Recipe for ‘entirely renewable energy’ from water is nearing reality

Generating “entirely renewable clean energy”, from which water would be the only waste product, is feasible — and scientists are “homing in” on the exact means of achieving it, according to new research.

A team from Trinity College Dublin is “fine-tuning” a means of using renewable electricity to split water molecules into their constituent atoms, to release energy-rich hydrogen, which they say could be stored and used in fuel cells.

The process is already possible, and can be done using wind or solar power to generate the electricity required to split the water molecules. But the idea is yet to take off in a big way, as the amount of energy required from these renewable resources to produce hydrogen remains very high.