China achieves breakthrough in solar-powered water splitting for hydrogen production

[Caribbeans]

A researcher demonstrates samples of titanium dioxide before (L) and after reformation, for directly splitting water with sunlight, at the Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science of the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

China achieves breakthrough in solar-powered water splitting for hydrogen production

Xinhua | 2025-04-08

French sci-fi author Jules Verne predicted about 150 years ago that water would become the fuel of the future. Today, scientists are striving to turn this fantasy into reality.

Chinese researchers recently achieved a breakthrough in "photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production." By performing "structural reshaping" and "element substitution" on a semiconductor material, they significantly enhanced the efficiency of converting water into clean hydrogen energy by using sunlight.

Current solar-driven hydrogen production primarily relies on two methods -- one uses solar panels to generate electricity for water electrolysis, which requires complex and costly equipment, while the other employs semiconductor materials as catalysts to directly split water molecules under sunlight, according to Liu Gang, director of the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and leader of the research team.

The key to directly splitting water with sunlight lies in a material called titanium dioxide. When exposed to sunlight, it functions like a microscopic power plant, generating energized electron-hole pairs that break down water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, Liu explained...more
https://english.news.cn/20250408/a2eaed3fd5dd426cbce624da97ac9b3f/c.html

[NNadir]

1. Really? Another among thousands of "breakthroughs?" Chinese hydrogen production releases 322 million tons of CO2.

A stupid lab scale trick will do zero to protect the world from the consequences of hydrogen production in China:

Subsidizing Grid-Based Electrolytic Hydrogen Will Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Coal Dominated Power Systems Liqun Peng, Yang Guo, Shangwei Liu, Gang He, and Denise L. Mauzerall Environmental Science & Technology 2024 58 (12), 5187-5195

The text is clear enough.

From the introductory text:

... Currently, nearly all hydrogen in China is either produced directly from fossil fuels (55% from coal gasification and 14% from steam methane reforming (SMR)) or as a byproduct of petroleum refining (28%), with only 1% coming from water electrolysis. (2) Producing 1 kg of coal- or SMR-based hydrogen emits roughly 19 and 10 kg of CO2, respectively. (3) In 2020, hydrogen production from fossil fuels in China emitted ∼322Tg of CO2, equivalent to 25% of total CO2 emissions from industrial processes, a number expected to rise with increasing hydrogen demand. (4) Industrial processes include production of nonmetallic mineral products, chemical, and metal products, as well as production and consumption of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. (4)

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The bold, italics and underlining is mine.

EST: Chinese Hydrogen Production Is Making Climate Change Worse.