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Scientists often speak of hydrogen as the clean, plentiful energy source of the future, but %u201Cit%u2019s always been a Buck Rogers, 10-years-from-now concept,%u201D says Robertson, 59, a Portland retiree. %u201CWe think we%u2019ve come up with something here that finally cracks the hydrogen code.%u201DA hydrogen hub would be a power plant that uses water and air to produce a form of ammonia, then burns the ammonia to yield hydrogen energy.Robertson says his invention would trim the need for gas- and coal-fired power plants that contribute to global warming. He envisions a new sustainable industry springing up at abandoned aluminum plants or the former Trojan nuclear plant in Rainier, Ore.Robertson is no crackpot. The Stanford University grad worked a decade as an aide to Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield, then 16 years at Bonneville Power Administration, rising to BPA%u2019s acting chief executive officer.Robertson has a patent pending for his hydrogen hub concept, and is teaming with technical experts and utilities to move into the testing phase.%u201CThere%u2019s no rocket science here,%u201D says John Holbrook, a Stanford buddy of Robertson%u2019s and a retired project manager for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. Robertson%u2019s invention, Holbrook says, is a novel way of putting existing technologies together. %u201CAll the pieces have been done before. You only need water, air and electricity to do it.%u201D