Henry VIII has proposed hydrogen.
There are numerous article about the inefficiency of hydrogen.
Aside from producing it there are plenty of other difficulties.
Because it leaks out hydrogen cars cannot be parked in underground car parks.
In car storage is very bulky etc etc.

It is much more efficient to use the electricity to charge a battery
in an electric car. You can do that at home when the sun shines or the wind blows,
or use the more efficient electricity grid.

Re Public Transport, after the peak hits, there will be electric cars
or public transport. Live with it ! (or bikes or horses)
A speaker at the Public Transport conference in Perth stated that if
25% of drivers changed to public transport it would have to be rationed.
As an infrequent user of trains & buses I was shocked at the level
of crowding at peak hours compared to 15 years ago.

The writing is on the wall.

Liam/Mike. There IS a hydrogen mine. It is called the SEA. It surrounds Australia. It is an electrolyte. And no, I did not suggest using photovoltaic cells to electrolyse sea-water. I'd use nuclear power, and tidal power (Darwin has a 10m tide, twice a day) and solar reflector-generated steam in turbines and there are even SALT-WATER boilers; ships have been using steam turbines run from salt-water boilers for about 100years. The technology is not difficult. As for transport and storage-we'd find a way if we wanted to, just as Dr Diesel finally figured that diesel oil (basically unrefined kerosene) was a bit better than coal dust for his Diesel engines and just as Sikorski finally figured out how to make a working proposition of Leonardo da Vinci's helicopter.

I am fully aware of the concept of embedded energy, although thanks for the interesting web-site. Petroleum has an absolutely massive embedded energy component, from the petrol station to the sieismic survey, and if we had to start a world-wide petroleum-driven economy in a few years from zero to cope with our modern demand for energy I think we would all think it far too outrageously expensive.

Nor is there harm in challenging anyone to do the maths. I haven't done so and haven't the time. But someone may have done it, and someone on this thread may know of it. Indeed, going solely electric would quite well be cheaper, and if we can do so without mining hydrogen from the sea, fine. But I trust we agree we need to think beyond hydrocarbons, including coal, for energy? And you can make hydrogen from coal, as was done in gas-works years a 100 ago, but it comes with CO2. Sea-water doesn't.