The Future of Renewable Energy Green Hydrogen From Air Humidity

 "Discover the future of green hydrogen from air humidity: a renewable energy source that can power homes & businesses while protecting the environment. Learn more!"

A group of scientists has discovered a way to obtain green hydrogen from moisture in the air, in a process that was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. By far, the most sustainable way to make hydrogen is to split water with renewable electricity, but you need access to fresh water.

But, these scientists tested the direct air electrolyzer for 12 consecutive days and showed that it could produce an average of about 750 liters of hydrogen per day per square meter of the electrolyzer. Hydrogen offers the potential for clean, zero-emissions energy, and the hydrogen economy has gained momentum in recent years thanks to increased funding and technological improvements.

Solar water separation devices use photocatalysis, which absorbs sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, but with a low solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of only 1%.

Scientists now used the moisture in the air as a source of water. "Globally, there are about 13 trillion tons of water in the air at any given time, he says, and even dry environments, such as the vast coastal region of Africa, average about 20 percent humidity."

So, they soaked a sponge or foam with a water-absorbing electrolyte fluid and sandwiched it between two electrodes. "The water extracted by the electrolyte is transported to the electrodes by spontaneous capillary force and electrolyzed into hydrogen at the cathode and oxygen at the anode", explains the project's lead scientist. "The entire process is passive and involves no moving or mechanical parts."

Experts on environmental issues, climate change, and clean energy production recently announced that Latin American countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Argentina are on track to become the three countries with the cheapest hydrogen (H2) in the world. If they get it, generate renewable electricity.

What's more, he added, cheap wind and solar power, combined with high capacity factors, could push renewable H2 costs to US$0.55 per kilogram in Brazil by 2050, Bloomberg reported.

That would be about half the cost of producing H2 from the cheapest natural gas in the world today. Developers are aware of the potential. Companies such as Enaex SA, Enel SpA and Engie SA have proposed renewable H2 production facilities in Chile. Fortescue Metals Group Limited has proposed a large-scale plant in Brazil.