🌊 Breakthrough: Seawater becomes fuel without hazardous substances

• The company Equatic has created a technology that extracts hydrogen from seawater without producing harmful chlorine.
• The method can simultaneously remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the ocean.
• The company has now begun manufacturing its innovative anodes at a facility in San Diego.

New solution to an old problem

Equatic has developed a technology that can extract hydrogen from seawater without producing harmful chlorine. This has been a challenge for electrochemists since the 1970s. The technology enables both commercial hydrogen production and carbon dioxide removal. They have now started manufacturing the anodes at a facility in San Diego, reports Heatmap.

Equatic's system uses electrolysis of seawater to produce hydrogen while simultaneously removing carbon dioxide from the air. The process separates the seawater into two streams - one acidic and one alkaline. The alkaline stream absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and converts it into a stable molecule.

This method of carbon dioxide removal has two advantages:

1. It allows for more precise measurement of the removed carbon dioxide compared to methods used in the open sea.
2. The process produces pure hydrogen, which can help cover the costs of carbon dioxide removal.

From lab to factory

Equatic has tested its concept in two smaller pilot projects in the Port of Los Angeles and in Singapore. These facilities removed about 100 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the air and produced a few kilograms of hydrogen per day.

The new facility in San Diego will be able to produce 4,000 anodes per year initially and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2024. The anodes will be used in Equatic's first large-scale demonstration project - a new facility in Singapore that will remove 10 tons of carbon dioxide and produce 300 kilograms of hydrogen per day.

The company also plans to build an even larger facility in Quebec that can remove 300 tons of carbon dioxide per day. This is about three times the capacity of the currently largest direct air carbon capture facility.