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TEPCO injects nitrogen into pressure vessels The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has started injecting nitrogen, an inert gas, into the pressure vessels of the crippled reactors to prevent another hydrogen explosion. In late October, Tokyo Electric Power Company began extracting gases from the containment vessel of the No.2 reactor to remove radioactive substances. During the work, TEPCO found hydrogen accumulating in parts of the reactor at a density of up to 2.9 percent. TEPCO started pumping nitrogen into the pressure vessels of the No.1, 2, 3 reactors on Thursday to lessen the concentration of hydrogen. The...

Tepco Starts To Eject Hydrogen From Fukushima Plant - Kyodo Published October 08, 2011 Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.T0), operator of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, said Saturday it has started to discharge hydrogen with high concentration levels from a pipe connected to a reactor containment vessel at the plant, as a measure to prevent an explosion. The utility said it has injected nitrogen into the pipe for the No. 1 reactor vessel to eject hydrogen found with high density of more than 60%. The hydrogen has been generated by radiation that dissolved water. Tepco said it will make...

Researchers led by MIT professor Daniel Nocera have produced something they’re calling an “artificial leaf”: Like living leaves, the device can turn the energy of sunlight directly into a chemical fuel that can be stored and used later as an energy source. The artificial leaf — a silicon solar cell with different catalytic materials bonded onto its two sides — needs no external wires or control circuits to operate. Simply placed in a container of water and exposed to sunlight, it quickly begins to generate streams of bubbles: oxygen bubbles from one side and hydrogen bubbles from the other. If...

Electric vehicles may seem like the inevitable evolution of the conventional gas-powered automobile, but not every carmaker agrees. Hyundai will sit out the pure-electric car round, and instead concentrate its efforts on designing the next-generation hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. As part of a decision by the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Hyundai--which owns 51 percent of Kia--will stop all efforts to develop and produce electric vehicles, according to Korean newspaper The Chosun Iblo. The auto manufacturer previously planned to produce the all-electric BlueOn, but it has shelved those plans and instead will focus on developing the Tucson ix Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle....

A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or using grid electricity, according to Penn State engineers. "This system could produce hydrogen anyplace that there is wastewater near sea water," said Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering. "It uses no grid electricity and is completely carbon neutral. It is an inexhaustible source of energy." Microbial electrolysis cells that produce hydrogen are the basis of this recent work, but previously, to produce hydrogen, the fuel cells required some...

Hydrogen accumulates in pipes at Fukushima's No. 1 reactor September 24, 2011 By HIDENORI TSUBOYA / Staff Writer Hydrogen has accumulated to a level higher than previously thought in pipes connected to the No. 1 reactor containment vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the plant's operator said Sept. 23. But Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials said an explosion was unlikely because nonflammable nitrogen was being pumped in to prevent oxygen from entering the containment vessel and triggering a blast. TEPCO also said the discovery of the hydrogen buildup will not affect the road map toward achieving a...

A team of USC scientists has developed a robust, efficient method of using hydrogen as a fuel source. Hydrogen makes a great fuel because of it can easily be converted to electricity hydrogen is that, because it is a gas, it can only be stored in high pressure or cryogenic tanks. In a vehicle with a tank full of hydrogen, "if you got into a wreck, you'd have a problem," said Travis Williams, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College. A possible solution is to store hydrogen in a safe chemical form. Earlier this year, Williams and his...

While roofs across the world sport photovoltaic solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity, a Duke University engineer believes a novel hybrid system can wring even more useful energy out of the sun's rays. Instead of systems based on standard solar panels, Duke engineer Nico Hotz proposes a hybrid option in which sunlight heats a combination of water and methanol in a maze of glass tubes on a rooftop. After two catalytic reactions, the system produces hydrogen much more efficiently than current technology without significant impurities. The resulting hydrogen can be stored and used on demand in fuel cells. For...

