On Nature: Hydrogen from Soda Cans
In findings that seem too unbelievable to be true, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to generate non-polluting hydrogen gas from sea water by mixing it with aluminum pellets from recycled soda cans. Even more astonishing, according to an article in Cell Reports Physical Science, the reaction was speeded up greatly by the addition of coffee grounds.
The researchers had been looking for a substance that could speed up the normally slow reaction when in desperation they added coffee grounds to the experiment, and the yield of hydrogen increased dramatically. This led them to try and find out why this happened. A chemical analysis of the coffee grounds determined that they contained imidazole, an active ingredient in caffeine. This was the key to speeding the reaction, and 0.1 ounces of aluminum pellets yielded 13.5 ounces of hydrogen in 5 minutes.
If these results can be scaled up, the implication is staggering. For example, 40 pounds of aluminum pellets could power a small underwater submarine for about 30 days. This demonstrates the importance of technology in getting us out of the climate mess, and our government should do all it can to support such research.
David Voigts is a retired ecologist and the current Conservation Chair for the Prairie Rapids Audubon Society. He is a Tama County native, graduating from Dinsdale High School, and lives in rural Jesup on his wife’s family farm.