Regarding "Toyota, Shell betting $10.7 billion on hydrogen" in the Jan. 19 edition, when reporting on environmental matters you owe it to the planet and our children to get your facts clear and correct. Two separate sentences early in the article very strongly imply that hydrogen is an energy source. It is not.
It is just an energy storage solution, much like batteries. This is because hydrogen is only found in compound with other chemicals, such as in water. Energy must be used to separate the hydrogen, which forms the original or other compounds when returning the stored energy.
Leaders such as LDP politician Mineyuki Fukuda, who has plastered our neighborhood with political signs promoting hydrogen as a clean energy source, need to be helped to understand this rather than have their misconceptions reinforced by sloppy reporting.
Whether hydrogen helps combat global warming depends almost entirely on the energy source used to produce it.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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