USC chemists turn greenhouse gas into hydrogen fuel

[nationalize the fed]

The new method generates hydrogen and stores it efficiently, and without further polluting the environment

USC News | Emily Gersema | June 17, 2016

A future with hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and hydrogen-powered smartphones is much closer to reality.

USC researchers have found a clean method of turning greenhouse gas into hydrogen fuel, according to a study published recently in the journal Nature Communications. They believe they are the first to have developed this method.

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Researchers had been stuck on a significant challenge holding up the development and commercialization of this technology: generating and storing hydrogen effectively, and without further polluting the environment.

Chemists at the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute found a way to produce hydrogen while also recycling harmful carbon dioxide through the dehydrogenation of formic acid. And, unlike prior methods, the catalyst that they developed in-house releases hydrogen without involving more pollutants.

Formic acid occurs naturally in the venom of bee and ant stings or through the decay of vegetation. It also can be made by reacting carbon dioxide with hydrogen. So it appeals to scientists as a carrier and storage reservoir for hydrogen...snip

‘Wicked problems’

Climate change is one of the “wicked problems” that researchers throughout USC — from earth sciences to biology — study and address through innovative research, testing and development...snip
Read More: https://news.usc.edu/102214/usc-chemists-turn-greenhouse-gas-into-hydrogen-fuel/

Uploaded on Jun 15, 2016: USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute

At USC, H2 is #1

[NNadir]

1. The Loker lab is George Olah's baby, and although he's one of the world's greatest chemists...

...it's pretty obvious that the reporter of this work has never passed a science class in her life and is completely ignorant, among other things, of the second law of thermodynamics.

Olah is one of the most important writers and thinkers on addressing climate change, although he is fast approaching his 90's.

Making hydrogen on earth is a thermodynamic loser in 100% of the times, a means of wasting energy.

Yet another catalyst to oxidize formic acid back to CO2 will not change this fact, since it would be nothing short of stupid to utilize formic acid in huge amounts in common industrial and household products.

Anyone who describes formic acid as "non polluting" is almost certainly lacking in basic chemical knowledge.