This suddenly makes hydrogen relatively easy to store, and if the research holds out, it means that existing gas stations could be retrofitted with hydrogen storage units at far less cost (and with far greater safety) than previously thought. And that's good for the hydrogen economy.
Naturally, these solutions will take years -- maybe decades -- to make it into mainstream use, but this is precisely the kind of good science necessary to lay the foundation that allows the world to finally move away from our outdated oil economy and into something cleaner, smarter and far more environmentally friendly.
The most popular storage methods-liquid hydrogen and compressed
hydrogen-require that the fuel be kept at extremely low temperatures or
high pressures.
But the University of Chicago's Wendy Mao and David Mao have formed
icy materials made of molecular hydrogen that require less stringent
temperature and pressure storage conditions.
"The hydrogen-water system has already yielded three compounds so far,
with more likely to be found," said Wendy Mao, a graduate student in
Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago.
The compound that holds the most promise for hydrogen storage, called
a hydrogen clathrate hydrate, was synthesized at pressures between
20,000 and 30,000 atmospheres and temperatures of minus 207 degrees
Fahrenheit.