[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/10053\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ERealising a century-old dream to make electricity from air \u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the European Union strives for climate neutrality by mid-century, a mother-and-son-team is helping to tackle a potential hurdle: the limited number of renewable-energy sources driving the EU\u2019s shift away from fossil fuels.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAndriy Lyubchyk is a partner in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101046307\u0022\u003ECATCHER\u003C\/a\u003E project, which aims to expand a clean-energy mix by perfecting the conversion of atmospheric humidity into electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOld dream \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique involves harvesting the tiny charges of static electricity contained in gaseous water molecules, which are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. The process is known as hygroelectricity or humidity electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018With this new renewable-energy source, we believe we will drastically increase the efficiency and the possibilities of the green-energy transition,\u2019 said Lyubchyk, chief executive officer of Portuguese start-up Cascatachuva Lda. He is also a chemical engineer at Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies in Lisbon, Portugal.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the early 1900s, Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla dreamed of harnessing energy from the air. He ran a series of experiments trying to capture electrical charges from the atmosphere and transform them into an electric current.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESince Tesla\u2019s time, scientists have learned more about how electricity is formed and released in the atmosphere and discovered that water vapour can carry an electrical charge.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe know-how could be a boost for the EU, which gets about 22% of its energy from renewables. It is on track to tighten an end-of-decade target for such sources, which also include hydropower, to as high as 45%.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EWe will drastically increase the efficiency and the possibilities of the green-energy transition.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EAndriy Lyubchyk, CATCHER and SSHARE\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBut, for Europe to become climate-neutral by 2050, renewables will have to play an even bigger role and hygroelectricity would give the EU more options as it seeks to abandon oil, natural gas and coal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cstrong\u003ENew technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFunded by the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eic.ec.europa.eu\/eic-funding-opportunities\/eic-pathfinder_en\u0022\u003EEuropean Innovation Council\u0027s\u0026nbsp;Pathfinder programme\u003C\/a\u003E, CATCHER brings together eight partners from six countries in Europe to explore the possibility.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWhile the general idea might be the same, the particular technology used by CATCHER is very different to Tesla\u2019s. The project uses panel-like cells made from zirconium oxide \u2013 a hard crystalline material \u2013 to capture energy from atmospheric humidity.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nZirconium oxide is a ceramic material widely used for such things as dental implants, advanced glass-like materials, electronics and cladding for nuclear fuel rods.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWhen exploring the properties of nanomaterials made from zirconium oxide seven years ago, researchers started to see evidence of hygroelectricity, according to Svitlana Lyubchik, who coordinates CATCHER and is the mother of Andriy Lyubchyk.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nLike him, she is a chemical engineer at Lusophone University. They undertook various initiatives to try to exploit this potential.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are now at the point where an 8-by-5-centimetre plate of their material can generate around 0.9 volt in a laboratory with a humidity of around 50%. This is comparable to the power output of half an AA battery.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking to make its hygroelectricity material more efficient, the team expects that, once perfected, the cells will be able to harvest the same amount of electricity as similar-sized photovoltaic cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also believe that the cells will be deployed in a similar way to solar panels \u2013 either as large-scale electricity farms or as a power source for individual buildings.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cstrong\u003ESteady states\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cells are created by producing very small, uniform nanoparticles of zirconium oxide and then compressing them into a sheet of material with a similar structure throughout including a series of channels, or capillaries.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe nanostructure generates electrical fields inside the capillaries that separate the charge from water molecules absorbed from the atmosphere, according to Andriy Lyubchyk.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe result is a cascade of physicochemical, physical and electrophysical processes that capture the electrical energy.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn one respect, the new technology will have an advantage over solar and wind energy. While panels and turbines have to be positioned to capture sunlight and wind, hygroelectricity cells need no particular placement because little variation exists in local humidity levels.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EWe can contribute to EU policy in terms of energy independence.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003ESvitlana Lyubchik, CATCHER and SSHARE\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThat said, hygroelectricity cells won\u2019t necessarily be an option everywhere because they require minimum levels of humidity to work.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018For example, if it is minus-15 degrees outside, so everything is frozen, there will be no water in the air,\u2019 said Andriy Lyubchyk.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECeiling solution\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHe is also coordinator with his mother of the EU-funded \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/871284\u0022\u003ESSHARE\u003C\/a\u003E project, which is working on a real-world application by incorporating hygroelectricity cells into a heating and cooling system.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We combine both technologies and make them self-sufficient,\u2019 said Andriy Lyubchyk.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe heating and cooling system is based on an advanced radiant panel that can be mounted in the ceiling of a room.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EPerforated water pipes pass above the panel feeding it hot or cold water, depending on whether the aim is to heat or cool the room. The panel then radiates heat into - or absorbs heat from - the room via atmospheric humidity rather like way skin can emit heat via perspiration.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe system should be able to power the pumps that circulate water using hygroelectricity generated from the passage of water vapour in and out of the panel.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe self-sufficient heating system highlights how hydroelectricity can help spur the net-zero energy transition, the researchers say.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018We can contribute to EU policy in terms of energy independence,\u2019 said Svitlana Lyubchik.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU. 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