A silicon-based powder that generates hydrogen when mixed into water
This will be much, much easier to transport than pure hydrogen. EAT gives the example of the world’s first hydrogen-shipping ship, the Suiso Frontier, a 116-meter (381-ft) cargo ship that can carry 88.5 tonnes of hydrogen, cryogenically cooled into a liquid state at great expense. The Si+ powder will weigh more, but it’ll also take up a ton less space. The same amount of hydrogen can effectively be carried in about 33 shipping containers full of Si+ powder, so a standard cargo ship’s ~10,000 container capacity represents the ability to carry ~30,000 tonnes of hydrogen – or 339 times more than the Suiso Frontier. Weight is definitely a factor – the Si+ powder weighs about 7.4 times as much as the hydrogen it can generate. But this represents a mass fraction around 13.5%, which is nearly double what the Deakin powder promises, and it could actually end up being weight-competitive with a compressed gas system given how heavy those tanks tend to be