Solar energy at night?

Here's one for the oft-neglected good news file:

The problem with using solar power has been figuring out an inexpensive way to store the sun's energy for those times when the sun isn't shining, said Nocera. Although it could be done, the cost is prohibitive with current technologies.

Taking a page from photosynthesis in plant life, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, came up with a process to use the energy from the sun to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, according to a report from MIT. Later, when it's needed, the gases can be combined inside a fuel cell. That reconnection creates carbon-free electricity that can be used to power an office building, a home or even an electric car — whether the sun is shining or not.

I'm skeptical of the ability of science miracles to save us from what we're doing to the planet, but this is an exciting discovery no matter what. And just think: not only might it pull us back from the brink of global warming catastrophe, but it may even enable us to destroy ourselves in some entirely new and different way!

Comments

[LA Confidential Pantload]

I don't remember all the details, but there was a fuel cell research project at Humboldt State in the 1990s that incorporated solar power at the hydrogen refueling stations.