With many actors increasingly putting their faith in the progress of hydrogen energy , perhaps it is instructive to take a look at how far we ’ ve come over the 400-plus years that people have been tinkering with the technology .

HYDROGEN IS IDENTIFIED

In Brussels , Jan Baptist van Helmont first identifies the substance hydrogen . Van Helmont is also considered the father of pneumatic chemistry and first coined the term ‘ gas .’

THE FIRST ZEPPELIN IS PATENTED IN GERMANY

Control of hydrogen comes in many forms , and one of them was in providing zeppelins – those massive airships that were en vogue for transatlantic travel in the first half of last century – with their signature buoyancy .

Zeppelins soon fell out of favour following the Hindenburg disaster of 1937 .

GE DEVELOPS HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS FOR NASA

In the run up to the Apollo and Gemini space missions , General Electric arrives at the technological end to produce electricity from hydrogen fuel cells .

18 February 2023