HyperSolar Inc., a public company developing a new technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, today announced it has extended its sponsored research agreement with the University of Iowa for another year.

The new commitment will allow California-based HyperSolar to continue to "aggressively pursue" its sustainable hydrogen production process, which is intended to help meet the growing demand for hydrogen in the transportation and materials handling sectors.

Unlike hydrocarbon fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas, where carbon dioxide and other contaminants are released into the atmosphere when used, hydrogen fuel produces pure water as the only byproduct.

Currently, most hydrogen power is made from fossil fuels in a chemical process called steam reforming, which emits carbon dioxide. Even though the end product is hydrogen, its inputs make it much less environmentally friendly and sustainable.

A team led by UI Assistant Professor Syed Mubeen and HyperSolar CTO Joun Lee has helped move HyperSolar closer to commercialization over the past year, according to the company. Its accomplishments include a one-square-foot prototype capable of producing renewable hydrogen using commercially-available solar cells and replacing expensive platinum material components with lower-cost options. The team has also filed for utility patent protection of a proprietary generator housing design.

"As we move closer to building a full demonstration pilot plant with our first-generation technology, extending the relationship with the University of Iowa has been a top priority as they have been instrumental in increasing the speed-to-market for HyperSolar technology," CEO Tim Young said in a statement. "We have always understood that the goal for low-cost renewable hydrogen production would require time and patience, yet the capabilities of HyperSolar technology have expanded rapidly - a credit to the University of Iowa as well as our first university partner, University of California, Santa Barbara."

According to Iowa Now, Mr. Mubeen first teamed up with HyperSolar while he was working at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where the company is based. When Mr. Mubeen came to the UI in 2014, HyperSolar signed its first sponsored research agreement with the university to help fund Mr. Mubeen's work on the continued development of renewable hydrogen power. A second research agreement was signed in 2016.

"Although H2 [hydrogen] can be used in many forms, the immediate possibility of this renewable H2 would be for use in fuel cells to generate electricity or react with CO2 to form liquid fuels like methanol for the transportation sector," he told the university news service in 2016. "If one could develop these systems at costs competitive to fossil fuel systems, then it would be a home run."

To learn more about HyperSolar, visit the company's website.

This story for CBS2/Fox28 was produced by the Corridor Business Journal.