Guardian: Cheap way to 'split water' could lead to abundant clean fuel

[Sarge]

I hope this works out, so we can tell the arabs to **** off

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/31/energyefficiency.energy

Scientists have found an inexpensive way to produce hydrogen from water, a discovery that could lead to a plentiful source of environmentally friendly fuel to power homes and cars.

The technique, which mimics the way photosynthesis works in plants, also provides a highly efficient way to store energy, potentially paving the way to making solar power more economically viable.

Hydrogen is a clean, energy-rich fuel that many experts believe could become important as nations attempt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The gas can be produced by splitting water but current techniques are expensive, use harsh chemicals and need carefully controlled environments in which to operate.

Daniel Nocera, a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed a catalyst made from cobalt and phosphorus that can split water at room temperature, a technique he describes in the journal Science. "I'm using cheap, Earth-abundant materials that you can mass-manufacture. As long as you can charge the surface, you can create the catalyst and it doesn't get any cheaper than that."

He said the discovery could have major implications for the uptake of solar photovoltaic technology. One of the reasons, he said, why solar panels have not penetrated the consumer market properly is that no one has found a way to store energy in a way that, when the Sun is not shining, people still have electricity. "You can't think about an energy economy or a global energy system only when the sun is out."

Batteries could do the job but they cannot store anywhere near as much energy per unit mass as chemical fuels. Nocera's technique would allow the storage of excess energy from sunlight during the daytime. "You could imagine, during the day you have a photovoltaic cell, you take some of that electricity and use it in your house, then take the other part of that electricity for my catalyst, feed the catalyst water and you get hydrogen and oxygen."

At night, the hydrogen and oxygen could be recombined in a fuel cell to produce an electrical current to power a home or recharge an electric car. "So I've made your house a gas station and a power station. It's all enabled because we can use light plus water to make a chemical fuel, which is hydrogen and oxygen."

Converting an Olympic swimming pool of water into hydrogen and oxygen per second would create 43 terawatts of power. "In the next 50 years, the world needs 16 terawatts. By the end of the century, we'll need around 30," said Nocera. "There's a heck of lot of energy stored in chemical bonds."

For a home, Nocera said that it would be enough to split a few litres of water per day into hydrogen and oxygen. The water would be reformed when the gases were put through the fuel cell.

There is much work to be done in converting Nocera's idea into a commercial product. At the moment, his catalyst can only accept small amounts of electrical current at once, meaning that it would be an inefficient way to quickly store large amounts of energy. But Nocera is certain that engineers will iron out the issues and produce commercial-scale products within a decade.

James Barber, a leading researcher in artificial photosynthesis at Imperial College London, said Nocera's work was a "giant leap" toward generating clean, carbon-free energy. "This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind. The importance of their discovery cannot be overstated since it opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and addressing the global climate change problem."

[Thiebear]

If we convert 1 olympic swimming pool a second...

What happens to the water of the planet?

I like the blueness from space and plants.

[Sarge]

If we convert 1 olympic swimming pool a second...

What happens to the water of the planet?

I like the blueness from space and plants.

Then we need to burn tires to put extra Co2 in the atmosphere so the plants grow faster

[PokerPacker]

sounds amazing... almost too good to be true. then again, I'm sure most major scientific advances sound that way.

[dockeryfan]

cold fusion

[Larry]

If we convert 1 olympic swimming pool a second...

What happens to the water of the planet?

Absolutely nothing.

When you "burn" the Hydrogen, you get the water back.

[Thiebear]

Absolutely nothing.

When you "burn" the Hydrogen, you get the water back.

AL-righty then, i say the US borglike assimilate this and have it running by the beginning of next summer. 300billion to start..

If we can spend that on fanny/freddie to prop them up we can spend it on our independent futures. and saving 700billion a year.

[chow184]

quick we need OFFSHORE DRILLING

I'd rather concentrate on clean sources of energy like this

[Larry]

I'm having trouble figuring out the reaction from the article. In one place it mentions using water and sunlight. But elsewhere it talks about using electricity.

It's got to use some form of energy. (The First Law of Thermodynamics.) But if the energy is something like solar (a kind of energy that we don't have to pay for), then that's great.

(And even if it uses electricity, but it uses it a lot more efficiently than present methods, it still might be pretty good news.)

[Koolblue13]

quick we need OFFSHORE DRILLING

I'd rather concentrate on clean sources of energy like this

You can use oil from offshore drilling to pay for the tech to do this.

But I wouldn't want to make a sensible claim in regards to the offshore drilling monster.

[Zen-like Todd]

I'm having trouble figuring out the reaction from the article. In one place it mentions using water and sunlight. But elsewhere it talks about using electricity.

It's got to use some form of energy. (The First Law of Thermodynamics.) But if the energy is something like solar (a kind of energy that we don't have to pay for), then that's great.

(And even if it uses electricity, but it uses it a lot more efficiently than present methods, it still might be pretty good news.)

