If the article let me know where the hydrogen in the ethanol molecules is coming from, I could probably tell you whether the process is going to be economically viable.
From the original article:
“The overpotential (which might be lowered with the proper electrolyte, and by separating the hydrogen production to another catalyst) probably precludes economic viability for this catalyst, . . .”
Translation: you’ve got to put so much juice into this system to get out ethanol, the cost of the electricity is unlikely to be recovered in the energy value of that ethanol.
But - maybe it’s a start; technology advances in increments, and if this approach can be tweaked enough, it might provide a means of converting electrical energy into the sort of chemical energy that’s useful for running vehicles.