A process that turns soda cans, seawater, and caffeine into hydrogen could be effectively deployed on an industrial scale, according to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Need to Clean Up Hydrogen
The process of using hydrogen to generate electricity results in water vapor as its only emissions, and advocates have long touted it as a potential alternative to greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels or intermittent energy sources like wind or solar.
But generating and transporting hydrogen also requires energy — and that power still tends to be generated from fossil fuels.
Mixing Soda Cans and Seawater
MIT scientists first outlined the technique last year — aluminum, in its pure form, naturally produces hydrogen when mixed with seawater — but it’s one thing to cause a reaction from a few soda cans and quite another to be able to power millions of fuel cell cars.
A “Cradle-to-Grave” Analysis
MIT scientists conducted a “cradle-to-grave” lifecycle analysis to determine whether the method would work on a larger scale.
Researchers said that under an industrial-scale process, scrap aluminum could be treated and shredded, then driven to fuel stations located near a saltwater source. The stations would then mix the two to create hydrogen on demand.
“In the Ballpark” of Green Hydrogen
The study found that the process would result in 1.45 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilogram of hydrogen produced. Current fossil fuel-based processes, by contrast, emit 11 times more CO2 than the hydrogen they produce.
Aly Kombargi, a recent MIT mechanical engineering doctoral graduate and the study’s lead author, characterized the results as “in the ballpark” of green hydrogen.
Image credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers
