In practice, however, Chemical Engineers need to overcome some formidable hurdles to achieve this beautiful way of creating energy. Extracting the hydrogen from an extremely stable substance like water involves a lot of ingenuity.

A perfect waste

Chemical Engineers are currently working on a clever but complex chemical solution known as the sulphur-iodine cycle. Involving three different chemical reactions, it allows scientists to pump water in at one end while pure hydrogen and oxygen come out at the other.

Yet there is still a problem.

Even brilliant ways of producing hydrogen like this require energy to power them in the first place. Indeed, hydrogen is best described as an energy carrier rather than an energy source. It allows us to release the energy stored inside it where and when we want to use it - and without polluting the planet.

But we still need an energy source to kick start the complex chemical reactions that produce it.