It's just a cheaper catalyst for a fuel cell. Really. The whole solar bit is ridiculous overreach. It would be wind, nuclear, solar, anything.

[twa]

quick we need OFFSHORE DRILLING

I'd rather concentrate on clean sources of energy like this

How about doing both,just to be on the safe side?

Especially since something has to power the accumulation of the raw materials ,manufacturing and power the current for the process IF it gets past the dreaded technical difficulties that exist....as usual

Added...the cost issue

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/08/01/cheap_solar_at_night_mit_may_have_answer/

Cost is the biggest challenge facing the solar energy industry, said Monique Hanis, spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association, an industry trade group in Washington, D.C.

"The industry is trying to cut costs and improve efficiency all along the supply chain," Hanis said. "The cost of solar should be on par with sort of traditional fossil sources in about eight years," based on the rising costs of other forms of energy and the trends the association has seen in cost reductions in solar over the last decade, she said.

[USS Redskins]

Is it me or any story with a .uk on the end of it - never really pans out? I mean I read a story 2-3 years ago from the Guardian about scientists finally developing the miracle pill that dissolves all fat in the human body.

[Larry]

Just wanted to highlight part of twa's highlight. (I think I shall use an underline. )

Added...the cost issue

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/08/01/cheap_solar_at_night_mit_may_have_answer/

Cost is the biggest challenge facing the solar energy industry, said Monique Hanis, spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association, an industry trade group in Washington, D.C.

"The industry is trying to cut costs and improve efficiency all along the supply chain," Hanis said. "The cost of solar should be on par with sort of traditional fossil sources in about eight years," based on the rising costs of other forms of energy and the trends the association has seen in cost reductions in solar over the last decade, she said.

Translation: Solar may become cost competitive in eight years or so, if the costs of solar keep falling and the cost of oil keeps rising.

[DCSaints_fan]

Even if it works it won't solve the problem with oil. The problem with hydrogen is not in generating it, but storign it and using it in a vehicle.

[DGreenistheBest]

I hope this works out, so we can tell the arabs to **** off

For once, Sarge, we are in complete agreement. This is the type of energy everyone can get behind (assuming we don't run out of water).

[Corcaigh]

Lots of other publications are running the exact same same story. And they completely miss the point.

Using solar in the day to split water so that the energy can be recovered at night is not a new idea.

What may be new if the catalyst greatly reduces the electrical energy required.

Their website hints at this:

http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/dgn/www/research/e_conversion.html

[DGreenistheBest]

Using solar in the day to split water so that the energy can be recovered at night is not a new idea.

No, its definitely not, which is why its sort of frustrating that we haven't looked into this sooner.

[twa]

For once, Sarge, we are in complete agreement. This is the type of energy everyone can get behind (assuming we don't run out of water).

It does seem like a good idea if they work the kinks out.

If it could use salt water and purify it upon its change back to h2o there would be even more benefits to the world.

[Corcaigh]

This is the type of energy everyone can get behind (assuming we don't run out of water).

It doesn't consume water.

Energy from the sun separates water into hydrogen and oxygen, which is stored.

At night the gases are combined and excess energy is released. The 'waste' product of the reaction is water, which feeds back into the cycle to be split again.

[DjTj]

No, its definitely not, which is why its sort of frustrating that we haven't looked into this sooner.

Of course we've looked at ... the problem has always been efficiency: we can't get enough electricity out of the sunlight, and it requires too much electricity to break the bonds in water to get Hydrogen. This study finds a potential solution to one of those problems, which is a more efficient catalyst to split water. There are advances in solar coming as well, but we are still a few years away...

[Corcaigh]

No, its definitely not, which is why its sort of frustrating that we haven't looked into this sooner.

It's well known. But it costs significant money for the equipment ... solar cells and the equipment to split water, store the gases and the recombine them.

[Zguy28]

Of course we've looked at ... the problem has always been efficiency: we can't get enough electricity out of the sunlight, and it requires too much electricity to break the bonds in water to get Hydrogen. This study finds a potential solution to one of those problems, which is a more efficient catalyst to split water. There are advances in solar coming as well, but we are still a few years away...

Yes, but there is hope.

[Corcaigh]

Yes, but there is hope.

But hope is not a strategy.

[DGreenistheBest]

It doesn't consume water.

Energy from the sun separates water into hydrogen and oxygen, which is stored.

At night the gases are combined and excess energy is released. The 'waste' product of the reaction is water, which feeds back into the cycle to be split again.

Of course we've looked at ... the problem has always been efficiency: we can't get enough electricity out of the sunlight, and it requires too much electricity to break the bonds in water to get Hydrogen. This study finds a potential solution to one of those problems, which is a more efficient catalyst to split water. There are advances in solar coming as well, but we are still a few years away...

It's well known. But it costs significant money for the equipment ... solar cells and the equipment to split water, store the gases and the recombine them.

Okay, I see. Exciting that they are making these advances, then.