Accelerated geologic process could be alternative source for hydrogen

BBC : In nature, the mineral olivine reacts with water to produce serpentine and free hydrogen atoms. It is a common process near oceanic vents where the hydrogen combines with carbon to form various organic molecules. But it is a slow process. Muriel Andreani of the University of Lyon in France and her colleagues hoped to increase the speed of the reaction by mixing olivine crystals in water heated to a few hundred degrees Celsius, adding aluminum oxide as a catalyst, and pressurizing the system to 2000 atmospheres. Instead of the several-week-long process they expected, within a day more than half of the olivine had reacted with the water. The reaction occurs at much lower temperatures and without the use of fossil fuels that are currently necessary for the industrial production of hydrogen gas. The team estimates that the process could reasonably contribute 10% of the current amount of hydrogen produced. And it is possible that the serpentine could be used in carbon capture because the mineral is known to be a natural absorber of carbon dioxide.