(442c) Hydrogen Economy Via Cost-Effective Renewable Solar Water Splitting

The Holy Grail of a renewable hydrogen economy is using renewable energy to split water producing hydrogen and oxygen, the two then combined via stationary or mobile fuel cells to produce electricity while regenerating water. Since more sunlight strikes the earth in 1 hr than all of the energy currently consumed on the planet in 1 yr, the use of solar energy to produce hydrogen cost-effectively from water is a Grand Challenge for sustainable energy. This presentation will provide a short overview of the options available for solar energy to drive water splitting and will then focus on the technical status for solarthermal water splitting and will discuss specific engineering challenges that need to be addressed for the process is to be commercially realized.