Fortescue buys into Australian low cost hydrogen technology that only needs sunlight and water.
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries has acquired a stake in an Australian invented technology that promises the ability to produce renewable hydrogen using just sunlight.
Sparc Technologies has been working to commercialise a new ‘photocatalyst’ technology developed by researchers at the University of Adelaide and Flinders University, which can split water using direct sunlight using the catalyst material, avoiding the need to generate the electricity required by conventional electrolysis.
The process of ‘photocatalytic’ water splitting uses an innovative material to split water into hydrogen and oxygen with using sunlight, potentially reducing the cost and the amount of land needed for renewable hydrogen production.
By developing the process of “thermo-photocatalysis”, the venture has the potential to eliminate the need for large-scale solar or wind farm developments in the production of renewable hydrogen, reducing costs and making production more flexible.
“As such, capital and operating expenditure is anticipated to be significantly lower than electrolysis and other forms of hydrogen production currently in use,” Sparc Technologies said in a statement to the ASX.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/fortescue-buys-into-australian-low-cost-hydrogen-technology-that-only-needs-sunlight/
