Ironically, I sometimes don’t realize how much stress I’m internalizing about what we’re doing to this planet until something like this comes along:
Solar-Power Breakthrough
Researchers have made a major advance in inorganic chemistry that could lead to a cheap way to store energy from the sun. In so doing, they have solved one of the key problems in making solar energy a dominant source of electricity.
Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry at MIT, has developed a catalyst that can generate oxygen from a glass of water by splitting water molecules. The reaction frees hydrogen ions to make hydrogen gas. The catalyst, which is easy and cheap to make, could be used to generate vast amounts of hydrogen using sunlight to power the reactions. The hydrogen can then be burned or run through a fuel cell to generate electricity whenever it’s needed, including when the sun isn’t shining.
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That’s exciting news! It’ll be awesome when we’re not dependant on foreign (or domestic, for that matter) oil anymore.
Yeah, I’m hoping that we (the U.S.) can make a dent in Al Gore’s energy challenge. This would actually provide a way for new homes to sort of come at the problem from the other direction. If new homes can effectively break away from the grid with something like this, then it alleviates some of the demand that the power companies will need to provide, making the goal that much more achievable. The technology is all there. It’s just going to take some concerted effort, and then some serious support from the government to get things moving. Once it does get moving, though, it’ll be like a freight train…