Hydrogen ‘to become a viable alternative to petrol’ thanks to new process that makes gas behave like liquid

“The development has been to turn hydrides into fibres or beads, 30 times smaller than a human hair, through a process of electro-spinning. This produces a white tissue-like material that can be controlled to capture and release hydrogen.

The encapsulation process protects the hydrides from oxygen and water, prolonging their life and making it possible to handle them safely in air and because it behaves like a liquid, current infrastructure will need minimal modification.

‘You can use tankers to carry the material around,’ said Bennington. ‘You can take it to forecourts and then you can pump it into the vehicle and give the customer the same kind of experience they have now.’

All part of the reason Cella Energy believe their process could herald a new era of carbon-free motoring.

‘The experience that most people have now is using regular liquid fuels where it takes three minutes to fill your vehicle and then you can travel 300 miles,’ said Stephen Voller, Cella Energy’s CEO. ‘Now you can have exactly the same experience with hydrogen but you can’t have that experience with an electric car.’

The company said hydrogen could be an economically viable alternative to fossil fuels if the gas is produced with renewable energy sources like wind or solar. It has three times more energy than petrol per unit of weight and could power cars, planes and other vehicles that currently use hydrocarbons.”

Hydrogen ‘to become a viable alternative to petrol’ thanks to new process that makes gas behave like liquid | Mail Online