July 3 (Renewables Now) -Â The energy potential of hydrogen has been discussed since the 1870s. In his novel âThe Mysterious Islandâ, the visionary author Jules Verne wrote, âwater will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used singly or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable.â Now, almost 150 years later we are starting to realise that maybe he was on to something. It is possible that hydrogen offers a route to the decarbonisation of our energy systems and this is becoming increasingly attractive to policy makers and the energy industry for several reasons.