I hesitate to post this for a number of reasons, not least of which is that I think our fixation with maintaining automobility is going to be our undoing.
But there’s no denying that if this works out as advertised*, this is a real step toward a noncarbon future that includes more energy, rather than less.
* Caveats:
- The presser doesn’t discuss the energy balance for reformulating the catalytic materials; aluminum is sometimes known as “congealed electricity” because of the energy cost of refining the virgin bauxite.
- I have no idea how much gallium there is, although the presser suggests it’s recyclable.
- You would need to work out the energy cost of the whole process train, including the cost involved in building the windmills or PV panels needed to power the recycling process — it’s quite possible that this would turn out to be just another way to burn coal to make hydrogen, when all inputs and outputs are considered. We don’t need ways to use coal to make hydrogen; we need ways to be entirely coal-free.
