Sponsored by SurfShark VPN. Being clean and abundant, green hydrogen is
touted to be one of the essential ingredients for the sustainable energy mix of the future. Yet, there’s an *invisible* yet big problem. It’s a gas with a low volumetric energy
density. This makes its storage, transport, and operation
complicated and expensive. But what if we could store hydrogen as a solid
... on the cheap? A start-up may have a *solid* technology that
could speed up the energy transition. Spoiler: It’s so good it was banned! I'm Matt Ferrell ... welcome to Undecided. Hydrogen is a key driver for heavy-duty e-mobility
applications like buses, trucks, trains and ships. That’s because these large-scale vehicles
require an amount of energy that batteries can’t provide yet. However, a fuel cell doesn’t need to be
recharged like a battery as long as you can supply hydrogen. The major advantages of fuel cell electric
vehicles (FCEVs) are a longer driving range and a lower refueling time compared to batteries. This makes hydrogen an ideal fuel for long-distance
transport. But there’s still a problem. How do you store a high load of hydrogen safely
and cheaply on board? Storing hydrogen as a gas requires high-pressure
containers which are both costly and more difficult to keep safe. Alternatively, you can compress it and turn
it into a liquid. However, hydrogen starts boiling off at -252.8°C
(-423°F) , and if you want to keep it in a liquid phase you need to cool it down and
chuck it into a cryogenic tank, which is expensive to maintain. Compared to storing its liquid molecule, the
solid storage of single atoms would incorporate a larger amount of hydrogen into a small volume. Plus, this approach wouldn't require high
pressure or freezing temperatures, which makes it more cost-effective. This would be a low-cost way of increasing
the driving range of hydrogen-powered electric vehicles, which could then compete with fossil-fueled
cars ... and maybe even battery electric vehicles. That’s why a great deal of research has
been done on solid-state hydrogen storage applications. Normally, you can bind hydrogen to a metallic
compound through two common processes. We're talking about ad-sorption, when the
hydrogen molecule or its single atoms gently link up with a solid surface ... that surface
is referred to as the ad-sorbent. Another option is ab-sorption. In this case, the hydrogen atoms go through
the surface and bind to the internal structure of the ab-sorbent. In both cases, you end up with what's called
a metal hydride. However, the startup Plasma Kinetics has come
up with a slightly different solution. As touted on their website, this is a 3-prong
zero-carbon technology which is doing multiple jobs: capture, storage and delivery. Apparently, this pot of gold (or hydrogen
I guess I should say) has a higher energy capacity and lower cost than a lithium ion
battery. And you can recharge it in 5 minutes. The company said they ab-sorbed the hydrogen
from air onto a light-activated nano-scale film, which is 10 times thinner than a human
hair. This hydrogen sponge can trap the gas at low
temperature and pressure, which translates into a lower cost. Then you just need to put a spotlight on the
film to take some hydrogen out. That sounds amazing, right? And a little oversimplified? Let’s try to get a more solid grasp on this
tech. First, where did this idea come from? Back in 2009, Plasma Kinetics introduced their
Light Activated Energy Storage (LAES) technology to the U.S. Department of Energy, who first
defined it as transformational. However, they then transformed their opinion
a little while later to label it as disruptive. Apparently, their technology provides an energy
source that falls under the US national security umbrella. . In other words, they can’t sell their
tech for missile fuel applications, which wasn’t their target anyway. So, what’s all the fuss about it? Plasma Kinetics designed a nanophotonic filter
that captures hydrogen onto an internal graphite-based structure at atmospheric pressure and ambient
temperature. The device could extract metric tons per day
of 99.99% pure hydrogen directly from smokestacks and gas streams and turn it into a solid state. How is that possible? Before I get to that, I’d like to thank
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supporting the channel. Now back to how Plasma Kinetics breakthrough
is possible... The secret behind this unbelievable invention
seems to lie within the material used. A multilayer shape-memory alloy (SMA), which
is basically an alloy that remembers its shape once it's changed. Typically, you can mold this material at low
temperature and get it back to its original shape by heating it. While it might sound like plastic, SMAs are
just a mix of two metallic compounds like nickel and titanium. Two common examples of SMA applications are
mechanical actuators and medical stents. As for Plasma Kinetics’ SMA, you have magnesium
in it. This alkaline-earth metal is also a core component
of chlorophyll, the substance used by plants to perform photosynthesis. That’s the reason why the company’s material
interacts with light. This property is the key difference when you
compare light-activated hydrides to standard metal hydrides. The second type of materials also rely on
reversible ab-sorption for attaching the hydrogen atoms to their solid framework, but need temperatures
of up 200°C (392°F) to release it. The company has described their device as
a movie projector or CD player. Whether in a cassette, a canister, or a disc,
you just need to shine a laser light on the hydrogen-filled film to release the...guest
star...I mean the trapped hydrogen. That sounds *spectacular* but how does it
actually work? During the ab-sorption cycle, the positively
