{"id":5958,"date":"2023-09-08T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/chemistry\/?p=5958"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:59:37","slug":"is-green-hydrogen-the-fuel-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/chemistry\/2023\/09\/08\/is-green-hydrogen-the-fuel-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Is green hydrogen the fuel of the future?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n \n A $2 billion expansion project at the World Energy sustainable aviation fuel facility in Paramount adds to the facility\u2019s capacity to refine renewable diesel fuel. (Photo\/Courtesy of the California Energy Commission)\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Is green hydrogen the fuel of the future?<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n By<\/span>Nina Raffio<\/a><\/strong>\n \n September 8, 2023<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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As the world seeks alternatives to fossil fuels, scientists are looking to hydrogen as a promising source of clean fuel. Unlike gasoline, which releases carbon dioxide when burned, hydrogen combustion produces only water vapor, making it a clean and environmentally friendly alternative. More often, hydrogen is converted to water and electricity in a fuel cell, as in the Toyota Mirai. It is already being used in this way to fuel zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and has long been used by NASA to send rockets into space.<\/p>\n

As the most abundant element on Earth, hydrogen has the potential to transform many of the sectors that power our world, from transportation and utilities to biofuels, fertilizers and environmentally benign chemicals. However, the high cost and logistical complexity of physically transporting hydrogen present cost barriers that we all have to pay for in the cost of our electricity, fuels and foods.<\/p>\n

Travis Williams<\/a>, a chemist at the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, is tackling this challenge head-on by developing a \u201chydrogen on-demand\u201d reactor that promises to simplify and cost-effectively revolutionize the transportation of hydrogen. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy recognized Williams\u2019 groundbreaking technology<\/a> as one of five pivotal achievements in recent hydrogen research history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current cost of hydrogen is mostly driven by the expense of compressing and delivering it. Our reactor essentially delivers high-pressure hydrogen when and where you need it, allowing users to convert it into energy or other products without producing any pollution,\u201d said Williams, who is also a professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. \u201cOur goal is to make hydrogen more accessible and economical as a clean energy source, and this technology is a major step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Story continues below video)<\/em><\/p>\n