An international team, of scientists, led by a team at Monash University has found the key to the hydrogen economy could come from a very simple mineral, commonly seen as a black stain on rocks. Their findings, developed with the assistance of researchers at UC Davis in the USA and using the facilities at the Australian Synchrotron, was published in the journal Nature Chemistry on May 15, 2011. Professor Leone Spiccia from the School of Chemistry at Monash University said the ultimate goal of researchers in this area is to create a cheap, efficient way to split water, powered by...

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have developed a way to avoid the use of expensive platinum in hydrogen fuel cells, the environmentally friendly devices that might replace current power sources in everything from personal data devices to automobiles.

A research team at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland has announced they have come upon a new catalyst for electrolysis to split hydrogen out of water. In a serendipitous moment the team led by Xile Hu made this discovery during an electrochemical experiment. Hu said, “It’s a perfect illustration of the famous serendipity principle in fundamental research. Thanks to this unexpected result, we’ve revealed a unique phenomenon.” Being alert has rewards when lightning strikes, thanks to Professor Hu and his group the new hydrogen catalyst has been found. Splitting hydrogen is an energy expensive process. For industrial...

Contact: Michael Mitchellmichael.mitchell@epfl.ch 41-798-103-107Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne A chance discovery may revolutionize hydrogen production Molybdenum-based catalysts now enable a more cost-effective hydrogen production IMAGE: Using a molybdenum based catalyst, hydrogen bubbles are made cheaply and at room temperature. Click here for more information. Producing hydrogen in a sustainable way is a challenge and production cost is too high. A team led by EPFL Professor Xile Hu has discovered that a molybdenum based catalyst is produced at room temperature, inexpensive and efficient. The results of the research are published online in Chemical Science Thursday the 14th of April. An international...

The aviation industry should focus research and development programmes on liquid hydrogen rather than third-generation biofuels in the quest to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, according to World Wildlife Fund director for global energy policy Stephan Singer. Speaking at a roundtable on environmental issues at the European Parliament in Brussels today - part of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe's (ASD) Aeroweek conference - Singer said liquid hydrogen and algae-derived biofuels should be the focus of investment over other alternative fuels because they are less likely to interfere with land used for food producti

Samples of a mineral present on the Moon and on Earth have been found to contain almost the same concentrations of hydrogen, chlorine and sulfur, adding weight to questions over how the Moon formed and evolved. The interior of the Moon was generally believed to be depleted of volatile elements as they were thought to have escaped into space during the Moon's formation... Jeremy Boyce at the California Institute of Technology and colleagues at other US institutions... analysing a mineral called apatite... ubiquitous in trace amounts in lunar rocks... Using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), the researchers measured concentrations of...

SunHydro, a hydrogen refueling company is launching their first hydrogen station that will be open to the public. The refueling point will be made available starting Friday in Connecticut, USA, in an attempt of the firm to create a chain of hydrogen refueling stations from Maine to Florida.

LONDON, Jun 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Intelligent Energy, Lotus Engineering, LTI Vehicles and TRW Conekt, with funding from the UK Government's Technology Strategy Board, today unveiled a full performance, zero-emissions Fuel Cell Hybrid London taxi. While the taxi looks and drives like an iconic London black cab, the Fuel Cell Black Cab is powered by an Intelligent Energy hydrogen fuel cell system hybridised with lithium polymer batteries; allowing the vehicle to operate for a full day without the need for refuelling. Capable of achieving a top speed of over 80 mph, it has a range of more than 250...

A new catalyst that generates hydrogen from sea water has been developed by scientists in the US. This new metal-oxo complex displays high catalytic activity and stability, whilst being low cost, the researchers say.Hydrogen is very attractive as a clean source of power. Currently, it is produced by natural gas reforming - where steam is reacted with methane in the presence of a nickel catalyst to form hydrogen - but this method produces the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.Jeffrey Long and colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley, prepared a simple molybdenum-oxo complex that can serve as an electrocatalyst, reducing the energy required to generate hydrogen...

