Wind and solar energy face a distinct hurdle: sometimes the wind don’t blow and the sun don’t shine. But new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests a breakthrough in the intermittency problem. In a study published Friday in Science, researchers demonstrate a photosynthesis-inspired process to use electricity from renewable sources to split regular ol’ water into hydrogen and oxygen. The gases can then be stored in a fuel cell that can produce electricity on becalmed, cloudy days. Science wonks who thrill to the words “electrolyzer,” “cobalt,” and “catalyst” can get the deets in the links below. The rest of us can just get excited that we may be one step closer to a clean energy economy. “Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution,” says MIT researcher Daniel Nocera. “Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon.”
