Robert Boyle produced it in 1671; Henry Cavendish recognised it as a distinct element in 1766; French chemist Antoine Lavoisier named it as an element in water; and science fiction writer Jules Verne ordained it as an inexhaustible source of potential energy in 1874. Now, 145 years later, hydrogen is beginning its potentially transformative journey of driving down climate change and driving up economic growth, in a world intent on ending the reign of hydrocarbon fuels that put planet-changing carbon into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, new liquid organic hydrogen carrier technology has done hydrogen a big favour by ensuring that it is transportable and tradable in the same way as oil.