The group from USCLoker Hydrocarbon Research Institute derived hydrogen through a carbon-free process with the help of the simplest alcohol known to man in the form of methanol. Scientists have long since been struggling to find a way to extract and store Hydrogen. The gas that will eventually be a go-to energy source. Hydrogen is derivative from methanol.
On a publication in a Journal of the American Chemical Society, Researchers and scientists made a breakthrough of harnessing the element Hydrogen without the byproducts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. These greenhouse gasses contribute to climate change, the rise of acidity in our oceans, and global warming. The group led by Senior Author G.K Surya Prakash, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry 1994, found a way to extract hydrogen from methanol and trapping the gas in ammonia organic derivatives called Amines.
According to Prakash and his partner Olah, the dream is to have an efficient renewable energy, free of carbon. They had given their mission a term called "The Methanol Economy". This type of economy frees itself from the bondage of fossil fuels thereby decreasing the carbon footprint spewed into the atmosphere by petroleum and other oil based fuel, as reported by Physics.Org.
At the height of Prakash and Olah's study and intervention regarding the usage of oil, the world consumed an estimate of 70 million barrels per day. The figure is expected to rise to 100 million barrels per day next year. World economies like China had started to divert from oil consumption to renewable energy. It is the biggest pollutant contributor but is now producing 500,000 barrels of methanol per day. methanol is gaining ground in countries all over the world.
Hydrogen, when extracted from methanol, can be used as a low carbon energy source in car fuel cells, converting hydrogen into electricity. Cars that run on fossil fuels emit from 70g to 80g of carbon per kilometer. This emission rate can be decreased to zero with hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen can also be used as fuel to heat homes blended with natural gas. Hydrogen extraction has only water as its byproduct, as reported by the USC News.
There are plenty of sources to obtain the supply of methanol or commonly called "Wood Alcohol". It lies abundant in natural gas and coal. Prakash and Olah consider methanol floating in space and wants to mine them and bring down to earth for the hydrogen extraction process.
The Methanol or the Hydrogen Economy will turn back the winds of change considering the state of our planet today. It will beneficial to the people and the earth to support the growing economy using the Next Fuel Efficient Renewable Energy.
