Is hydrogen an energy source or an energy carrier?

Hydrogen has been known for centuries now, but the one question that's always confusing is if hydrogen is an energy source or an energy carrier. As straight answer hydrogen is both an energy carrier and an energy source. More precisely hydrogen is a primary energy source and a secondary energy carrier.

Energy carrier

An energy carrier can be defined as something that can transport a usable form of energy from one place to another. In this regard, hydrogen is an energy carrier. This is because Earth's gravity is not strong enough for hydrogen to exist naturally and always occurs in the form of compounds with other liquids, gases, or solids. This means some form of energy is needed to produce or extract hydrogen. This is the same as producing electricity. We burn fossil fuels or convert the energy from renewable sources to produce electricity and transport it to different places where it is then converted to usable work. This is the same case for hydrogen. Converting renewable energy directly to electricity and transporting it is the most efficient way of producing usable work, but electricity cannot be transported to large distances due to losses in transmission. In this case, converting renewable energy into hydrogen and transporting it is more economical. Apart from this, hydrogen has many other advantages in reducing carbon emissions as it can also be used as a primary fuel. Hence on Earth hydrogen is the secondary energy carrier next to electricity.

Energy source

An energy source is something that exists naturally in the form of potential energy and can be directly used to obtain useful work. In this regard coal, natural gas, wood, and petroleum oil are common sources of energy on Earth. Hydrogen is also an energy source, but outside Earth. We all know that 75% of our universe is made of hydrogen. The best example is our Sun. The solar energy coming from the Sun is crucial in sustaining the life of Earth and this solar energy coming from the Sun is a result of the fusion and fission reaction taking place between hydrogen and helium inside the Sun due to its immense gravity. Here hydrogen acts as an energy source. We also receive a negligible amount of hydrogen from the Sun's rays but due to its lightweight, it escapes the Earth's atmosphere.

Conclusion

Hydrogen is the primary energy source of our universe and will always be a secondary energy carrier on Earth. It's amazing that the Sun converts the potential energy from hydrogen to solar energy and we humans on Earth either convert it to electricity or store it in the form of hydrogen for later use. It's also amazing that our Sun has enough hydrogen to burn for another 5 billion years.
                         – Afrin Hewitt Alban