08.04.2008

Cheap Catalyst Could Turn Sunlight, Water Into Fuel

I’m intrigued by a Wired front page story featuring an article that discusses a recent discovery that may aid in solar power becoming a mainstream source for power.  Solar power is currently restricted by the simple fact that solar panels need to be exposed to sunlight to generate electricity.  Clouds and nighttime periods make the technology at best an occasional power supplement and at worst an expensive niche power generation technique.  While traditional research methods seem to be concentrating on improving battery capabilities to store solar generated energy, this approach uses water to store the energy from sunlight in the form of hydrogen.

As the article explains:

The new catalyst is remarkable because its made of common materials and can operate at room temperature and normal pressure. Without the need to heat and pressurize the water, the energy needs and cost of running the process overall are much lower. And that could make a standard solar array on a home a viable source of electricity for creating all the hydrogen a household would need.

Electricity is key to powering everything digital.  Should this technology prove viable, it could reduce the amount of fossil fuel’s required to generate electricity as homes, office buildings, and other structures could depend on solar energy.  From a foreign-dependence and pollution angles, this is good news indeed.

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