Iris Ovshinsky

We've all heard of hydrogen as the fuel of the future, but what will it take to get there from here?

We've all heard of hydrogen as the fuel of the future, but what will it take to get there from here? How can we create hydrogen from renewable sources like the sun - and how do we store it safely once we've got it?

We've all heard of hydrogen as the fuel of the future, but what will it take to get there from here? How can we create hydrogen from renewable sources like the sun - and how do we store it safely once we've got it? Alan visits a multi-million dollar company, based on the wizardry with exotic metal alloys that soak up hydrogen like a sponge. The best-known of these metal hydrides is the nickel metal hydride rechargeable battery invented by Stan Ovshinsky and now used in millions of electronic devices - as well as the new generation of hybrid cars. Their company now produces flexible, durable solar panels literally by the mile, using a unique technology very different from that used to produce conventional silicon solar cells. Alan sees for himself how the Ovshinskys hope to use these solar panels to make hydrogen in unlimited quantities and without burning fossil fuels. Alan also visits Iceland, where he sees (and hears) for himself the astonishing power of Iceland's geothermal wells, which produce cheap and abundant electricity that can be converted to hydrogen. He visits the nation's first hydrogen fueling station, where electricity is turned into hydrogen. Then, he also visits the roof of MIT in Cambridge, Mass, where an extraordinary device made of large triangular glass tubes soaks up sunlight and uses it to grow algae - algae that can later be turned into hydrogen. But Isaac Berzin's invention not only converts sunshine (indirectly) to hydrogen; it also cleans up the smokestack gases from power plants.