Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Technology gets a Boost

From PhysicsWorld.com

Physicists find new material for storing hydrogen

Physicists in the US may have found a promising new class of material that can absorb and store large amounts of hydrogen. Adam Phillips and Bellave Shivaram of the University of Virginia measured around 12% by weight of hydrogen uptake in the metal-based composites. This is significantly higher than the target of 5.4wt% set by the US Department of Energy to support the development of hydrogen-powered vehicles — although the physicists say much work still needs to be done.

A low-cost, high-capacity hydrogen-storage medium is essential for the commercialization of hydrogen fuel-cell technologies in the future. While scientists have investigated various classes of material, such as carbon nanotubes, hydrogen-clathrate-hydrates and other nanostructured materials over the past few decades, no one satisfactory material has yet been found.

Adam Philips went on to say:

"It is critical to say that our work is at a very early stage," added Phillips. "While we have measured the hydrogen uptake, we have not yet been able to determine how the material desorbs. However, we are very optimistic about the possibility of scaling up and overcoming many of the other hurdles we now face."

You can read the whole article at http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/33614 (Free subscription may be required)

If this and other work like it pans out the pie-in-sky feel to the promises of a Hydrogen Economy may start to disappear.

When GWB was praising Hydrogen as a way to wean the US of its addiction to petroleum he was not completely candid.  Its important to remember that hydrogen is an energy carrier, and not an energy source. It is usually produced from other energy sources by burning petroleum, through wind power, or via solar photovoltaic cells. Hydrogen can also be extracted  from underground reservoirs of methane and natural gas,  from coal by coal gasification, or from oil shale by oil shale gasification.  Electrolysis (Remember Junior High Science and separating water into Oxygen and Hyydrogen?), which requires electricity, and high-temperature electrolysis/thermochemical production, which requires high temperatures (ideal for nuclear reactors), are two primary methods for the extraction of hydrogen from water.

If you understand the ways we are currently producing hydrogen in the quantities needed for fuel cells you can see that a "Hydrogen Economy" has benefits for humans such as cleaner burning cars but is NOT a solution to climate change or the geopolitical problems associated with petroleum extraction and consumption.