Dr Karl Kruszelnicki says those who doubt the prospects of a hydrogen economy coming to fruition should think of radio.
"When I was at university, I built a radio. The radio was roughly the size of a microwave oven," said Dr Karl, a popular science commentator.
"In your phone today you have four radios for voice, data, Wi-Fi and bluetooth and each is the size of a head of a match."
If you had told him this would be a future reality when he was at university, he would have said "rubbish".
Dr Karl said concerns that hydrogen can't be stored safely and efficiently were "technical problems". "Technical problems are easy to fix," he said.
Dr Karl will be in Newcastle on Saturday at a free event, where he'll speak more about his scientific take on the world.
He told the Newcastle Herald that hydrogen is "absolutely essential for our future economy, if you accept that climate change is real". "And by the way, we do not have to adapt to climate change," he said.
"Instead, we can and should stop it and reverse it and bring the conditions back to what they were in the late 20th century, which we can do with today's technology.
"We can pay for it using one half of the subsidies we pay to fossil fuel companies."
The International Monetary Fund reported that fossil fuel subsidies were $5.9 trillion in 2020 - 6.8 per cent of world GDP.
"That's on top of the massive profits they make," Dr Karl said.
He cited other examples of technology and human accomplishments that people couldn't have imagined, as mobile phones and the moon landings.
"The amazing thing about the mobile phone was that seven major technologies were invented, such as Wi-Fi and cameras that didn't use film. The technology was invented as pure research by government, with no hint that one day you would use it for looking at videos of cats."
He said hydrogen would be crucial to the airline industry and shipping, which create a lot of carbon emissions.
"The airline industry is essential for commerce and also travel broadens the mind."
He pointed to Airbus plans to develop the world's first zero-emission commercial aircraft by 2035. He also sees change coming in the shipping sector, ending the practice of transporting a massive amount of fossil fuels from "one part of the planet to another".
The free event runs on Saturday from 5.30pm to 7.45pm at The Conservatorium in Newcastle. Register at eventbrite.com.au.
An Idiot's Guide to Wine
Comedian Merrick Watts is a jester, but we wouldn't call him an idiot. However, he will perform his show An Idiot's Guide to Wine at Brokenwood Wines in Pokolbin on Friday. "It's a comedy show about wine. People taste wines as I tell jokes about the grapes and their history. As a warning, I should say, some people over the course of the wine tasting have learnt something. That's accidental," he said.
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