Elementary Composition – Night

This site is a group effort by the students in Gord's Elementary Composition evening course at Catholic University!

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The Coming of the Hydrogen Economy

  An age of “hydrogen economy” is near. The “hydrogen economy” refers to an economy based on hydrogen, a clean and resourceful energy. Hydrogen, whose atomic number is 1, is now regarded as a major next-generation energy source for Korea’s future economy and society. The current age of the “carbon econmy” based on petroleum and coal will end. This will make way for the age of “hydrogen economy” in 10 to 15 years. Then, why hydrogen? An almost inexhaustible supply of hydrogen exists on the Earth. It never causes air pollution as does oil or coal, but produces energy efficiently. In a word, hydrogen is an economical and democratic energy. The term “hydrogen economy” was first coinde by Jeremy Rifkin, a professor of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, in his book entitled “The Hydrogen Economy.” In the book, Rifkin predicts that the world will see a reduction in oil production by the year 2020, which, in turn, will inevitably cause conflicts among world countries to secure oil reserves. He adds that hydrogen will come into the spotlight as a new energy source that can be obtained most easily on the Earth and never causes air pollution. Under these circumstances, enterprises and auto manufacturers, in particular, are moving fast to rise to the occasion. Major auto manufacturers, such as Ford, GM, Toyota, and Hyundai, have introduced new models of hydrogen-powerd automobiles one after another. They will commercialize those vehicles in earnest by 2010. Electronics manufacturers are developing prototype models of fuel cells that will replace exisiting batteries for electronics products. Once the hydrogen enerhy is commercialized, no country will attempt to use their natural resources as “weapons” because of the wide availability of the new energy. The OPEC will lose strength. The oil dollars the oil-producing countries currently hold will run out in the near future. In contrast, technologically advanced nations that can produce hydrogen ennergy at minimum costs will emerge as resource-rich countries. This is why major countries around the world are focusing their efforts on developing hydrogen energy.