One of the most extensive yet mysterious things on Earth is the ocean. The ocean makes up 71% of the Earth. Still, only a small percentage of the ocean has been explored. Many ships and treasures have sunk to the ocean floor, and recently, an entire goldmine of fuel has been discovered. This goldmine consists of reserves that could last for millions of years, and it all lies beneath.<\/p>\n
An entire goldmine of fuel on the ocean floor<\/p>\n
Today, the world revolves around mitigating climate change with the use of renewable energies. Ironically enough, Earth has a vast untapped natural source<\/strong> of renewable energy just splashing around. The ocean has been of interest as an energy source for decades, with numerous companies focused on harnessing the ocean\u2019s waves and tides. However, as the ocean is essentially water, it thus also contains endless amounts of hydrogen.<\/p>\n One particular obstacle has been in the way, and that is to retrieve the ocean\u2019s goldmine of hydrogen. Yes, seawater electrolysis is the most obvious approach<\/strong> to yield hydrogen, but it also yields another less beneficial product, namely, toxic chlorine gas. That is why only fresh water is presently utilized to produce hydrogen, and we all know how climate change has impacted the availability of fresh water. Thanks to Equatic and the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), we may have the answer to all our problems.<\/p>\n Equatic\u2019s OSAs eliminate the process\u2019s dependence on pure\u00a0water and it taps into the world\u2019s most abundant water resource instead. This U.S. discovery will be manufactured by a team of highly-skilled technicians in San Diego, fueling our domestic clean economy and creating ripple effects that will be felt worldwide.\u201d \u2013 ARPA-E Program Director Doug Wicks<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mining the ocean for its reserves<\/p>\n Equatic, with funding from ARPA-E, created something that will advance seawater electrolysis\u2019s hydrogen production. Xin Chen from UCLA, the co-founder of Equatic, highlighted the company\u2019s purpose of using electrolysis to generate hydrogen without generating chlorine gas<\/strong>. The latter is difficult to manage, and extremely toxic and hazardous to humans \u2013 lest we forget World War 1!<\/p>\n The company\u2019s solution was to create electrodes with \u201cfinely-architectured catalysts\u201d that will not interact with seawater\u2019s salt, ensuring the stability of the salt\u2019s chlorine. Equatic achieved this by engineering oxygen-selective anodes (OSAs)<\/strong>. A negatively charged cathode and a positively charged anode produced oxygen and hydrogen, which could be safely advanced into large-scale levels.<\/p>\n These OSAs are recyclable<\/strong> and are recoated with catalysts (abundant Earth elements), which is more environmentally friendly than utilizing rare-earth metals<\/a>. According to\u00a0New Scientist, while this method does result in acidic and alkaline streams, the company increases the acidic stream\u2019s pH by letting it flow over silica-rich rocks. The alkaline stream responds to CO2\u00a0 and forms stable minerals. This is thus a dual-purpose process.<\/p>\n A dual-purpose process that delivers promising results<\/p>\n Equatic, which is a carbon removal company, describes this as dual-purpose process, as direct air capture technology captures the air\u2019s CO2 and traps it in solid minerals. The first field testing will commence at a Singapore test plant and a Quebec commercial plant. According to Popular Mechanics, Equatic indicated that the commercial plant will reportedly remove 109,500 tonnes of CO<\/strong>2<\/strong> and produce 3,600 tonnes of clean hydrogen by 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cOur method removes the largest barriers to participate in carbon removal and clean energy\u00a0production, namely high cost and the availability of specific geological formations, such as underground aquifers, CO2 pipelines, or desalination plants. This breakthrough is the crux of Equatic\u2019s ability to scale to gigaton volumes and has global implications.\u201d \u2013 Equatic\u2019s COO Edward Sanders<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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