Scientists find new way to produce hydrogen fuel from sunlight
Bengaluru, April 28: The energy provided by sunlight in an hour is equivalent to mankind's total energy consumption for one year, but the development of devices to turn this abundant natural gift into a feasible energy source for mankind had remained a challenge.
A new research, led by Govinder Singh Pawar -- an Indian origin scientist at the University of Exeter in the UK -- has given a ray of hope for the solar fuel.
According to the report, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team of researchers developed an innovative method to split water into its constituent parts - Hydrogen and Oxygen - using sunlight.
The hydrogen can then be used as a fuel, with the potential to power everyday items such as homes and vehicles.
Hydrogen is considered to be a promising alternative fuel source that is clean -- its only by-product is water -- and is capable of replacing fossil fuels.
"The Hydrogen fuel that can be created through this synthetic photosynthesis method would not only severely reduce carbon emissions, but would also create a virtually limitless energy source," the university said in a statement.
"Photo electro-chemical" water splitting, emulating the natural photosynthesis using man-made materials, has long been considered as the Holy Grail to a carbon-free hydrogen economy.
However, efforts to produce efficient stable semiconductor material, in order to effectively convert sunlight to a storable widespread energy source, had so far proved elusive.
The ground-breaking new research by Pawar and co-workers at University's Environment and Sustainability Institute centres on the use of a revolutionary photo-electrode - made from nanoparticles of the elements lanthanum(La), iron(Fe) and oxygen(O).
Here, the team utilised Lanthanum iron oxide (LaFeO3) to create a semiconducting material that gave the ideal results for the production of Hydrogen from water using sunlight, making it the strongest candidate yet for renewable Hydrogen generation.
The researchers believe their novel photo-electrode made using "scalable spray pyrolysis method" is not only cheap to produce, but can also be recreated on a larger scale for mass and worldwide use.
"To the best of our knowledge, we report for the first time the nanostructured LaFeO3 photoelectrode for spontaneous Hydrogen evolution from water without any external applied bias," the researchers said.
"Moreover, our material has excellent stability where, after 21 hours of testing, it does not degrade, ideal for water splitting purpose."
The university in its statement said that Pawar and his colleagues "are currently working on further improving our material to make it more efficient to produce Hydrogen".
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Modi should leverage his ties with world leaders to de-escalate war in West Asia: Omar Abdullah
Jammu (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said India can play a meaningful role in de-escalation in West Asia, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong relations with the warring countries and their neighbours.
He said Pakistan was leveraging ties with Iran and the United States, and that any effort towards ending the war should be welcomed.
"As I said in the House (Assembly), we would like the war to end as soon as possible. The role that the prime minister can play may not be possible for anyone else because of his good relations with all these countries," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
He, however, said any escalation would not be easy to manage.
"Any such move by US President Donald Trump, despite the long history of Iran resisting external domination, would not be easy," the chief minister said.
Asked about Pakistan mediating in the war, he said, "I will simply say that if any country can play a role in preventing this war, no one should have any objection to it."
He added, "I will repeat what I said … our prime minister has good and close relations with all countries — whether it is Israel, the United States, Iran, or the countries around Iran. If those relationships can be used to make some progress and help ease the situation, it would be a good thing."
Abdullah said attacks by terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in India, as suggested by a report from the United States, are not unlikely.
Meanwhile, he asserted that any efforts to end the war, be it from Pakistan, must not be resisted.
"Pakistan is using its good relations with Iran and the United States to its advantage, and it has done so. How can we object to that? If that angle helps in stopping the war, would you want them not to act and let the war continue? We want the war to stop. If any country can play a role in that, it should. And if we can play an even better role, then we should do so," he said.
On unemployment in J-K, the chief minister said the issue cannot be resolved overnight, and government jobs alone are not the solution.
He stressed the need to explore alternative avenues, highlighting the importance of Mission Yuva in promoting entrepreneurship.
"Mission Yuva provides not just funding but also support in preparing DPRs and post-startup assistance, such as marketing. In just nine months, distributing Rs 1,000 crore and approving numerous schemes is a significant achievement," he said.
Abdullah credited the coordination between the government and Jammu and Kashmir Bank for the scheme's progress.