Hydrogen fuel-cell technology has made significant progress, but it will still be some time before cars fuelled by hydrogen will be affordable, Arturo Elias, president of General Motors of Canada Ltd. told reporters Wednesday. GM -- which was showcasing its fleet of eight hydrogen-fuelled cars the company is using during the Olympics -- has said in the past it hoped to commercialize a fuel-cell vehicle by 2015. "But there are some challenges," Elias said. Those challenges include ensuring the infrastructure for refuelling is in place and lowering costs. Hydrogen-fuelled cars are electric cars that get their power from hydrogen rather...

Science fiction writers may have to rethink how their starship crews survive travel near or beyond the speed of light. Even the occasional hydrogen atom floating in the interstellar void would become a lethal radiation beam that would kill human crews in mere seconds and destroy a spacecraft's electronics, New Scientist reports. Just a few stray wisps of hydrogen gas -- fewer than two hydrogen atoms per cubic centimeter on average -- would translate into 7 teraelectron volts for a starship crew traveling at 99.999998 percent of the speed of light. That's as much fun for humans as standing in...

TORRANCE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Honda today began operation of a next generation solar hydrogen station prototype at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas, Inc., intended for ultimate use as a home refueling appliance capable of an overnight refill of fuel cell electric vehicles. Designed as a single, integrated unit to fit in the user's garage, Honda's next generation Solar Hydrogen Station reduces the size of the system, while producing enough hydrogen (0.5kg) via an 8-hour overnight fill for daily commuting (10,000 miles per year) for a fuel cell electric vehicle. The previous solar hydrogen station system required both an electrolyzer...

A demonstration fleet of 20 hydrogen buses and a new transit centre for fuelling them was unveiled in Whistler Friday. The $89.5-million project, a joint venture of the Canadian and B.C. governments, Whistler and the Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association, will act as a showcase for zero-emission transit during and after the 2010 Olympic Games. The buses emit no smog-creating or greenhouse gases from their tailpipes. Also unveiled Friday was B.C. Transit's new Whistler Transit Centre, which has the world's largest hydrogen fuelling station. "British Columbia is a world leader in the development of hydrogen-fuel-cell technology," said Shirley Bond, B.C.'s...

A contract to build Dh7 billion, 500-megawatt hydrogen power plant will be awarded this year, with construction starting in the fourth quarter of 2011 and completion expected by 2014. The project, which will emit far less greenhouse gases than conventional power plants, announced in January 2008 by Masdar and BP as a joint venture has seen rapid progress since then, as it has completed many milestones that include realignment of schedule with pipeline and CO2 trials, appointment of financial advisors, allotment of land, and completion of front end engineering and design or FEED study. The project will be constructed about...

old information but bears repeating: U.S. DEPT. OF ENERGY 12/12/2008 "Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy Fuel Cells Technology Program Hydrogen Production High-Temperature Water Splitting High-temperature water splitting (a "thermochemical" process) is a long-term technology in the early stages of development. How Does It Work?... The high-temperature heat needed can be supplied by next-generation nuclear reactors under development (up to about 1000°C).. High-Temperature Water Splitting Using Nuclear Energy Why Is This Technology Being Considered for the Hydrogen Economy?... Develop next-generation nuclear reactor technology to supply the high temperatures needed for this process.

It might go against the adage "oil and water don't mix," but a University of Wisconsin professor and the City of Beloit's fleet manager are experimenting with technology that allows motor scooters, cars and trucks to use a combination of gasoline and water as fuel. They're testing a system that uses voltage from a vehicle's battery and alternator to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Those molecules are then burned as supplemental fuel -- reducing the amount of gasoline needed and resulting in a cleaner-running engine. The system has been used to power a Vespa scooter with distilled water. A...

Chemistry World reports that the catalyst could not only fuel the hydrogen-powered cars of the future, but could also help clean up municipal wastewater. Gerardine Botte of Ohio University uses an electrolytic approach to produce hydrogen from urine - the most abundant waste on Earth - at a fraction of the cost of producing hydrogen from water. Urine's major constituent is urea, which incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule - importantly, less tightly bonded than the hydrogen atoms in water molecules.

