“Hydrogen: The Star Element Driving the Next Global Energy Revolution”

By Manisha Sahu, America News World.
October 2, 2025

For millennia, humanity looked up at the Sun as the ultimate source of life, light, and power. Ancient civilizations worshipped it, built temples in its honor, and devised calendars based on its cycles. Only in the 20th century did science uncover its true secret: the Sun is essentially a vast hydrogen fusion reactor, burning with unimaginable intensity.

Now, in a technological twist, scientists and engineers are trying to take inspiration from the same element that powers the stars — hydrogen — and use it to power life here on Earth. Unlike the Sun, we won’t rely on nuclear fusion inside our cars or homes, but hydrogen itself could emerge as one of the most important fuels in a clean-energy future.

Why Hydrogen?

Hydrogen is appealing because of its versatility and cleanliness. When combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, hydrogen generates electricity and produces only water vapor as exhaust. Unlike batteries, which take hours to recharge, hydrogen can be refueled quickly — almost as fast as gasoline or diesel. This makes it especially promising for heavy-duty transport like trucks, buses, ships, and potentially even airplanes.

But its potential extends far beyond vehicles. Hydrogen could store renewable energy from solar or wind farms for months at a time, balancing electricity grids when weather conditions fluctuate. It could heat homes, fuel backup generators for hospitals and data centers, and even drive the energy-hungry industries of steel, cement, and fertilizer production — all while cutting carbon emissions.

The Storage Challenge

Yet hydrogen is not without challenges. The lightest element in the universe, hydrogen has a very low density. One kilogram at room temperature would fill the volume of a small bedroom — about 11 cubic meters. By comparison, petrol packs the same energy into just over a liter. To make hydrogen practical, engineers must either compress it to extremely high pressures, liquefy it at cryogenic temperatures, or absorb it into advanced materials that act like sponges.

Compressed gas tanks are currently used in hydrogen cars, but researchers are experimenting with safer, denser storage methods like metal hydrides or porous carbons. These advances could make hydrogen easier to handle on a large scale.

Energy Content: A Clear Advantage

Despite the storage problem, hydrogen holds an impressive advantage in terms of energy per unit of weight. Hydrogen releases about 120 megajoules per kilogram, nearly three times the energy of petrol or diesel. That’s why it has long been used in space exploration, where every kilogram matters. NASA’s Saturn V rocket, which carried astronauts to the Moon, relied heavily on liquid hydrogen for its enormous lift capacity.

There’s also a subtle but important advantage over electric vehicle (EV) batteries. While a lithium-ion battery weighs the same whether fully charged or nearly empty, hydrogen is consumed during use. This means a hydrogen-powered truck, for instance, gradually gets lighter as it travels, reducing friction and potentially improving efficiency.

More Than Just Cars

Hydrogen’s role goes far beyond transportation. It can be blended into natural gas networks for heating, used to generate electricity in remote areas, or stored for months to help manage seasonal energy demand. In industries like steelmaking and cement, where fossil fuels are deeply embedded in production, hydrogen could provide a path toward decarbonization.

This is why many governments and industries are betting big on hydrogen as a pillar of the clean-energy economy, not just a competitor to electric cars.

Lessons From History

Hydrogen’s journey as a fuel is not new. In the 19th century, it was widely used in airships for lift. But the infamous 1937 Hindenburg disaster — when a German airship caught fire while docking in New Jersey — left hydrogen with a reputation for danger. Later studies suggested the ship’s flammable skin coating may have played a bigger role than the hydrogen itself, but public perception stuck.

It took decades for hydrogen to return to prominence, this time as rocket fuel during the Cold War space race. The Apollo missions used hydrogen both to power the mighty Saturn V rockets and to generate electricity in space through fuel cells, with astronauts even drinking the water produced as a byproduct.

Today, hydrogen is again being eyed as a solution for Earth’s energy needs, not just space exploration.

Global Momentum

Different regions of the world are racing ahead with hydrogen strategies:

Japan 🇯🇵 has built “hydrogen towns” and runs hydrogen-powered buses.

Europe 🇪🇺 has placed hydrogen at the center of its decarbonization roadmap, with Germany and France leading major projects.

China 🇨🇳 is investing heavily in hydrogen vehicles and renewable-powered hydrogen plants.

United States 🇺🇸 is funding hydrogen hubs and fueling networks, with California and Texas taking the lead.

India 🇮🇳 has launched its National Green Hydrogen Mission to scale up production and infrastructure.


Each region is at a different stage, but the global trend is clear: hydrogen is moving from pilot projects toward mainstream infrastructure.

Hydrogen is unlikely to replace batteries in every application. EVs will probably dominate personal cars, while hydrogen takes on niches where energy density and fast refueling matter most — long-haul transport, shipping, and industrial processes. In fact, the future of clean energy may rely on both batteries and hydrogen, each serving where it works best.

For hydrogen to reach its full potential, three breakthroughs are crucial:

1. Affordable green hydrogen made with renewable electricity.


2. Robust infrastructure of pipelines, fueling stations, and storage.


3. Public confidence and safety standards to overcome old fears.



The hydrogen revolution is still in its early chapters. But if successful, this star-born element could transform not just how we drive, but how we power entire societies — from sun to steel, and beyond.