Using Surplus Energy to generate Hydrogen; (USE H2)

Project Description

New approaches to the development of sustainable forms of energy are high on political agendas, for a variety of reasons including; climate change, depleting fossil fuels, forecasted population growth and also as a solution to decentralisation of the energy monopoly that currently exists. At present, the main source of energy relies on fossil fuels, which when combusted releases pollutants, most importantly greenhouse gases. Renewable energy sources are growing globally, however, they face a number of challenges including curtailment, operational costs and intermittence. One approach to address these concerns is to use hydrogen as an energy carrier. In this project our aim is to devise new, robust, cheap and sustainable photocatalytic materials for the direct generation of hydrogen using solar energy. The amount of power from the sun that strikes the Earth in an hour is more than the entire world consumes in a year. The photocatalysts will be attached to semiconductor surfaces, to create photoelectrochemical devices for the production of hydrogen using only energy from renewable sources including wind and sunlight, without the generation of CO2 in the process. The hydrogen produced can be used in a fuel cells to produce electricity during times of low power production, or by hydrogen driven cars, injected into the gas network or used to in the production of ammonia, or combined with CO2 to form methanol or methane. The use of hydrogen can help balance the grid, and aid in reducing Irelands energy related emissions.