Converting soda cans into hydrogen

[Nick Hull]

I just read a newspaper article about using lye to convert aluminum soda
cans into hydrogen; the lye is a catalyst and is not used up.

Considering that aluminum is called "frozen electricity" would it be
useful to make an aluminum to hydrogen converter to supply hydrogen to a
fuel cell for home use?

 

[Pike]

This sounds like a good idea to keep in mind for a post-apocaliptic
scenario, like in the "Road Warrior" films. Pop cans store the large amount
of electrical energy used to make them. I have digested them in sulphuric
acid in order to produce hydrogen to fill big balloons for for kids to fly
by string to hundreds of feet, but I never thought of them as a source of
practical energy. Can we imagine maniacal bikers battling homeless people
over aluminum cans to fuel their machines? Well I hope not, how about a fuel
cell that you dump scrap aluminum into, which then provides DC power for
your home. I have no idea of how to do this, but I know it's possible,
suppose you'd have to wash the cans so that the organic molecules won't gum
up the ionic process.