Enlarge ImageSurprise! The IBEX spacecraft, preparing to explore deep space (inset), accidentally made an important discovery about the moon.Credit: Southwest Research Institute Scientists probing the outer reaches of our solar system have hit upon an unusual phenomenon much closer to home. Instruments aboard a NASA spacecraft have detected fast-moving hydrogen atoms emanating from the moon. The atoms, which originated as protons from the sun, may help scientists study the lunar surface and other solar system objects in greater detail than believed possible. The moon is continuously being pelted by hazardous radiation. Most of it comes from the solar wind,...

Six years after he got the idea and bought the streamliner, Jesse James has set the world record for hydrogen-powered speed. Late afternoon on June 16, James flew across the windswept dust of El Mirage dry lake bed in the California desert and tripped the lights at 199.712 mph. That was 14 mph faster than the previous record of 185 mph, set in Germany by BMW in its hydrogen-powered H2H. "This, I honestly believe, is world-changing," James said of the emissions-free race car. "We can't rely on gasoline forever. I'm paying it forward." The whole deal was for the season-ending...

Cranbury, NJ (January 06, 2009)—BlackLight Power (BLP) Inc. today announced its second commercial license agreement with Farmers’ Electric Cooperative, Inc. of New Mexico, (Farmers’ Electric). In a non-exclusive agreement, BLP has licensed Farmers’ Electric to use the BlackLight Process and certain BLP energy technology for the production of thermal or electric power. Farmers’ Electric may produce gross thermal power up to a maximum continuous capacity of 250 MW or convert this thermal power to corresponding electricity.

Parade Magazine interview on 5/10/09 with Larry Burns, GM R&D chief: ... What about progress on electric cars and hydrogen-powered vehicles? The Chevrolet Volt—which comes out in 2010—goes 40 miles on a single battery charge. We're also testing 100 hydrogen fuel cell Chevrolet Equinoxes. The beauty about fuel cells is that they can be re-energized in five minutes and go 300 miles, whereas it takes eight hours to recharge a battery that goes 40 miles. Isn't hydrogen an infrastructure problem? No place to fill up? There are 170,000 service stations in the U.S. How many would have to provide hydrogen...

At a cost of $3.5 billion and more than a decade of work, the 192 laser beams are billed as the most powerful in the world.Scientists working at the National Ignition Facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, have built the most powerful laser in the world, capable of simulating the energy force of a hydrogen bomb and the sun itself. “The system already has produced 25 times more energy than any other laser system,” said NIF Director Ed Moses. The Energy Department is expected to announce Tuesday that it has officially certified the National Ignition Facility, which...

Exclusive Book Excerpt: How an Al-Qaeda Cell Planned a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway The plot was called off by Bin Laden's No. 2 only 45 days from zero hour, according to a new book by Ron Suskind SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHORRelated Blogs: Click here for blog postings from around the web that are related to the topic of this article. Posted Saturday, Jun. 17, 2006 Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system with a lethal gas similar to that used in Nazi death camps. They were stopped not by any intelligence...

Local residents and officials took a peek into the future when they test drove cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells and heard about the need for more hydrogen fueling stations to bring the technology into the mainstream. The demonstration, held at Mahwah Township Hall, was organized by Mahwah Councilman John DaPuzzo and attended Thursday night by about 50 people, including Assemblyman David C. Russo, R-Midland Park, employees from the Oakland Department of Public Works, the Bergen County Police and residents. They got an up-close look at four Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicles that are part of a year-old program called...

It sounds almost too good to be true: add a few bugs to food scraps and waste water to generate clean hydrogen fuel. But over the past few years, researchers have been gradually working toward this promising scheme for producing hydrogen.Now, with the help of an unassuming stainless-steel brush, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) have taken another step forward. The steel brush can be used to replace the expensive platinum normally employed in the electrolysis cell's cathode, slashing costs by more than 80 percent.Hydrogen is an appealing, environmentally friendly fuel because burning it creates only water as a waste product. MECs...

