Nuclear hydrogen production will become important in the future by such features of nuclear energy as no CO₂ emission, bulk supply capability and high energy density. The technologies of nuclear hydrogen production currently developed are reviewed, and the perspectives for future utilization of nuclear hydrogen in various sectors, such as automobile, airplane, oil and coal industries, are examined. Long-term global energy supply structures featuring nuclear hydrogen are also discussed.

Hydrocarbon fuels have a full delivery infrastructure that offers a practical choice for supplying readily available hydrogen. This paper reviews the hydrogen production technologies for the kerosene-powered PEM-FC that we have developed.

‘BioHydrogen’, the production of H₂ by biological system, has been a massive stage of basic and applied R&D in the world. Even NEDO has begun to a funding to this research area again from end of last fiscal year. Also, the International Energy Agency (IEA)-Hydrogen Implementing Agreement (HIA) supported the BioHydrogen field and IEA-HIA approved Annex 21 (Biohydrogen) in 7/Oct./2005 to 5 years. Dark (Fermentative) H2 production from waste and unused biomass has to be considered because this H2 production method is, near future, first bridge to the actual use. Realization of practical processes for photo-biological H2 production from water and organic wastewater using solar energy would result in a major. Finally, the social acceptance of BioHydrogen should be put on emphasis as a new research field. As the rise of energy prices, new energy like BioHydrogen came up to the stage of realistic method. We have to evaluate the feasibility of the technology taking every factor into consideration.

Water electrolysis as well as steam reforming of hydrocarbons is an commercially established process for producing hydrogen with long history in chemical industry. The technical outline of electrolysis process of water and the cost of hydrogen from the electrolysis process are described.

Extensive analytical investigation has been conducted to predict supply cost of hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles, thereby identifying technology issues needed to reduce the cost. Sources of hydrogen studied are natural-gas on-site reforming, off-site byproduct hydrogen from oil refineries and on-site electrolysis. A number of transportation methods for off-site hydrogen production are also considered, such as high pressure storage, liquefaction and organic hydride. Cost structures are analyzed by taking into account of both fixed and variable cost along the process of hydrogen supply. Key processes with significant impact on the cost of hydrogen are identified. Technologies needed to reduce the cost are then summarized.

Separation and utilization of rare metal fission products (RMFP) in nuclear spent fuel was studied to apply as a catalyst for hydrogen generation by water electrolysis. The RMFP, Pd, Ru, Rh and Tc, etc, are abundant, more than ca. 30kg per metric ton of a typical fast breeder reactor (FBR) spent fuel. The RMFP can be selectively separated from high level liquid waste (HLLW) by catalytic electrolytic extraction (CEE) method. Specific metallic cation such as Pd²⁺, which originate in the solutions, may act as promoters (i.e., Pd_adatom) or mediators, thereby accelerating electrochemical deposition of RuNO³⁺, Rh³⁺ and ReO₄^- (simulator TcO₄^-). Current maximum deposition ratios of RMFP by CEE were 95-99% for Pd, 60% for Ru, >99% for Rh, 55% for Re and 25% for Tc, respectively in the nitric acid media. Electro-deposited electrodes were successively dedicated to the water (alkali or sea water) electrolysis tests. The Pd-Ru-Rh-Re mixture deposit electrodes from the solution composition of Pd:Ru:Rh:Re =3.5:4:1:1 showed the lowest initial hydrogen over potential with the highest cathodic currents in the given potential, thereby suggesting to alternate with the existing catalysts for hydrogen generation. The paper will conclusively propose RMFP, generated by nuclear fission reaction, as potential material for hydrogen production in a novel vision to bridge nuclear and hydrogen energy systems.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 is the world’s first premium saloon with a bi-fuel (gasoline and hydrogen) internal combustion engine that has undergone the series development process. During its development, the features of the hydrogen energy source were underlined and a safety-oriented development process was carried out, which also took account of contextual factors such as filling stations and garages. During vehicle testing over one and half million kilometers including tests in Japan were covered under the most diverse everyday stresses. The Hydrogen 7 enables drivers to experience the advantages of the virtually emission-free hydrogen mode in a premium-class vehicle, while promoting the necessary networks in industry, research and politics. Hydrogen 7 is an important milestone to realize hydrogen society.