The writer is a science commentatorHydrogen has long been viewed as a miracle fuel of the future. It does not appear on its own in nature but is partnered with other elements in compounds such as water and methane. The flammable element, which produces water when burnt, is touted as a potential clean energy source for heating, industrial and agricultural use, and long-distance transport where electrification is difficult.

One way of harvesting it is via electrolysis, which uses electricity to split water into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Now researchers in China claim to have produced hydrogen by splitting seawater without the need to desalinate or purify it first, according to a report in Chemistry World.

Since seawater accounts for more than 96 per cent of the world’s water, this could be a significant step on the path to making green hydrogen (that is produced using renewable energy) affordably. “What they’ve done is really quite challenging from a chemistry perspective,” explains Professor Alex Cowan, who researches sustainable fuels at Liverpool University in the UK, and who last year co-authored a cost-benefit analysis on direct seawater electrolysis. “This technology hits a potential niche market that hasn’t been addressed before.”