Last week, Michaelia "Chuckles" Cash announced a grant of $3M to...

Last week, Michaelia "Chuckles" Cash announced a grant of $3M to a bloke at one of the unis in Sydney, to progress producing Hydrogen from water, using hydrolysis and powered by "excess" renewable energy.

Using hydrolysis to produce Hydrogen is a Net consumer of energy i.e you have to use more energy to produce the H, than you get back in the H product. That's why they suggested it would be produced from "excess" renewable energy - the economics don't work unless you value the energy input at Zero cost.

Cash described it as a "revolutionary technology". It's not, at all.

This latest news, about a CSIRO developed technology to convert H into Ammonia, and back again, is couched in similar terms i.e. use renewable energy to produce H, and 'we'll' take the product, and convert it to and fro.

The only technology I'm aware of, that isn't a Net consumer of energy, to produce H from water using hydrolysis, is Hazers.

Similarly, the only technology I'm aware of, that doesn't produce more carbon emissions when converting Methane into H, than it saves by using the H instead of FF's to make things 'go', is Hazer's.

I do hope Hazer and their minder, Mineral Resources, are making this very plain to those who plan the nation's economic future.

Leaving aside where Hazer is in the development, and what potential problems they may encounter down the road, as things currently stand, conceptually, Hazer's tech is a freakin' no brainer, both environmentally, and economically.

And, I have a sneaky suspicion the membrane used in the CSIRO process might be based on a Vanadium alloy.

http://www.synchrotron.org.au/aussyncbeamlines/powder-diffraction/highlights-pd/membrane-power

The ABC report mentions a Michael Dolan. So does the synchotron piece:

"Michael Dolan from CSIRO Energy Technology is developing vanadium alloy membranes that cost less than their palladium counterparts. Vanadium’s higher hydrogen absorption and permeability values also potentially offer better performance. Michael says the market potential of the new membranes is “vast”.

The catalyst is in the membrane.

Each H producing method, be it converting Water, Methane or Ammonia, uses catalysts. Hazer's catalyst, as far as I'm aware, is not just the cheapest, but also the most readily and abundantly available.  

Another method of producing H from Ammonia uses a combo catalyst based on Ruthenium (from the Platinum group) and Lanthanum (a Rare Earth).