Thursday, April 16, 2009
Water-Splitting Company Founded
The start-up is commercializing what some have called a breakthrough new catalyst for producing hydrogen.
By Kevin Bullis
According to the website Xconomy, a start-up has been founded to develop a much-discussed catalyst invented by MIT professor Daniel Nocera, one that can be used to split water efficiently without requiring rare metals or caustic chemicals. Easy and inexpensive water-splitting (which produces hydrogen and oxygen) could be a good way to store energy from solar power or wind turbines for use when it's dark outside or the wind isn't blowing. The hydrogen could be used as a fuel that could be burned whenever it's needed. Some sort of energy storage will be necessary if these renewable sources are to ever supply a large portion of our electricity.
Not much is known about the company other than that it's called Sun Catalytix, and is funded by Polaris Venture Partners, based in Waltham, MA. It makes sense that the company would want to stay quiet for awhile. Nocera's advance was in basic chemistry. Turning it into a useful product could take a long time. Read more about Nocera's advance, and the challenges ahead, here.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Comments
rttedrow
04/17/2009
Posts:43
If it works, goodbye fossil fuels. Goodbye utility companies. Hello rooftop panels tied to bi-directional fuel cell/furnace/hot water heater. So long, monthly energy bills.
Hmm. Maybe that's why it never seems to cross the line from research to commercialization.
At least all the PR companies from the Bush Era that used to work to disprove global warming know what they will be working against next.
paulfmeyer
04/17/2009
Posts:6
in the article so it is impossible to evaluate
it's importance or lack thereof...sort of a waste
of bandwidth I think.
devassocx
04/17/2009
Posts:53
Even if the hydrogen was "free", the high costs of storing and handling hydrogen in the amounts required for viable energy storage would make it uncompetitive.
The one application that would make sense for this process would be "on the spot" generation of hydrogen for industrial use, and if it was economically scalable, large hydrogen plants at coal, shale oil and heavy oil extraction sites to upgrade these fuels to light hydrocarbons, which are energy dense, easily handled and fit into the existing infrastructure.
Thucydides
04/19/2009
Posts:7
joeogan@comc...
05/04/2009
Posts:1
super efficient technology reduces large scale solar power costs by about 40% of established competitors. I think the world will be beating
down their doors after the first parabolic arrays go up. Needless to say, I bought a lot of thier stocks.
zorba2
05/14/2009
Posts:1