Currently a huge detractor is that hydrogen is expensive to produce.  Water is very stable, and it takes a lot of energy to break apart water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.  Gerardine Botte of Ohio University has created a new catalyst that can extract the hydrogen from urine.

Urine is the most abundant waste on Earth and extrating hydrogen from it costs fraction of what it would cost to produce hydrogen from water.  A major component of urine, urea, incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule and only requires .37 volts to break the molecule down as opposed to the 1.23 volts needed to break water down.

“During the electrochemical process the urea gets adsorbed on to the nickel electrode surface, which passes the electrons needed to break up the molecule,” Botte told Chemistry World.  She also believes that this technology can easily be scaled to both clean up sewage plants while giving us a viable, long-term energy source.

via physorg

The technology works by putting microorganisms from sewage to an anode’s surface and then degrading the waste in the swage using a battery. The waste decomposes and leaves protons that move to the cathode and combine with electrons producing hydrogen. It is predicted that this technology will drive the cost of hydrogen down to the USDE goal of $2-3 a gallon. As an added bonus, the new technology cleans the sewage as it produces the hydrogen….and to think that we might have been flushing the answer to the world’s energy problems down the toilet.

via cleantechnica

Both sewage and the organic matter in garbage decompose and produce methane on their own, resources that are both already tapped for their energy potential at many waste facilities. This occurs because anaerobic microorganisms in the waste process the organic matter and produce methane as a by-product. The greater the amount of bacteria and organic matter, the faster the decomposition.

Landfill garbage breaks down relatively slowly due to the small amounts of bacteria and the separation of the organic matter by plastic bags and other non-degradable materials. While landfills do promote decomposition and the production of methane, this process is quite slow. With the Septage Bioreactor Landfill technology, septage is blended with ground garbage, allowing the organic matter to decompose much faster than it otherwise would. This creates large quantities of methane in a short period of time, which can be tapped for fuel. The other advantage of this technology as a fuel source, is it produces methane constantly as long as there is organic material fed into it. We have no shortage of garbage or sewage, so this will create a very plentiful and reliable source of energy.

The accelerated decomposition also results in less space being used in the landfill, extending its lifespan, as well as reducing groundwater leaching or runoff. On a similar note, separating septage from the rest of the sewage flow would allow for much smaller, decentralized wastewater treatment facilities since only greywater would be left; a substance that can be easily and quite effectively treated with natural systems.

via greengeek