Making hydrogen today

Currently, the only economical, large-scale method of hydrogen production involves the conversion of methane into hydrogen through a steam reforming process. Steam reformation produces most (about 95%) of the hydrogen produced in the United States. The process is efficient, but has the environmental drawback of producing carbon dioxide as a by-product.

The other commercially used method, electrolysis, converts water into hydrogen using electricity. Electrolysis is typically used for small, high-purity production quantities and is currently uneconomical for large-scale production, because of low system efficiencies, high electricity use, and the use of expensive precious-metal catalysts. The maximum environmental benefits of electrolysis to produce hydrogen are realized when a carbon-free technology, such as nuclear energy, is used to produce the electricity.

Promising new hydrogen production technologies take advantage of the high temperatures generated in some advanced high-temperature nuclear reactors. These advanced reactors will be able to provide the low-cost heat necessary for these processes to economically produce hydrogen; they are being developed under the Department of Energy's Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative.