r/science • u/Sort_of_Frightening • Sep 10 '23

Chemistry Lithium discovery in U.S. volcano could be biggest deposit ever found

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/lithium-discovery-in-us-volcano-could-be-biggest-deposit-ever-found/4018032.article
17.5k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

13

u/spambearpig Sep 10 '23

The HFC problem is all chemistry at the core. Pumping hydrogen around is a wacky idea so how to make our hydrogen safe and stable enough? Many things have been tried for decades but what we really want is to have our hydrogen hanging off a chain of carbon atoms in a liquid form. And getting that done in a way that competes with digging it up as liquid fossils has proven to be extremely difficult. If they can make an energy efficient enough way to do this at scale, it’ll take off. Materials science at the most cutting edge, exploring catalysts in quantum mechanics models. It’s what my Dad does not specifically for the auto industry but in academia.

7

u/RexManning1 Sep 10 '23

I agree with you. I was hoping they would find a way to stabilize the fuel cell, but it never happened. Now we just have to complete the move to get away from the rare metals.

6

u/spambearpig Sep 10 '23

I think the day will come. It might take 30 years but in a world where renewable energy is becoming prolific I can see that this model has big benefits. So when the chemistry catches up if it really is a better way, I believe we will end up, adopting it sooner or later. That’s if we don’t invent, magical sci-fi crystals that contain limitless power or something crazy like that.

3

u/RexManning1 Sep 10 '23

I’m sure. Everything will eventually happen. Whether it’s during my lifetime or not is another story. For now, I will keep using LiPO batteries for my home and cars until there is better technology. Even though they use rare earth metals, it’s still a much better solution than non-renewables.

1

u/tinyLEDs Sep 10 '23

My understanding isnt making the fuel work, but more like setting up infrastructure that can support consumers.

Everywhere is already set up for electricity and petroleum fuels. Hydrogen would need a massive new network.

See my comment above. HFC will be "a thing", but only where a corridor of support can be established. It works for trucking, butnot in consumer vehicles.