Turning Plastic Waste into Hydrogen Gas

We might not have Mr. Fusion from Back to the Future, but new research could extract fuel from plastic waste.

Scientists from the University of Swansea used a photo catalyst to turn plastic into hydrogen gas. As explained by CNET:

“The researchers … put the plastic into an alkaline solution and shine sunlight or a solar simulator lamp onto it, producing bubbles on the surface -- hydrogen gas.”

Not only would this help solve the worldwide epidemic of plastic waste, but extracting energy from plastic is apparently cheaper than recycling it. And most plastic is just accumulating in oceans and landfills.

“There's a lot of plastic used every year -- billions of tonnes -- and only a fraction of it is being recycled,” said Dr. Moritz Kuehnel, who led the research. “We are trying to find a use for what is not being recycled.”

Read the full story here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/msn/plastic-waste-could-be-used-to-fuel-hydrogen-cars/ar-BBMTw1u