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Hydrogen From The Ocean
Hydrogen is frequently touted as an excellent source of clean energy that could be used as a fuel in vehicles, or as a storage medium for energy generated by wind and solar power. The challenge is that hydrogen is rather difficult and expensive to attain, and the most economical methods are not clean and green.
Most industrial hydrogen is produced by reforming natural gas, which
has the drawback that carbon dioxide is generated in the process. The environmentally friendly way to produce
hydrogen is via electrolysis, in which a chemical reaction is triggered by a
catalyst enabling electricity to split water into its constituent elements of
oxygen and hydrogen.
The best performing catalyst for electrolysis is platinum, but its
high price is a big drawback for the economics of making hydrogen. Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory have found a pairing of minerals that may solve the problem. Testing a molybdenum-phosphide catalyst with
wastewater in a small reactor called a microbial electrolysis cell revealed
that the new catalyst actually worked better than platinum.
Even better, the molybdenum-phosphide catalyst worked well with
seawater. If hydrogen can be produced
using seawater, there would be a pretty much unlimited resource for making
it. By eliminating the use of platinum
catalysts, it may be possible to reduce the cost of hydrogen made by
electrolysis to a competitive level.
Hydrogen as a vehicle fuel currently costs about twice as much as
gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Given that running cars from batteries is considerably cheaper than
using gas, the cost of hydrogen needs to come down considerably for it to be a
viable vehicle fuel.
**********
Web Links
Ditching Platinum for the Ocean Could Make Hydrogen Cheap
Photo, posted July 19, 2011, courtesy of Heather Paul via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
View all episodes
By Randy Simon
4.7
1515 ratings
Hydrogen is frequently touted as an excellent source of clean energy that could be used as a fuel in vehicles, or as a storage medium for energy generated by wind and solar power. The challenge is that hydrogen is rather difficult and expensive to attain, and the most economical methods are not clean and green.
Most industrial hydrogen is produced by reforming natural gas, which
has the drawback that carbon dioxide is generated in the process. The environmentally friendly way to produce
hydrogen is via electrolysis, in which a chemical reaction is triggered by a
catalyst enabling electricity to split water into its constituent elements of
oxygen and hydrogen.
The best performing catalyst for electrolysis is platinum, but its
high price is a big drawback for the economics of making hydrogen. Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory have found a pairing of minerals that may solve the problem. Testing a molybdenum-phosphide catalyst with
wastewater in a small reactor called a microbial electrolysis cell revealed
that the new catalyst actually worked better than platinum.
Even better, the molybdenum-phosphide catalyst worked well with
seawater. If hydrogen can be produced
using seawater, there would be a pretty much unlimited resource for making
it. By eliminating the use of platinum
catalysts, it may be possible to reduce the cost of hydrogen made by
electrolysis to a competitive level.
Hydrogen as a vehicle fuel currently costs about twice as much as
gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Given that running cars from batteries is considerably cheaper than
using gas, the cost of hydrogen needs to come down considerably for it to be a
viable vehicle fuel.
**********
Web Links
Ditching Platinum for the Ocean Could Make Hydrogen Cheap
Photo, posted July 19, 2011, courtesy of Heather Paul via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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