Report says that hydrogen fuel from sunlight could meet costs

The process, which is being developed by Prof Alan Weimer’s research team of CU-Boulder’s chemical and biological engineering department, involves an array of mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays and create temperatures up to 2,640°F.

The process is said to consist of two steps — each involving reactions of a thin film of metal ferrite coating with a reactive substrate contained in a solar receiver — to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

According to CU-Boulder, the current lowest-cost method for producing hydrogen is the steam-methane reforming of natural gas, primarily methane. In this process, significant amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere.

The report commissioned by the US Department of Energy (DOE) was produced by TIAX, a technology processing and commercialisation company headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. The report authors evaluated process conditions, major capital equipment, materials and utilities usage rates, estimated equipment sizes, financial and operating assumptions.

CU’s approach does not result in greenhouse-gas emissions and is more cost effective than competing technologies because the water-splitting reactions occur at lower temperatures and are faster, said Weimer. In addition, less energy and fewer active materials are required, resulting in lower costs.