Photo Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers have been working on a life cycle assessment for their method of creating hydrogen from recycled aluminum cans and seawater.
They discovered that the process generates a fraction of the carbon pollution associated with more conventional methods involving dirty fuels and produces valuable by-products that can further reduce costs for consumers.
Tech Xplore shared the MIT report that explained the process and detailed the results of the study, published in Cell Reports Sustainability.
The “cradle-to-grave” assessment calculated every step of the hydrogen production process at a large scale. It included acquiring and processing the aluminum, reacting it with seawater to generate hydrogen, and transporting the fuel to gas stations for end use by vehicles.
For every 2.2 pounds of hydrogen produced, the process would result in 3.2 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution over the entire life cycle. That’s a fraction of the nearly 25 pounds of CO2 emissions generated by traditional processes.
Hydrogen is seen as a clean fuel since it produces no direct emissions of pollutants or planet-warming gases, just water vapor.
Unfortunately, most processes employ dirty fuels to produce it, negating the environmental benefits. Around 6% of the world’s natural gas and 2% of its coal resources are being used to make hydrogen, making research like this increasingly important.
“We’re in the ballpark of green hydrogen,” said lead author Aly Kombargi, Ph.D., a recent MIT graduate.
“This work highlights aluminum’s potential as a clean energy source and offers a scalable pathway for low-emission hydrogen deployment in transportation and remote energy systems,” Kombargi added.
When aluminum is stripped of its natural shielding by treating it with a small amount of gallium-indium, it reacts with water to produce aluminum oxide and pure hydrogen, the report explained.
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The salt in seawater also reacts with the gallium-indium to help the material be recovered and reused, creating a sustainable cycle that can reduce costs.
As part of the life cycle review, the researchers found that using recycled aluminum was a more eco-friendly choice than using raw materials. Mining operations are known to cause environmental damage and impact nearby communities, and reclaiming resources is a more sustainable process.
The report also mentioned that boehmite — an aluminum-based by-product of the process — is a valuable mineral used in fabricating semiconductors, electronic elements, and a variety of industrial products.
The sale of this material could further reduce the overall costs of green hydrogen production while helping secure the supply chain against any uncertainties in global trade.
“There are a lot of things to consider,” Kombargi concluded. “But the process works, which is the most exciting part. And we show that it can be environmentally sustainable.”
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