“The process is called electrolysis.”
Yes, and it appears that this catalyst is somewhat more efficient at driving the conversion. This rather begs the question of how much energy is required to convert h20 to hydrogen. One doesn’t get hydrogen for free, and you have to drive the reaction with some form of energy (mostly coal in the US). In the end, I suspect that there is no net energy gain by using hydrogen, as you gotta’ burn the coal to produce the electrons, that drive the reaction.
I’m afraid they’ll have to come up with more than a new catalyst to make hydrogen an economic, or environmental success.
It will cerainly make folks feel good though. ;-)
Obtaining hydrogen by electrosis cannot possibly result in any net energy gain. The hydrogen is an energy storage medium, like a rechargable battery, not an energy source and not a particularly efficient one. It does have the advantage of having higher energy density than batteries, though less than gasoline, iirc, measured in joules per kilogram. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy