A team at University of Exeter dedicated to the research over renewable energy has discovered a new technique to create sunlight-based hydrogen to produce cheap, clean, and vastly available fuel.
An innovative method was developed by the team to separate hydrogen and oxygen from the water constituents with the use of sunlight. This hydrogen can also be used as a perfect fuel with an ability to electrify day-to-day items associated with vehicles and homes.
Importantly, hydrogen fuel that is been created through this man-made photosynthesis technique would not only help to lessen the carbon emissions but will also provide an open access to a never-ending energy source.
The advanced new research centers are utilizing innovative photoelectrode, which is an electrode that takes in sunlight before initializing electrochemical transformations to extort hydrogen from water solution. It is been believed that this novel type of photo-electrode comes with multiple benefits including affordable production methods and availability of the huge mass of source that can meet the global demand.
Chief author of the paper, Govinder Pawar, of University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute on the Penryn Campus based in Cornwall said, “With rising population and economies, fossil fuels won’t be able to uphold the energy demand in a smooth way as they have reached to exhausting rate owing to constant depletion.
Alternative renewable fuels sources must be identified that can withstand for long-term to meet the demand for energy globally. Technically, Hydrogen has high density compared to fossil fuels and based on this it can be an effective replacement for fossil fuels.
At the current stage, approximately 25% of the global energy supplies are fetched by burning fossil fuels. However, owing to this desire and need to find cost-effective and sustainable renewable source is emerging rapidly.
One of the key restraining factors affecting the expansion of solar energy is a failure to develop a semiconducting material that is suitable for the process.
