Panasonic has developed a catalyst that uses sunlight efficiently to extract hydrogen from water

[nationalize the fed]

Panasonic moves closer to home energy self-sufficiency with fuel cells
Tetsushi Yamamura | Asahi Shimbun | August 02, 2015

Panasonic Corp. said it has developed a catalyst that uses sunlight efficiently to extract hydrogen from water, a technology that could lead to energy self-sufficiency in homes powered by fuel cells.


Device that uses solar energy to produce hydrogen from water
(Tetsushi Yamamura)

The company said it tested photocatalysts consisting of niobium nitride that can absorb 57 percent of sunlight, a rate far more efficient than the titanium oxide photocatalysts used today that absorb only ultraviolet rays, which constitute 4 percent of sunlight.

Using this catalyst, Panasonic plans to develop products, such as panels similar to solar cells, for installation on rooftops. These products in turn will create the hydrogen that fuel cells use to generate electricity...snip more-
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/sci_tech/technology/AJ201508020014

Related: Panasonic has sold over 100,000 Ene-Farm home fuel cells in Japan

The future home is where the hydrogen power generator is
Nikkei Asian Review | Teruaki Hirasawa | July 11, 2015



OSAKA -- Panasonic is developing a household fuel cell system using hydrogen that can power homes and vehicles. It is doing so in part to help the government create a "hydrogen society."

The company aims to have a hydrogen generation system market ready by around 2030 to replace solar batteries.

"We are committed to developing technology that can play a part in the household hydrogen-based infrastructure," Yoshiyuki Miyabe, Panasonic's senior managing director in charge of technology, said July 3 in Tokyo.

Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. The conventional electrolysis method for splitting water costs money as it uses electricity. Hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide when it is burned, making it a clean source of energy. But when hydrogen is produced from water by using electricity, it is not as clean...snip more-
http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/The-future-home-is-where-the-hydrogen-power-generator-is

Related: Hydrogen is ideal energy, says Toshiba
May 3, 2015


Hisao Tanaka, Toshiba

TOKYO -- Technology companies are increasingly tapping hydrogen to create new energy infrastructure, one example of the resource being put to use is Toyota Motor's recent release of a hydrogen-fueled vehicle.

Hisao Tanaka, president of Japanese electronics maker Toshiba, said in a recent interview with The Nikkei that hydrogen is an ideal energy and Japan has a leg up over the rest of the world in developing the field.

Q: Hydrogen, which can fuel cars and generate electricity, is rapidly attracting attention as an alternative clean source of power. What kind of new business is Toshiba planning for the gas?

A: Toshiba has been involved in hydrogen-use research for roughly half a century, starting in the 1960s...snip more-
http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/Hydrogen-is-ideal-energy-says-Toshiba

How can this be?
A Lithium salesman told us all that "Fuel Cells are SO BULLSH*T"
We were also told that home hydrogen production would never happen.

Bullsh*t!

In Japan (and everywhere else in the universe) H2 is #1



The light at the end of the tunnel is a Hydrogen Freight Train

[Kablooie]

1. Something like this is needed for hydrogen fuel cells to compete with lithium batteries in cars.

With current technology hydrogen uses up more energy and creates more CO2 than lithium car batteries when comparing the "well-to-wheels" power output from each system


If the hydrogen could be generated from clean renewable sources it could change the balance of power (as it were) .
Of course if the electricity in a lithium battery could be generated the same way it complicates the equation again.

It remains to be seen if traditional batteries or fuel cells become the primary power source for future vehicles.