The hydrogen? Many people speak about it as «the energy of future». The rumour-mongers pretend that she will remain him. They are perhaps wrong. Because two jobs published on Friday in the magazine Science show that the manufacture of hydrogen from solar energy is not any more an Utopia.

Today, the industrial hydrogen is obtained by splitting hydrocarbons. What makes that cars with hydrogen contaminate no more air of cities, but remain, indirectly, powerful transmitters of carbon dioxide which warms up climate. The other method of production, from water and from electricity, does not contribute in the global warming. But his price remains inaccessible.

That they do not get carried away. American jobs (Massachusetts Institute of technology, SHOULD PUT) do not allow to produce the hydrogen directly with the sun. It will be again necessary to cross it by the solar cells which produce current when our star shines. But on the other hand, the electrolysis, which transforms the water into oxygen and into hydrogen, will be easier. In SHOULD PUT, the team driven by Daniel Nocera offer a new catalyst which allows to improve this reaction, without heating nor compression, what limits the losses of energy. Besides, reaction asks for a neutral water, what makes it more ecological.

The material is worked out from cobalt and from phosphorus, more abundant and cheap than the platinum used until now. The new material is not although perfect, and targets for the moment the production of oxygen. The hydrogen remains difficult to extract some water and a part of consummate electricity is therefore lost. But this step qualified as matter by the magazine Science shows that the usage of the hydrogen to stock solar energy will be a possible day.

It is true all the more as an Australian team (University of Monash) announcement in the same number of Science, as it has a cheap catalyst for the production of electricity in piles with fuel with hydrogen. This time, the platinum could be replaced with a composite plastic, which worked in a pile during 1500 hours, in loss of performances …

The usage of the hydrogen as vector, and stocking, of energy makes quick progress therefore. But it still remains to improve the output of the production of photovoltaic electricity to erase, finally, the main obstacle which opposes to a massive usage of solar energy. Eventually, already prognosticate some American media, each will be able to fill up with his car with hydrogen with the sun.

Picture: © Denis Delbecq