And it is coming. Eventually.

From the end of the article cited in the opening post -

...extraction and crushing of rock to extract the trapped hydrogen is...prohibitively expensive.... The most promising source...may be geological "traps" similar to those now drilled for natural gas. Professor Freund said: "One of these natural hydrogen fields is already known to exist in North America, and extends from Canada to Kansas."

Natural gas-type geological traps of hydrogen are offered as an alternative to extracting hydrogen gas directly from Earth's crust. That last line describes a pretty big trap. So it does seem a hydrogen economy is feasible.

NASA seems to be all over this hydrogen thing, because here's another article featuring our favorite space agency:

Florida Universities Solving NASA's Hydrogen Problem

From the article:

Seeking to develop new technology to produce the hydrogen much closer to the launch pad -- and in a more environmentally friendly way -- NASA is awarding a group of Florida universities $8.1 million for hydrogen research....



Although the amount of this so-called greenhouse gas

[carbon dioxide] released as a result of shuttle hydrogen production pales in comparison to the amount produced by cars or power plants, NASA would like to find a cleaner alternative -- especially since it views space flight as a growth industry, Burkhart said....



He

[Yogi Goswami] said another goal of the research is to find better ways to transport and store hydrogen, which is difficult because it requires extremely low temperatures to be kept in liquid form....



Goswami and Burkhart noted that although the research is targeted at space, the results could well have applications on Earth. Hydrogen has long been seen as an alternative to the fossil fuels that power the majority of the world's automobiles, but the costs of producing the gas and the difficulty of storing it have long proved to be significant roadblocks....



My personal view is that a hydrogen economy is inevitable. The energy is there just waiting to be tapped. Once upon a time there were no oil fields and there was no real petroleum industry. My how things have changed. Hydrogen is where petroleum was not so long ago. And the hydrogen alternative will - very slowly - be coming on-line. Keep your eyes open. If methane hydrates don't pan out for the energy corporations, the switch to hydrogen will be that much faster.