it is not necessary to manufacture fuel cells at the source of power..
(fuel cells are just a devices for converting hydrogen in to electricity
essentially the reverse of electrolysis) Hydrogen is the fuel..

the problem is we still need something the investment of the manhattan
project to have practical hydrogen economy..

and regarding the concept of biodiesel hybrid - low consumption car and what it would to for energy conservation. Great idea, except that having the same mileage requirements on SUVs that the automakers are required to have for cars would reduce around 3million barrels of oil per day (from the 20million the US uses daily). Simple regulations would do it, rather than technical innovation. Thats why they reduced the highway limit to 55mph in the 70s after opec oil embargo.

the problem is that energy conservation is not a high priority. US consumers want performance - and the automakers would be dumb to ignore that demand.

I think there are going to be many energy options in the future - hydrogen is just one method for storing the energy.

another method for storing electricity right now is simply water behind a dam- thats how BC was able to supply California with a large supply of electricity a few years ago. So rain isnt all that bad.

as far as the cost of compressing hydrogen, there is energy loss
all along the way- electrolysis, compressing hydrogen gas, even more to compress as a liquid along with the cost transport with tanker truck - its better to just build a powerline...and use the electricity.

one energy option I read in the early 80s - involved building solar platforms in space which would beam the energy down as a microwave beam.. I dont know why they dont consider that as an option say instead of powerlines. (aside from the fact that it might affect planes, or birds) Im sure there is a loss of power as well.

on the smaller scale one company is making boots with piezoelectric
soles in the heel that generate electricity (I guess similar to a pickup on an instrument) and this could be used to either recharge batteries or heat the boots etc. Energy generated by walking.

petr.