Researchers from Tel Aviv University have reportedly produced “green” hydrogen at a 90% efficiency level, without polluting carbon dioxide emissions, according to a study published in the Carbon Energy journal.
Hydrogen plays a crucial role in modern society in industrial applications such as producing electricity and power vehicles.
Some 95% of all hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas and coal, leading to emissions of between 9 and 12 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) for every ton of hydrogen.
Itzhak Grinberg, a doctoral student who participated in the project, stressed how unusual it is to discover hydrogen in the atmosphere.
“Hydrogen is very rare in the atmosphere, although it is produced by enzymes in microscopic organisms, which receive the energy from photosynthesis processes,” Grinberg explained, saying that the enzymes are electrified in the lab, resulting in an electrode that provides the energy in place of the sun.
The Tel Aviv University research team succeeded in creating hydrogen by using a water-based gel, which was used to attach the enzyme to a biocatalyst and electrode.
Oren Ben-Zvi, a doctoral student who co-led the study, said the challenge with “green” hydrogen is the currently high production cost due to the use of rare metals.
"Today, 'green' hydrogen is produced primarily through electrolysis, which requires precious and rare metals such as platinum along with water distillation, which makes the green hydrogen up to 15 times more expensive than the polluting 'grey' one," Ben-Zvi said.
If proven successful on an industrial scale, the Israeli method could be a game-changer by offering a cost-efficient solution to the production of green hydrogen.
This article originally appeared on All Israel News and is reposted with permission.