While we are still
developing the advancements in hydrogen to reduce the cost of transportation
and storage, there are many breakthroughs happening around the world in both
technology and uses for hydrogen. One major focus of the international
community has been embracing and improving “green hydrogen” technologies, which
would drastically reduce the global CO2 emissions and limit global warming.
“Green hydrogen” is typically produced from oxygen using renewable sources of
energy, with its only waste product being water. This makes it a perfect
alternative to fossil fuels for everything from powering vehicles to
revolutionizing the steel industry.
Let’s take a quick
tour to see the latest breakthroughs in hydrogen around the world:
United States I
Researchers at Rice
University in Texas have created a device nicknamed “the artificial leaf” capable of splitting
water molecules to produce hydrogen fuel at a low cost. Scientists use a
combination of catalytic electrodes and perovskite solar cells that produce
electricity when triggered by sunlight. Perovskites are crystals with unique
cubelike lattices known for harvesting light well. The charge then flows to
catalysts that break down water into hydrogen and oxygen with an impressive
sunlight-to-hydrogen efficiency of around 6.7%.
- While the catalyst design isn’t
new, the researchers have found a way to package the perovskite layer and
electrons into one small device that simply needs to be dropped into water and
placed in sunlight to produce hydrogen.
- To try and encourage commercial adoption of such devices,
the researchers are also working on how to make these devices as cost-effective
as possible. For example, by replacing more expensive components like platinum
in perovskite solar cells with cheaper alternatives such as carbon.
- By continually modifying the design, researchers also hope
to create a self-sustaining loop. Jun Lou, the researcher who developed the
device, explained: "Even when there's no sunlight, you can use stored
energy in the form of chemical fuel. You can put the hydrogen and oxygen
products in separate tanks and incorporate another module like a fuel cell to
turn those fuels back into electricity."
United States II
A breakthrough in
hydrogen technology at Northwestern University in Chicago could
greatly reduce the cost of making hydrogen-powered vehicles by changing the way
hydrogen fuel is stored. The technology, dubbed the “bath sponge,” is able to
hold and release large amounts of hydrogen at a lower pressure with a cost that
is similar to an actual sponge.
- The new framework’s key ability is
storing hydrogen and other gases like methane at much lower pressures without
needing a large storage tank.
- The product, officially known as
NU-150, is built from organic molecules and metal ions that form highly
crystalline, porous frameworks naturally.
- Like straining a sponge, the
technology uses pressure to store gas molecules within the pores of its
metal-organic framework and then delivers them to the engine at a lower
pressure than any existing technology.
- The new material falls under the
targets set by the U.S. Department of Energy for alternative fuel onboard
storage and delivery systems.
Australia
Australian
researchers from Griffith University have found a way to
enhance clean hydrogen electrolysis using ‘nanobelts’ to break down water into
hydrogen and oxygen. This breakthrough in technology uses two different
processes to harness the nanobelts and push them to their limits during the
oxidation of water.
- Researchers specifically worked
with CoSe2 ‘nanobelts,’ which are ultra thin sheets of cobalt (Co) and selenium
(Se) stitched together to be used as a water-splitting electrocatalysts.
- The nanobelts are tiny with a
thickness of one nanometer, about 50,000 times smaller than the width of a
human hair, which actually increases the surface area and reactivity of the
CoSe2 because of how many can fit.
- The team then modified the
nanobelt, replacing some of the cobalt with iron (Fe) and removing even more
cobalt using a process known as “cobalt vacancy.” They found that these two
modifications to the nanobelts dramatically improved their efficiency.
- The breakthrough could have many
more applications outside of just the nanobelts being used, with the
possibility to unlock not just the catalytic power of CoSe2 nanobelts, but
serve as catalysts for numerous other electrochemical reactions.
Sweden
Two firms in Sweden are working together
to try and make the steel industry a little bit more sustainable by using hydrogen to heat steel. According to the World
Steel Association, about 1.85 metric tons of carbon dioxide are emitted for
each metric ton of steel produced on average. Currently, the steel sector uses
coal for 75% of their energy demand.
- A demonstration led by Steel
manufacturer Ovako and Linde Gas was the first of its kind to show that
hydrogen can be used in an existing production environment to heat steel.
- The experiment demonstrated that
hydrogen could replace liquefied petroleum gas to generate heat. When hydrogen
is used in the combustion process, the only emission produced was water.
- The trial proves that hydrogen can
be used to heat steel simply and flexibly, without impacting steel quality.
Germany
I
German company Graforce is developing a
technology that could produce green hydrogen and renewable energy from animal
and human excrement. This unique technology, known as “plasmalysis,” is not only carbon dioxide
free, but also much more affordable than any other process being used today.
- Plasmalysis produces hydrogen from
the nitrogen and carbon contained in plant and animal manure or biomass by
splitting the individual atoms using a high-frequency field of tension, then
recombining these atoms into hydrogen and nitrogen, with a “waste” product of
purified water.
- Not only can this process produce
enormous amounts of green hydrogen, it does so at 50-60% of the cost of other
conventional processes like electrolysis.
- Agriculture is estimated to
produce a worldwide cumulative of about 1.5 trillion cubic meters of biomass,
or manure, each year. From this, Graforce could produce about 724 million tons
of green hydrogen.
- Their technology could save over
6.5 gigatonnes of CO2 caused by energy generation and consumption worldwide.
Germany
II
Bioenergetics researchers at the University of Kiel, inspired by
naturally-occurring photosynthesis, are looking into modifying the carbon cycle
to produce and store green hydrogen in a way that preserves energy and reduces
resulting CO2 emissions.
- With photosynthesis in nature, energy
is produced from sunlight and stored as carbon compounds, which result in CO2
emissions being released.
- Rather than storing solar energy
in carbon compounds, researchers want to convert it directly into hydrogen,
which has proven to have high efficiency and does not release any CO2 at all.
- To do so, researchers have been
looking into the modification of a specific type of cyanobacterium that already
uses photosynthesis to produce solar hydrogen.
- The cyanobacterium being used
contains a specific enzyme called “hydrogenase” which produces hydrogen from
protons and electrons.
- Researchers were able to combine
this enzyme with photosynthesis to stimulate the metabolism of the bacterium
into producing solar hydrogen for longer periods of time without consuming it.
ENGIE Eye
It is estimated that
by the end of 2024, around 960 tons of green hydrogen will be produced,
reducing an estimated 8,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. To keep up with
this goal, ENGIE, in accordance with the European Horizon
2020 program, and the French Atomic and Alternative Energy Commission (CEA),
will be joining together for the “Multiplhy” project. The goal of Multiplhy is
to produce green hydrogen using high temperature electrolysis. The high
temperature electrolyser is being built in the Neste biorefinery in Rotterdam
and will have a nominal power of 2.6 MW with a hydrogen production capacity of
60 kg / h. The device is able to produce hydrogen from water in the form of
vapor instead of liquid water with an efficiency of at least 20% higher than
that of a low temperature electrolyser.
