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Scientists say their device can pull water from the air to create green hydrogen
AsiaOne ^ | SEPTEMBER 06, 2022 | Holly Chik

Posted on 09/12/2022 5:14:47 PM PDT by nickcarraway

An international team of scientists say they have found a new way to extract water from bone-dry air to produce hydrogen, which they call “the ultimate clean energy”. Unsplash

AsiaOne has launched EarthOne, a new section dedicated to environmental issues — because we love the planet and we believe science. Find articles like this there.

An international team of scientists say they have found a new way to extract water from bone-dry air to produce hydrogen, which they call “the ultimate clean energy”.

The researchers said the device could be used in an arid environment where relative humidity was as low as 4 per cent — meaning green hydrogen could potentially be created without using liquid water.

Average relative humidity is around 20 per cent, for example, in the Sahel desert in Africa and Uluru in the Central Australian desert.

“Moisture in the air can directly be used for hydrogen production via electrolysis, owing to its universal availability and natural inexhaustibility,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on Tuesday (Sept 6).

The team of chemical engineers — from the University of Melbourne, University of Manchester and Chinese Academy of Sciences — said there were 13 trillion tonnes of water in the air at any moment. Electrolysis is the process of using electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. When the process is powered by renewable electricity, the green hydrogen is “the most promising energy carrier of the low-carbon economy”, the scientists said.

Hydrogen can also be used as a storage medium for energy that is not continuously available, such as solar, wind and tidal power, they said.

But a global geographic mismatch between renewables distribution and fresh water supply makes it difficult to produce hydrogen in places where drinking water is a priority, according to the paper.

It pointed to North Africa, West and Central Asia, Midwest Oceania and the southwest of North America as areas where there is a shortage of fresh water but potential for solar and wind power.

To overcome the problem of not having enough water to create hydrogen, the scientists designed a device that uses porous materials — like a melamine sponge — soaked in electrolytes to absorb moisture from the air. It then splits the captured liquid water into hydrogen and oxygen. That process could be powered by a solar panel, a wind turbine or other renewable generators.

The team’s prototype machine is 1 square metre and can produce 93 litres of hydrogen per hour, according to the study. The device was tested to produce hydrogen of high purity for more than 12 days in a row at 40 per cent relative humidity without any liquid water added.

Study co-author Fan Xiaolei, from the University of Manchester’s chemical engineering department, said the device had several advantages.

“A lot of places with abundant renewable energy sources have limited water supply. Instead of competing for scarce drinking water, the device collects water from the air – which can hardly be used by humans anyway — to produce hydrogen,” he said.

“The production process also makes use of excess renewable energy, which could go to waste if not stored or sent to power grids when they have reached maximum capacities.”

Fan said the development could also be significant for chemical makers that use green hydrogen as a feedstock and renewable energy to reduce their carbon footprint, giving ammonia production as an example.

Hu Guoping, a researcher with the Ganjiang Innovation Academy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and also a co-author of the study, said hydrogen could potentially be transported to cities via gas pipelines when the device is scaled up.

“When China reduces the share of natural gas in its energy mix in the coming decades, the existing pipeline network can be used to transport hydrogen from the west to the eastern coastal cities,” he said. “At a smaller size, the device can be run in remote areas to power daily life.”

Lead author Kevin Li Gang, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s chemical engineering department, said the team planned to enlarge the device and explore other applications for it.

Li said it would be expanded to 10 square metres in the third quarter next year so it could produce enough hydrogen power in a day for one family.

He estimated that if it were scaled up to the size of a tennis court powered by solar energy, the device would be able to produce enough hydrogen to fuel 400 cars a year.

“We expect the product to be ready for market launch by the end of 2025 at the size of 1,000 square metres and operating in deserts, cold regions and places with storms,” Li said.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: doublystupid; hydrogen; hydrogeneconomy; science
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To: adorno

“Each and every one of your posts.”

You can’t even cite one!


81 posted on 09/13/2022 11:12:56 AM PDT by TexasGator ( )
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To: adorno

“Your arguments “

Cite just ONE post.


82 posted on 09/13/2022 11:14:24 AM PDT by TexasGator ( )
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To: TexasGator

Hydrogen migrates from gas into metal pipe wall where it forms interstitial blisters that weaken the steel, hence the expression: “hydrogen blistering”. Proper metallurgy will decrease its detrimental affect.


