Abstract
The world is growing at an ever-increasing rate, but this growth has occurred alongside an energy model based on fossil fuels, which presents serious sustainability problems. The current study seeks to illustrate one of the new alternative energy schemes which could replace fossil fuels in the future: hydrogen. The promise of hydrogen fuel has led large nations to invest in transitioning their fossil fuel economies to a hydrogen-based model. This will result in significant social impacts, leading to the question, How should it be done? Social entrepreneurship can integrate socio-economic actors and agents and help them to devise and implement new forms of energy innovation, which will open spaces for new business models. The current study conceptualizes within a present-day context the connotations of the hydrogen economy at an international level, its implications to society, and its synergy with social entrepreneurship. The authors observed the rapid growth that these entrepreneurship initiatives are generating and how the models used to manage these undertakings play a vital role.
TopTheoretical Framework
Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe, generally being found in its gas phase. The total amount of energy available in hydrogen is practically unlimited. Still, because it is rarely found in a free state (Valero, 2010), it is typically used as an energy vector rather than a primary energy source; and therefore requires an efficient means of production. Also, according to Solano (2004), since the era of fossil fuels is coming to an end, and at the same time, new energy systems are appearing which have the potential to change our civilization radically, it is necessary to comprehend the benefits of a major one of these; hydrogen. (Nicoletti, Arcuri, Nicoletti, and Bruno, 2015) develop a comparison of the most important physical and chemical properties that must be considered in an energy supply system, taking gasoline, methane, and hydrogen as a reference; this is presented in Table 1. Table 2 shows a comparison of the safety aspects, highlighting that, in eight of eleven parameters analyzed, hydrogen is the safest among the investigated fuels.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Externalities: Outer economic effects (positive and negative) caused by the economic activity of a firm.
Greenhouse Effect: It is a natural process that warms the Earth's surface.
Kyoto Protocol: Signed in December 1997, in which developed countries committed to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions between 2008 and 2012, by at least 5% compared to 1990 levels.
Biomass: It is defined as an organic matter used as a fuel, especially in a power station for the generation of electricity.
Hydrogen: It is one of the most abundant elements in the universe, generally being found in its gas phase.
Fossil Fuel: Mainly defined by oil, coal, and natural gas, it is formed in the geological past from the fossilization of living organisms, mainly plants.
Hydrogen Economy: The new business structure and system of socio-economic relationships engendered by a move from fossil fuels to hydrogen.
Intrapreneurship: Sort of an entrepreneurial activity carried out in an already-existing organization.