See also the work of a French team (in French):
Daniel Fruchart : Nous avons réussi à créer une solution qui, grâce à l’hydrure de magnésium (un matériau recyclable), permet de stocker l’hydrogène sous forme de galettes solides et empilables dans des réservoirs en tubes. Cette solution est bien plus sécuritaire que l’hydrogène sous forme de gaz aujourd’hui qui risque d’exploser quand il est à température ambiante.
Michel Jehan : La compacité volumique de notre hydrogène solide est aussi très intéressante. Si l’on prend un récipient de 1 mètre cube, on pourra mettre l’équivalent de 42 kilogrammes d’hydrogène sous forme de gaz comprimé à 700 bars, 70 kilogrammes d’hydrogène sous forme liquide, et 112 kilogrammes d’hydrogène solide avec notre solution au magnésium.
Translation:
Daniel Fruchart: We have succeeded in creating a solution which, thanks to magnesium hydride (a recyclable material), makes it possible to store hydrogen in the form of solid and stackable wafers in tube tanks. This solution is much safer than hydrogen in gas form today which risks exploding when it is at room temperature.
Michel Jehan: The volume compactness of our solid hydrogen is also very interesting. If we take a container of 1 cubic meter, we can put the equivalent of 42 kilograms of hydrogen in the form of compressed gas at 700 bars, 70 kilograms of hydrogen in liquid form, and 112 kilograms of solid hydrogen with our magnesium solution.
Explains are on the video:
Hydrogen could also be used for hydrogen aerostats: Info on hydrogen and (tethered) hydrogen aerostats, so for an AWE use.
About hydrogen production:
Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biogas and renewable power like solar and wind. The challenge is harnessing hydrogen as a gas on a large scale to fuel our homes and businesses.
Blue hydrogen is produced using natural gas as a feedstock by using one of two primary methods:
- Steam methane reformation is the most common method for producing bulk hydrogen and accounts for most of the world’s production. This method uses a reformer, which reacts steam at a high temperature and pressure with methane and a nickel catalyst to form hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO).
- Autothermal reforming uses oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) or steam to react with methane to form hydrogen.
The downside of these two methods is that they produce carbon as a by-product, so carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential to trap and store this carbon.
Green hydrogen is produced by using electricity to power an electrolyser that splits the hydrogen from water molecules. This process produces pure hydrogen, with no harmful by-products. An added benefit is that, because this method uses electricity, it also offers the potential to divert any excess electricity – which is hard to store (like surplus wind power) – to electrolysis, using it to create hydrogen gas that can be stored for future energy needs.