charged hydrogen atoms are attracted by negatively charged sites within the film's nanopores. Because of the material photoactivity, when
a laser hits the film, the light switches the polarity of the bond to positive, which
frees the hydrogen atoms. That's the big benefit with their system ... the
desorption process occurs without heating up the material like conventional metal hydrides
do. As of today, hydrogen is obtained using energy-intensive
and high-carbon processes like natural gas reforming or electrolysis. That’s why Plasma Kinetics zero-carbon capture
technology could have a massive environmental benefit for hydrogen production. By providing a longer lasting yet lighter
energy storage, the company is aiming to *fuel* the implementation of heavy hydrogen-powered
mobile applications like boats, trucks, and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft
(e-VTOL). While hydrogen powered passenger cars aren't
likely to catch on compared to battery electric, the way it’s supposed to work with this
tech is that you buy a hydrogen-filled disc cartridge in a convenience store. It doesn't require special safety storage
like canisters of hydrogen gas ... but I'll get to that in a minute. Once it’s empty, you return it and swap
it for a fully-charged one. The actual cartridge swap in the vehicle would
take just a few minutes. Another huge market segment would be the decarbonization
of energy grids. That’s because Plasma Kinetics’ device
can make green hydrogen even greener. The company’s storage solution would host
the surplus hydrogen created by renewable-powered electrolysis. Some of the green hydrogen could be stored
without requiring compression or liquefaction. You can then feed the clean hydrogen to fuel
cells to convert it back into green electricity based on demand. This would fill the gaps in the clean power
supply on cloudy days or when the wind doesn’t blow, which makes our grid more flexible and
resilient on renewables. Given its versatility, the film-containing
canisters can be assembled wherever needed, like close to a wind farm for instance. They could serve as low-cost backup storage
for remote communities or function as a mobile micro-grid for rescue operations. Capture and storage sound very promising,
but what about the hydrogen distribution? When it comes to delivery, a big plus for
the Plasma Kinetics storage system is safety, as the hydrogen is carried in a non-flammable
form. This means it can be shipped by any route
without restrictions. Yet, the leading edge of this *enlightening*
hydrogen trap is that you don’t need complex and costly infrastructure such as pumping
stations and pipelines to spread the compressed gas around. And the system is also easily scalable from
a single disc to a massive hydrogen library. According to the company pitch deck , by loading
their containers on a single ship, they can safely move 20,000 tons of hydrogen in one
trip. In energy terms, that’s enough to power
25,000 homes for a year. But how does their hydrogen storage innovation
stack up to its competitors? When you compare it to lithium-ion batteries,
light-activated hydrides seem to *obscure* them on all fronts. Besides having a higher energy density, Plasma
Kinetics boasts its technology to be 17% less expensive and 30% lighter than Lithium-ion
batteries for the same amount of energy stored. On the other hand, the light-activated storage
unit has an efficiency of up to 70%, which is a bit lower than high-capacity batteries,
ranging between 70 and 90%. When ranking it against compressed gas systems,
the battle is tighter. Although being slightly heavier than carbon-fiber
tanks at around 700 bar (10,000) PSI, the solid-state hydrogen containers are much easier
and safer to handle than the compressed gas vessels. Also, while Plasma Kinetic design has a lower
energy density than highly pressurized storage, their materials have a lower energy cost. Based on company estimates, using one of their
light-activated hydrogen trucks instead of a compressed hydrogen-powered vehicle, would
save €20,000/year in fuel costs. That’s because the cost of solid-state hydrogen
per kWh is 50% lower than compressed hydrogen. To add to that, unlike the Plasma Kinetics
system, a compressed gas hydrogen truck would need a refueling infrastructure worth €2.3M/station. I can hear you already, "We get it ... this
tech is unreal, but what's the catch?" According to the company founder, the only
drawback is that you can’t just plug your car in at home and re-charge it like you would
with a conventional BEV. That’s because you first need to feed the
stored hydrogen to a fuel cell to convert it into electricity. On top of that, while the cartridge or film
can be used up to 150 times, the film is not...never ending...that's because of deuterium, the
hydrogen’s...fatter twin...which fills up the material's nanopores. But the discs are 100% recyclable and you
can even recover and sell the deuterium to cover the recycling costs. Hydrogen will play a key role in the energy
transition, but we’ll make the most out of it only with viable and efficient storage
technologies. Solid-state systems like this seem to be the
way forward and Plasma Kinetics is...shining a green light...at the end of the tunnel. But what do you think? Sound too good to be true? Do think this is the shot in the arm that
hydrogen needs to take off? Jump into the comments and let me know. And thanks as always to my patrons and a welcome
to new Patreon Supporter+ member Nick DiPaolo. Your direct support really helps with producing
these videos. Speaking of which, if you liked this video
be sure to check out one of the ones I have linked right here. And subscribe and hit the notification bell
if you think I’ve earned it. Thanks so much for watching and I’ll see
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