Hydrogen is, of course, first and foremost an element, so it’s not “made” in the sense that other fuels are.
As an element, though, it exists in compounds, one of which is “elemental hydrogen” – two hydrogen atoms joined to form a molecule. It’s the production of this from other compounds containing hydrogen as a constituent which “making hydrogen” refers to.
As Q.E.D. points out, producing hydrogen from other compounds is (nearly always) energy-consuming rather than producing. (There are a few rather rare exceptions to that rule, which we can disregard for this discussion.)
However, the idea of portability is worth taking into account. There’s an old joke about a car dealer selling an electric car for $100 – and then charging $5,000 for a thousand miles of extension cord! – that’s worth picking up on here.
There are many means of generating or harnessing energy that are extremely localized – tidal, geothermal, hydroelectric, etc. Normally what is done to get the energy from the point of generation to the point of consumption is transmission as electricity across high-voltage power lines.
But it would be quite easy to take water from Lake Mead, Grand Coulee Reservoir, Passamoquoddy Bay, etc., and electrolyze it with the power generated at Boulder or Grand Coulee Dam, the proposed Fundy tidal power plant, etc., storing the energy as hydrogen, which could then be used as fuel in household generators, vehicles, etc.
Yes, there would be a net drain on energy to make the hydrogen. But making it where there’s a wealth of energy available, then burning it where energy is needed, would be an efficient way to store and transmit power.
