Speeding up R&D for green hydrogen

Hydrogen is a clean fuel and feedstock that many experts believe will be key to decarbonising industries like trucking and steel production. But to be a truly sustainable solution, it needs to be produced without generating large quantities of carbon emissions. We already know how to produce low-emission ‘green’ hydrogen by running a renewable electric current through water (H2O) to separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms. However, the core piece of hardware needed for this process – known as an electrolyser – is currently expensive, which means that just one per cent of the world’s hydrogen is produced with renewable energy. Bringing down the cost of electrolysers will require continuing research and development, and New Zealand-based startup Bspkl is facilitating this process.