A new way to make renewable hydrogen from seawater

How renewable hydrogen could be produced for export (From ABC News)

With our Chief Scientist suggesting Australia should enter the renewable hydrogen export industry (and other 'clean' H₂ industries) and innovations from CSIRO making that possible, the question is: where is all the water to make hydrogen coming from on this dry continent? The answer could be to make renewable hydrogen from seawater.

Making hydrogen from water using electrolysis powered by renewable energy is becoming a popular development as burning hydrogen in fuel cells to provide power emits only water vapour. However, the process needs purified water which is expensive to produce and freshwater is a valuable resource.

Stanford University, USA, has been working on using seawater to make hydrogen but the salts in seawater corrode the nickel anode during electrolysis. Now they have come up with a catalyst of carbonate and sulphate molecules with a high negative charge that greatly reduce this corrosion of the nickel anode, giving it a much longer life. Apparently this process is simple and affordable, which could assist the path to a renewable hydrogen export industry and an ample supply of 'clean' hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles and other fuel needs in regions where freshwater is scarce.

Read more:

- Seawater could bring breakthrough for hydrogen cars. Green Car Reports, May 21, 2019.

- A new way to generate hydrogen fuel from seawater. Stanford News, March 18, 2019.

- Briefing paper: Hydrogen for Australia’s future. Australia’s Chief Scientist, August, 2018.

- Renewable hydrogen could fuel Australia’s next export boom after CSIRO breakthrough. ABC News, May 12, 2017.

- Don’t write off hydrogen as a storage of renewable energy for transport. Using Renewables, October 24, 2017.