Just eight tons: That's all the iridium mined worldwide each year. The extremely rare and expensive metal is a key component for the energy transition. However, due to its low availability, the metal could become a showstopper for the hydrogen industry. The German company Enapter, of all companies, could benefit from this.
Iridium: rare, expensive, important!Iridium is used in numerous areas.From the automotive industry for spark plugs and catalytic converters to high-temperature alloys and coatings in the aerospace industry and medical technology, for example in stents. Now another application is emerging that will further increase the demand for iridium: Green hydrogen from wind and solar energy. This is produced using electrolysers. Different technologies are used for this. Currently, PEM technology (proton exchange membrane) is the top dog when it comes to green hydrogen, which is also used by NEL, ITN-Power and Plugpower. However, as the liquid electrolyte of PEM is highly alkaline, it requires an iridium coating as corrosion protection. AEL technology (alkaline electrolysis), on the other hand, does not require iridium. However, AEL electrolysers require a permanently constant current voltage to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Since solar and wind energy are highly fluctuating energy sources due to fluctuations in the time of day, lulls and gusts as well as clouds, additional technologies must be used to produce green hydrogen efficiently.
Price explosions for iridium and acute shortages are inevitableBased on the expected ramp-up figures for hydrogen, a key technology for the energy transition, by 2035, there is an enormous discrepancy between production volumes and demand. If all the iridium mined worldwide up to ...
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