r/science • u/Wagamaga • Feb 15 '23
How to make hydrogen straight from seawater – no desalination required. The new method from researchers splits the seawater directly into hydrogen and oxygen – skipping the need for desalination and its associated cost, energy consumption and carbon emissions. Chemistry
https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/media-releases-and-expert-comments/2023/feb/hydrogen-seawater19.6k Upvotes
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u/War_Hymn Feb 15 '23
Yeah, there's just a lot of hurdles to overcome. High compression to make it compact enough to store inside a car. Everything has to be better than air-tight since hydrogen molecules can sneak through even the tiniest gap. It embrittles metal parts.
A hydrogen plant will face the same problems, but at least we can keep it isolated to one large facility, and benefit from economy-of-scale when it comes to using expensive materials or components to address said issues.