Research & Innovation

The ability to be able to produce hydrogen fuel on a mass-scale that would be both economically feasible and energy efficient would be one of the major breakthroughs of the modern era, according to phys.organd published in the scientific journal, Science.

As the process of producing hydrogen energy is created by separating hydrogen in water through electrolysis, its use an energy source would be enormously beneficial given that it would emit no harmful emissions whatsoever.

While the process of creating hydrogen energy, the main issue with it being available on a larger scale has been its reliance on using fossil fuels to power the electrolysis which is counter-intuitive.

Now the Scottish team claim that their new liquid storage solution will be able to produce large quantities of clean energy at lower energy input provided by other renewable energies.

Explaining the process, Professor Lee Cronin said: “The process uses a liquid that allows the hydrogen to be locked up in a liquid-based inorganic fuel.

“By using a liquid sponge known as a redox mediator that can soak up electrons and acid we’ve been able to create a system where hydrogen can be produced in a separate chamber without any additional energy input after the electrolysis of water takes place.”

Prof Cronin furthermore says that as 95pc of the world’s hydrogen is produced by fossil fuels, mostly used in food production, the potential for the redox mediator, as a reliable hydrogen production from renewable sources is enormous.