Hydrogen breakthrough could be a game-changer [View all]

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Hydrogen breakthrough could be a game-changer for the future of car fuels

Jun 24, 2014 by Marion O'sullivan
UK researchers today announced what they believe to be a game changer in the use of hydrogen as a "green" fuel.

A new discovery by scientists at the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), offers a viable solution to the challenges of storage and cost by using ammonia as a clean and secure hydrogen-containing energy source to produce hydrogen on-demand in situ.

Hydrogen is considered by many to be the best alternative fuel for automotive purposes but there are complications with its safe and efficient storage and very significant concerns surrounding the costs of a hydrogen infrastructure for transportation. This new discovery may well have found the answers to both these challenges.

When the components of ammonia are separated (a technique known as cracking) they form one part nitrogen and three parts hydrogen. Many catalysts can effectively crack ammonia to release the hydrogen, but the best ones are very expensive precious metals. This new method is different and involves two simultaneous chemical processes rather than using a catalyst, and can achieve the same result at a fraction of the cost.

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David Willetts, the UK Minister for Universities and Science, said "This is exactly the sort of innovation we need UK researchers and engineers to develop to secure our role as a global leader in this field, putting Britain at the forefront of solving modern day transportation problems. This breakthrough could also hugely contribute to our efforts to reduce our greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050."

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-06-hydrogen-breakthrough-game-changer-future-car.html#jCp
- http://phys.org/news/2014-06-hydrogen-breakthrough-game-changer-future-car.html#ajTabs]

It's amazing what innovative ideas we can come up with when we need to.

Now if we can just get a handle on the world's out-of-control growth.