So, this paper was published recently in Science Magazine: Complementary Active Sites Cause Size-Selective Reactivity of Aluminum Cluster Anions with Water The reactions of metal clusters with small molecules often depend on cluster size. The selectivity of oxygen reactions with aluminum cluster anions can be well described within an electronic shell model; however, not all reactions are subject to the same fundamental constraints. We observed the size selectivity of aluminum cluster anion reactions with water, which can be attributed to the dissociative chemisorption of water at specific surface sites. The reactivity depends on geometric rather than electronic shell structure. Identical...

CORNING, NY--Newly sworn-in congressman Eric Massa (D) tried to make a splash earlier this week by trumpeting his trip to the capitol in a hydrogen-powered car: [T]he 282 mile journey in a GM Electric Fuel Cell Equinox went off without a hitch. Massa took this zero emission, hydrogen powered vehicle [from Corning] to Washington to highlight sustainable energy technology. The vehicle was primarily researched and developed in Honeoye Falls, part of New York's 29th Congressional District. "I'm here to be the voice of the families of New York's 29th Congressional District and help take this country in a better direction,"...

Can a car run on water? Bend businessman Rob Juliano claims it can, despite ample skepticism from scientists and automotive experts. Although the average price of fuel has slipped dramatically from a summer high of more than $4 per gallon, Juliano believes water — specifically the hydrogen contained in water — can be used to power an internal-combustion engine at a fraction of the cost of gasoline. Hydrogen is being pursued as a fuel by car manufacturers. Honda earlier this year debuted its FCX Clarity, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle powered by an electric motor. BMW has developed a car...

Scientist Discovers New Hydrogen System that Cheaply Converts Water into Fuel If researcher Vic Lawson had his way, Americans would laugh in the faces of Big Oil as they confidently drove their vehicles cross-country, paying pennies for a trip that would normally cost hundreds of dollars in fuel. (New York, NY): Fortunately, this is no dream, as Lawson did end up getting his way - his environmentally friendly company Gas4Free just published a set of controversial e-books proven to convert car and truck engines so that they use both water and gas as fuel. His water-fuel conversion system is cost-efficient,...

It runs on water -- Jeff Falk demonstrates his hydrogen powered generator. It uses an electrolyzer to break the water down into hydrogen and oxygen, then burns the hydrogen for fuel. It produces zero carbon emissions and is "very safe." Falk's goal is to get off the grid completely. Photo By Don Lee EUREKA SPRINGS -- Are the high prices of fuel getting to you? Do you cringe whenever you pull up to the pumps, or when the electric bill arrives in the mail? If the answer is yes, it's a safe bet most Americans share your concern. But Jeff...

The composition and mechanical inner workings of the sun beneath the visible photosphere have remained an enigma for thousands of years. There are a whole host of unexplained phenomena related to the sun's activities that still baffle gas model theorists to this day because they fail to recognize the existence of an iron alloy transitional layer that rests beneath the visible photosphere. Fortunately a host of new satellites and the

Bangalore, Aug. 26 A US-based company is all set to bring to India a hydrogen generator kit which can reduce fuel costs for passenger and other vehicles by as much as 30 per cent. EcoMobil’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr K.B. Prasad, told Business Line that his company will soon introduce in India an eco-friendly auto kit called the Hfactor which will cost less than Rs 20,000 and can run on a single charge for over 3,500 km. “Once we start manufacturing these kits in India, we expect the costs to come down further. We have targeted revenues of...

The power of solar is not on the grand scale of collectors spread over square acres in the west desert, says Daniel Nocera, a widely cited chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is scheduled to speak at Utah State University this week. "Each household could be its own little power station," Nocera said Sunday. Using the principle of photosynthesis and more precisely duplicating the storage process that plants use to stay healthy at night when they're not being fed directly by the sun, Nocera's research published this past July appears to have answered the abiding problem with solar...

Dan wanted to know if there was a legitimate claim behind those companies that offer better gas mileage through water-based contraptions in your car. Here's what he said: Recently I was introduced to a "Water4Gas" system that claims it can boost an internal combustion engine's gas mileage by 10 to 100 percent. The person trying to push/sell this innovative system (that I hear has been around already for quite some time) is named: Ozzie Freedom' (probably not his real name). It's being marketed as an "experimental add-on" that eliminates carbon deposits in the cylinders, boosts performance, and prevents smog. It's...

