Rapidly diffusing innovation: whether the history of the Internet points the way for hydrogen energy

Abstract

This paper identifies conditions for the rapid diffusion of what may be part of the solution for global sustainable energy – hydrogen – by drawing a comparison with the contemporary history of the Internet. The Cold War drove the take-off of the Internet and state regulation ensured that the market on which its rapid diffusion came to depend was not controlled by corporations. To take-off and start to diffuse, hydrogen energy could similarly have to be considered a “public good”. However, the comparison with the Internet reveals differences too. The Internet diffused rapidly among the public at low cost to individual users, starting in the mid 1980s and kicking off in the 1990s. To achieve affordable hydrogen transport in the long term, many drivers might have to forgo cars for public transport. Moreover, global sustainable energy demands cooperation between nations rather than the conflict that spurred the Internet.

Acknowledgements

The lead author has been involved in a project about the social impact and social shaping of information and communications technology – the e-Society programme funded by the UK ESRC, and all authors have been involved as social scientists in the same projects about sustainable energy futures – UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Consortium (UKSHEC), funded by UK EPSRC; Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy, funded by UK ESRC; and Transport Horizons, funded by the UK Department for Transport. We are grateful to all these funding bodies and our colleagues in the research programs that they have supported. None imposed any constraints on publication, and there are no conflicts of interest here. The present article has benefited greatly from interaction with scientists, technologists and other stakeholders in the hydrogen energy arena worldwide, especially at events organized by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and by UKERC and UKSHEC jointly in the course of 2011.

Notes

1. http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com

2. http://www.gsm.org/about-us/history.htm

3. Coal gas typically combines some 50% hydrogen mixed with both carbon monoxide and ethylene, and has long been stored safely at ambient temperature and pressure, for instance in district gasholders and pipelines connecting these to the premises of users.

4. An interim solution to the specific problem of storing hydrogen in transit is to use it in a hybrid power train, in which gaseous hydrogen produced by an oil-driven internal combustion engine is used immediately to enrich the fuel mix and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (Ultra Green Group 2010).

5. http://www.care2.com/causes/lolland-hydrogen-powered-community.html. Last accessed 6th August 2011.