83 posted on 09/13/2022 11:29:51 AM PDT by 353FMG
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To: TexasGator
Cite just ONE post.

Dude. If you lived in a village that had no electricity and little water you would be singing a different tune.

Here's one.

Though not a direct endorsement with clear words, it's an argument for why it's something that needs to happen.
84 posted on 09/13/2022 12:00:38 PM PDT by adorno
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To: adorno

Context please.

That was in response to your “Water is everywhere.”


85 posted on 09/13/2022 12:07:13 PM PDT by TexasGator ( )
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To: TexasGator
That was in response to your “Water is everywhere.”

A negative of a negative makes for a positive.

That's how math works and that how logic works

You've been arguing in the negative to everything I posted, where I posted against the value of electrolysis in the desert. You posted against my posts, making your posts negative against my negatives. When you negate a negative, you are supporting the other side.
86 posted on 09/13/2022 3:08:05 PM PDT by adorno
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To: adorno

“You’ve been arguing in the negative to everything I posted”

Goes to the quality of your posts.


87 posted on 09/13/2022 3:25:11 PM PDT by TexasGator ( )
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To: adorno
"A negative of a negative makes for a positive. That's how math works and that how logic works. You've been arguing in the negative to everything I posted, where I posted "

LOL! I see your problem:


88 posted on 09/13/2022 3:31:42 PM PDT by TexasGator ( )
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To: TexasGator
I see your problem:

Yeah, my problem...

Which is that, I never take BS from anybody, and I always argue logically, which is something that you're unable to comprehend. Get it??? Logic???

You do know that a negative against another negative, makes the original a positive.

If I say no, you answer with a no to my no. Think about it. Oh, wait. That's gonna be way over your head. Carry on...
89 posted on 09/13/2022 7:00:34 PM PDT by adorno
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To: adorno

“You do know that a negative against another negative, makes the original a positive.”

The original is still negative. You are having a meltdown.


90 posted on 09/13/2022 7:05:04 PM PDT by TexasGator ( Gator in Florids)
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To: adorno

“You do know that a negative against another negative, makes the original a positive.

If I say no, you answer with a no to my no. Think about it. “

hmmmmm. If you say No and then I respond No that turns your No into a Yes thus agreeing with me!

who’d a thought!


91 posted on 09/13/2022 7:07:20 PM PDT by TexasGator ( Gator in Florids)
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To: All

Hydrogen is a non-starter...massive amount of electricity to produce...then storage/safety issues. Just use the electricity as-is. Hydrogen auto market already on life support...”Honda Clarities’” and Toyota “Mirai’s” available dirt cheap.

https://thedriven.io/2021/06/23/honda-discontinues-clarity-hydrogen-fuel-cell-and-plug-in-hybrid/


92 posted on 09/13/2022 7:24:46 PM PDT by Drago
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To: TexasGator
If you say No and then I respond No that turns your No into a Yes thus agreeing with me!

Like I said, logic is beyond your mental capacity.

You don't know nothing. Does that make sense to you?

I was negative against to the desert energy method. IOW, I was arguing against it. You argued against my posts. In that sense, you were arguing against what I posted, making you a supporter of the desert energy method.

I said no, and you said no against my no, meaning that, you are a supporter.
93 posted on 09/13/2022 8:11:20 PM PDT by adorno
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To: adorno

I thought logic is racism now. Ans up is down and Coke is Pespi.


94 posted on 09/18/2022 3:20:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
I thought logic is racism now. Ans up is down and Coke is Pespi.

You're still at it? You're worse than a hemorrhoid that won't go away. Logically speaking, you need a shrink in the worst way.
95 posted on 09/18/2022 7:09:48 PM PDT by adorno
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To: adorno

Sorry, you don’t have a sense if of humor. Lefties seldom do.


96 posted on 09/18/2022 7:17:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
Sorry, you don’t have a sense if of humor.

A sense of humor is easy to display when it's about something that makes sense.

Lefties seldom do.

' Since I'm not a lefty, you must be talking about yourself as a lefty.
97 posted on 09/18/2022 8:03:48 PM PDT by adorno
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To: adorno

“I was negative against to the desert energy method. IOW, I was arguing against it. You argued against my posts. “

My NEGATIVE turned your NEGATIVE into a POSITIVE desert energy plan.


98 posted on 09/19/2022 4:09:56 PM PDT by TexasGator ( Gator in Florids)
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