Limitless Hydrogen Energy? Breakthrough Seen in Separating H from H2O

[rangerrebew]

Limitless Hydrogen Energy? Breakthrough Seen in Separating H from H2O

    May 25, 2017

by Robby Berman
 

Hydrogen is known to have the potential to become an important source of energy. And there’s an abundant supply of it, in our water, if we can just find a low-cost, efficient way of getting the oxygen in H2O to let go of it. The University of Houston (UH) has just announced that they may have just found it.

Splitting the hydrogen and oxygen in water is accomplished using a process called “water electrolysis” in which both the hydrogen and oxygen molecules separate into individual gasses via separate “evolution reactions.” Each evolution reaction is induced by an electrode in the presence of a catalyst.

http://bigthink.com/robby-berman/researchers-announce-breakthrough-in-separating-hydrogen-from-h2o

[Joe Wooten]

No details given, like the cost of the new catalyst, and the life cycle energy cost of the entire hydrogen production cycle. This seems to be typical of science announcements that are designed more towards getting more funding than announcing concrete new products. If it is truly a new cheap way to make hydrogen, it will take at least 7 to 10 years for it to just get started. A complete hydrogen economy will take decades to accomplish.