AUSTIN, TX, Aug 21, 2008 Ronn Motor Company, today announced its successful completion of initial track testing for the Scorpion(TM) eco-exotic. During a rigorous evaluation, the highly anticipated 40 mpg eco-exotic performed superbly, delivering the caliber of outstanding performance expected from a 200 mph supercar. The car completed several high-speed passes, along with high-speed/high-angle turns, acceleration and high-speed braking tests. Portions of the test can be viewed on YouTube.com by searching "Ronn Motors" or clicking on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y_gumpBuko. COO and test driver Damon Kuhn, said, "The platform performed very well under stress in all technical areas. Even with...

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have shown how bacteria could be used as a future fuel. The research, published in the journal Bioinformatics, could have significant implications for the environment and the way we produce sustainable fuels in the future. Like all living creatures, bacteria sustain themselves through their metabolism, a huge sequence of chemical reactions that transform nutrients into energy and waste. Using mathematical computer models, the Sheffield team have mapped the metabolism of a type of bacteria called Nostoc. Nostoc fixes nitrogen and, in doing so, releases hydrogen that can then potentially be used as fuel. Fixing...

With claims of a cleaner, faster burn, hydrogen generators get a test drive. Nik Fischer, an installer at Donny’s 4 Wheel Drive World, removes a hydrogen generator from a Cadillac Escalade and prepares to replace it with an updated one. Fischer says this Escalade’s emissions are down 80 percent since its installation. PHOTO BY KAT KERLIN Gas prices have topped the $4 dollar mark across the nation, leaving some car-dependent people a little twitchy about a daily fuel fix. Oil now dances a reckless jig between $120 and $150 dollars a barrel, and many think the environment is now in...

How would you like to run your car on water, laugh at other people’s $100 fill-ups and help solve global warming at the same time? Amazingly enough, online vendors say you can achieve all this with a set of plans you can buy for $65 on the Internet. Or maybe the price is $105. It depends on where you purchase these documents “they” don’t want you to see, and whether there are bonuses included (like I.R.S. rebate forms). [snip] The problem is there’s little science, online or otherwise, to prove these homemade electrolyzers (which do produce hydrogen) actually do you...

Honda today announced that they have delivered their second Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle. The lucky recipient of the car is actress Jamie Lee Curtis, took delivery of the vehicle on July 31, 2008. Curtis and her family will be one of 200 customers who will be leasing the vehicles from Honda. Honda and its customers will test the state of the art vehicles for the next three years. "I really wasn't expecting it to be so luxurious," said Curtis. "It's luxurious, luxurious, luxurious! I love the interior layout, design and access to controls. It is user-friendly and very modern."...

In 2003 President Bush announced a $1.2 billion initiative to make fuel cells commercially viable over a 16-year period. Five years later, a new report issued by the National Research Council says that fuel cells are still at least 15 years away from being commercially feasible. The release says that despite “impressive progress toward commercialization,” some $200 billion is needed over the next decade and half — $55 billion from the government and $145 billion from the private sector. The report says that in the short term, fuel efficiency and biofuel research would be a more cost-effective way to reduce...

Who wouldn’t like the idea of a fuel cell car running on clean, pure hydrogen, the universe’s most plentiful element? Its byproduct is sparkling, drinkable water, with none of that pesky pollution spewing out the tailpipe. And then if there's any energy left over when you're done driving, why, you could use that car's fuel cell to power your house! We can get rid of gasoline! And fuel cells, hey, they use those in spacecraft, don't they? This is some modern stuff, and at first glance, hydrogen appears to be a viable solution to all our energy problems. Well,...

It has long been the Holy Grail of environmental scientists, but researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are confident they have found an inexpensive way of producing hydrogen from water, paving the way for the widespread adoption of zero carbon fuel cells capable of powering buildings and cars. The technique is similar to the way photosynthesis works in plants and is based on a new catalyst that can split water at room temperature to create hydrogen and oxygen. The catalyst consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode that is placed into water. When electricity runs through the...