlyCited.com Web site (www. isihighlycited.com) accesses a searchable database of the most highly cited researchers in several fields of science. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wild Fish Health Survey (http://wildfishsurvey.fws.gov) contains extensive data on diseases that affect fish in U.S. waters. The database can be searched by disease, fish
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species, and geographic location. Initial fish species included in the survey include trout, salmon, paddlefish, perch, sturgeon, suckers, sunfish, herring, catfish, bass, carp, and minnows. Examples of target pathogens monitored include bacteria, such as Aeromonas salmonicida, Yersinia ruckeri, Renibacterium salmoninarum, and Edwardsiella ictaluri; viruses such as infectious pancreatic necrosis virus, infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus, channel catfish virus, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus, and oncorhynchus masou virus; and parasites such as Myxobolus cerebralis. The Links for Chemists Web site (www.liv.ac.uk/Chemistry/Links/links .html) of the chemistry section of The WWW Virtual Library (www.vlib. org) is an exhaustive index of more than 8550 chemistry resources that can be found on the Web. This copyrighted site is maintained by the University of Liverpool’s department of chemistry. The project is currently supported by Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., and ChemIndustry. com. The multitude of links that can be found here are categorically bundled under headings such as university chemistry, companies and industry, chemical literature, chemical information, employment, organizations, software, and specific topics, such as history of chemistry and radiation. There are also links to other search engines as well as general chemistry and specialist chemistry. USGBC Online (www.usgbc.org/ programs/index.htm) is the U.S. Green Building Council’s digital resource center and green building information clearinghouse. There are links to member Web sites, comprehensive green building case studies, the USGBC monthly newsletter, and more. The Web site creates a virtual community of the green building industry and provides a knowledge base of information and resources on green buildings. USGBC Online’s main goals are to transform the green building market to a consumerfocused industry, accelerate market penetration of existing products and technologies, and leverage the aggregate purchasing power of the green building industry to stimulate the development and availability of green products.
