Energy Storage Options Growing

One of the problems with renewable energy sources such as waves, wind and solar is that they aren't constantly producing energy. The seas may be calm, the wind may not blow and the sun isn't always shining. We need to be able to store energy when it is being produced to use later when it isn't.

The New York Times is reporting on two new scientific advancements that have the potential to transform our energy storage and usage options. The advances apply to the process of converting electricity into hydrogen for storage and then converting the hydrogen back to electricity when needed

First is a new process that relies on the chemistry behind photosynthesis to produce hydrogen from water at ambient temperatures and pressures. Traditionally, the production of hydrogen involves high temp/pressure systems, which makes them expensive to run and more difficult to operate.

The second exciting news involves a new porous polymer material that replaces the platinum traditionally used in fuel cells that turn hydrogen into electricity. Platinum is the expensive component of current fuel cells, so this has the potential to drastically reduce prices.

Combine the two and you have a system to easily and cheaply turn electricity from renewable sources into hydrogen for storage and then back to electricity when needed.