Hydrogen Produced from Aluminum and Water
This is nowhere near the production levels needed to produce power for cars - but this technology might help solve some of Romm's hydrogen miracles. If you can produce hydrogen from water with no electricity, it may be more efficient than battery driven cars. It could be produced on site, or in-car possibly solving the transport problems. I hope they can find a way to make this work in volume and cheaply/efficiently.
Scientists at Pennsylvania State University and Virginia Commonwealth University are producing hydrogen by exposing clusters of aluminum atoms to water. Rather than relying on the electronic properties of the aluminum, this new process depends on the geometric distribution of atoms within the clusters and requires the presence of Lewis acids and Lewis bases in those atoms. Unlike most hydrogen production processes, this method can be used at room temperature and doesn't require the application of heat or electricity to work.
This is nowhere near the production levels needed to produce power for cars - but this technology might help solve some of Romm's hydrogen miracles. If you can produce hydrogen from water with no electricity, it may be more efficient than battery driven cars. It could be produced on site, or in-car possibly solving the transport problems. I hope they can find a way to make this work in volume and cheaply/efficiently.