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DST widens hydrogen energy focus

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 01 Dec 2014
The DST launches a hydrogen research facility.
The DST launches a hydrogen research facility.

As government targets more alternative energy sources, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has unveiled a hydrogen research facility aiming to enable more cost-effective exploitation of SA's mineral resources.

The facility - which is located at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria - will be jointly used by the DST's research entity Hydrogen South Africa and the Batteries Research Centre. Its main functions will include energy research to develop new materials that can meet challenging hydrogen energy storage requirements.

Imraan Patel, deputy DG for socio-economic innovation partnerships at the DST, said the launch of the new facility is part of government's response to the global challenge of energy security. "Amid the global movement towards developing sustainable energy systems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier, combined with fuel-cell technology, has attracted considerable interest from government, international bodies and commercial companies worldwide," he said.

Looking ahead

In a brief statement, the DST said SA is "constantly improving mineral processing technologies to enable more cost-effective and wider exploitation of the country's mineral resources", and the launch of a hydrogen research facility is one such initiative.

Hydrogen is touted as a future clean and efficient fuel, but the challenge is developing infrastructure to produce, store and make hydrogen available for applications, in addition to getting cheaper replacement catalysts.

Dimitri Bessarabov, director of the DST Hydrogen Infrastructure Centre of Competence at the CSIR, said: "The main challenge around hydrogen and fuel cells is storage, therefore the widespread adoption of hydrogen as a fuel depends upon the ability to store hydrogen.

"The establishment of the research facility is a milestone that is set to stimulate local beneficiation of indigenous materials, positively impacting economic growth and job creation in accordance with the country's national development plan," he added.

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