The "Hydrogen Economy" .... One step closer? [View all]

[reACTIONary]

The "Hydrogen Economy" - the use of hydrogen gas as an energy source has several problems and one big advantage. The big advantage is that hydrogen combustion produces nothing but water / water vapor - no pollutants. The big problem is that there isn't any real source of free hydrogen - it's made through electrolysis, which requires electricity, which has to come from somewhere. Wherever that somewhere is, it could just as easily be put into the grid and used directly.

So if a "hydrogen economy" is ever to become a reality, some more or less direct source of hydrogen must be found. I was surprised to find promising new research that is aimed at doing just that.

From Science News:

Hydrogen fuel edges a step closer Chemical setup creates clean-burning gas

Making hydrogen gas in water just got a little easier. The discovery may lead to inexpensive, practical means of harvesting sunlight to create clean-burning hydrogen for powering cars or generating electricity. Scientists would like to mimic plant photosynthesis, which harvests sunlight and splits water molecules to create fuel. It sounds simple, but even in plants the task is a highly orchestrated set of reactions, with multiple players acting in multiple places.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/346339/description/Hydrogen_fuel_edges_a_step_closer