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New Solar Cell Harvests Hydrogen From Water

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the stealing-what-plants-crave dept.

Engadgets is reporting that researchers at Penn State have built a new kind of solar cell that can harvest hydrogen directly from water. "The folks at Penn State have now developed a process that more closely mimics the photosynthesis process in plants, and while we won't pretend to understand all the nitty gritty of dye usage and other such nonsense, we do know that such a system could eventually attain 15% or so efficiency, providing a nice and clean way to gather power for that fuel cell car of the future."

4 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Energy from water... by ruinevil · · Score: 2, Funny

    First they want to make energy from our food. Now they are making it out of our drink. What's next... Soylent Oil?

    1. Re:Energy from water... by magarity · · Score: 2, Funny

      First they want to make energy from our food. Now they are making it out of our drink
       
      I'm reminded of a mediocre Niven/Pournelle novel where dramatic climate change was blamed on inhabitants of a space station needing to be resupplied with oxygen from time to time. What will burning all the water do to the planet? Won't someone please think of the fishes??

  2. could eventually by frovingslosh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't "could eventually" one of those warning phrases that tells you something is dubious, like "up to twice as long" or "she has a great personality" or "you're violating our patents but we don't want to tell you which ones"?

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  3. Re: no free lunches by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    > Although I don't have figures to hand, the same engine in a boat has a much lower horsepower rating than it has in a car.

    That's because horses can run much faster than they can swim, isn't it? :)