Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has dubbed hydrogen the “energy of the future”, and hopes it will help Tokyo meet the modest emissions targets it has set ahead of a UN climate change conference this month.

Tokyo wants to see cars, buses, and buildings powered by the clean energy in the coming years, and has even laid out plans for a “hydrogen highway” peppered with fuelling stations, all in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Japan, which is the world’s sixth largest greenhouse gas emitter, has “constructed a vision of society” based on hydrogen, said Pierre-Etienne Franc, director of advanced technologies for French industrial gas firm Air Liquide.

Toyota’s hydrogen car, Mirai — which means “future” in Japanese — launched in 2014, after two decades of tireless research. While it has wowed some, production has lagged behind demand and high costs have turned off many consumers. A Mirai fuel-cell vehicle costs 6.7 million yen, or about $55,000, nearly double a comparable electric car. Fuel cells work by combining hydrogen and oxygen in an electrochemical reaction, which produces electricity. This can then be used to power vehicles or home generators.

Environmentally-conscious motorists like the Mirai because unlike conventional cars, it does not emit CO2. It also has a longer cruising range and takes only a few minutes to refuel, compared to several hours required for an electric rival. “(Fuel-cell vehicles) appear to be the ideal green cars,” said Hisashi Nakai, who works in Toyota’s strategy planning department.

Nakai dismisses concerns that hydrogen poses a dangerous explosion risk — the gas is highly volatile and flammable — insisting the tank of the car has been rigorously tested and can “withstand any shocks”. But he admits price remains a major barrier.

Building Hydrogen stations

Building hydrogen stations is two or three times more expensive than in Europe or the US, Franc said.

Toyota is not the only player: in late October Honda unveiled its own hydrogen car, and Nissan is also involved in the effort.

The hope is that increased competition could drive prices down.

Equipping houses with hydrogen-producing technology is another part of the plan, with the first green homes unveiled in 2009.

Only 1,00,000 houses are hydrogen-powered so far, despite government subsidies and efforts by manufacturers, namely Panasonic and Toshiba, to bring down prices.

At two million yen ($16,500) per house, the technology remains out of reach for many.

Is it environment friendly?

Colourless and odourless, hydrogen is extremely light and takes up a lot of space so it has to be compressed before it is transported and stored, which adds to costs.

It’s also not entirely environmentally friendly: greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels are often required to generate the gas in the first place.

Japan has said it would like to produce totally green hydrogen through electrolysis, where the electricity comes from renewable sources such as water, solar or hydraulic, as opposed to gas or oil.

The move comes after Tokyo was forced to boost the use of pricey fossil fuels to fill the gap left by shutting off nuclear reactors in response to the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

But some say the country, where 90 percent of electricity is now produced with fossil fuels, is putting the cart before the horse.AFP