tagged w/ Hydrogen Fuel
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'It really comes down to how many fuel stations there are'
Automakers are gearing up for mass-market production of hydrogen-powered cars starting in 2015, but the fuel cell technology has plenty of skeptics, including President Obama.
After being championed by former President George W. Bush as a pollution-free solution for weaning America off its dependence on foreign oil, the vehicles are in danger of losing research and development funding under the Obama administration, which argues that plug-in electric cars are a more practical bet.
However, major automakers and other proponents of hydrogen-fueled cars managed to thwart similar attempts to cut funding for programs for fuel-cell research in 2009 and hope to do so again.
Nevertheless, they're worried about the signal the Obama administration's stance is sending to the marketplace and to investors about the vehicles, which create electric power from hydrogen and emit nothing but clean water from their tailpipes.
"We're prepared to make thousands of these cars," says Mike O'Brien, vice president of product planning at Hyundai Motor America. "But it really comes down to how many fuel stations there are at that point. It's a chicken and egg story for us."
Energy Secretary Steven Chu maintains that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles need technological miracles too distant to warrant funding when electric cars are a far more promising near-term prospect to give American consumers an alternative to the roughly 230 million gas-guzzlers on the road.
Automakers, who have pumped billions of dollars into hydrogen technology, say Chu's assessment is out of date and doesn't reflect breakthroughs and developments that are dramatically bringing down costs.
Several automakers already have hydrogen-powered cars on the road, including the FCX Clarity, a make that Honda leases to roughly 20 customers in Southern California.
Critics say the car, early iterations of which cost more than a million dollars each to build, shows the technology is too expensive.
Stephen Ellis, manager of fuel cell marketing for American Honda Motor Co., says that thinking is flawed.
"If we made the Honda Odyssey in these quantities, they would be $1 million vehicles," says Ellis. "When we have a dedicated assembly line and we calculate with scale in 2015 to 2020, what the price will be then is what's relevant.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43138227'It really comes down to how many fuel stations there are'
Automakers are... more
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Speaking at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in California, MIT professor Daniel Nocera claims to have created an artificial leaf made from stable and inexpensive materials that mimics nature’s photosynthesis process.
The device is an advanced solar cell, no bigger than a typical playing card, which is left floating in a pool of water. Then, much like a natural leaf, it uses sunlight to split the water into its two core components, oxygen and hydrogen, which are stored in a fuel cell to be used when producing electricity.
Nocera’s leaf is stable — operating continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity in preliminary tests — and made of widely available, inexpensive materials — like silicon, electronics and chemical catalysts. It’s also powerful, as much as 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural leaf.
With a single gallon of water, Nocera says, the chip could produce enough electricity to power a house in a developing country for an entire day. Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14-terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day.
Those are impressive claims, but they’re also not just pie-in-the-sky, conceptual thoughts. Nocera has already signed a contract with a global megafirm to commercialize his groundbreaking idea. The mammoth Indian conglomerate, Tata Group has forged a deal with the MIT professor to build a small power plant, the size of a refrigerator, in about a year and a half.
This isn’t the first ever artificial leaf, of course. The concept of emulating nature’s energy-generating process has been around for decades and many scientists have tried to create leaves in that time. The first, built more than 10 years ago by John Turner of the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was efficient at faking photosynthesis but was made of rare and hugely expensive materials. It was also highly unstable, and had a lifespan of barely one day.
For now, Nocera is setting his sights on developing countries. “Our goal is to make each home its own power station,” he said. “One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.”
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/artificial-leaf/Speaking at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in California, MIT... more
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CCM News New York - The seventh edition of Eco-Trek - one of the first ever syndicated green online news magazines and presented by German actress Anita Anthonj- is now available for download and re-publishing for websites, newspapers, and magazines. For more information please contact: info@ccm-news.com
On this week's episode, Eco-Trek visits green projects alongside the Hydrogen Highway in California. In California there are more hydrogen filling stations than anywhere in the US.
Joshua Jackson Joins the Mercedes-Benz F-CELL World Drive: Fringe star Joshua Jackson joined the Mercedes-Benz F-CELL world Tour in California for a test drive of the all-electric Hydrogen fuel Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell and gives us his initial driving impressions.
Bottle Village in Los Angeles:
Grandma Prisbey's Bottle Village is a protected landmark with structures built out of recycled bottles. It is an impressive expression of transforming discarded items and sorrow into something more. Bottle Village -- so it says on its website - is not only a one of a kind, quirky, fun, village but is a brilliant approach to recycling and shed making. Bottle Village is also a bold and personal statement to the importance of the creative act in everyday life.
Portrait: Dr. David Blekham -- Professor at California State University:
Dr. David Blekham, is an expert in the production of hydrogen. His has a hands-on approach to teaching and his students have built a fuel cell powered racer that will compete with other alternatively powered cars in a race this year. Dr. Blekham took the initiative for the university to build a hydrogen fueling station right on campus.
A cool green invention: The Sporting Sail
While looking for fireworks in their grandfather's attic, Nick and Billy Smith stumbled upon a strange piece of fabric. They learned that this "ski clipper" was used by their grandfather as a mini parachute, helping him slow down on steep ski slopes. As dedicated snowboarders themselves, Nick and Billy figured that what grandpa used for skiing was perfect for their own sport. So they began experimenting with the kite-like device . They perfected it, called it sporting sail, and patented it. Watch the story.CCM News New York - The seventh edition of Eco-Trek - one of the first ever syndicated... more
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The shower is well known as a source of good ideas. But the toilet? Equally promising, says Gerardine Botte, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio University who has developed a technology to generate hydrogen fuel from urine.
Botte recognized that urine contains two compounds that could be a source of hydrogen: ammonia and urea. Place an electrode in wastewater, apply a gentle current, and voila: hydrogen gas that can be used to power a fuel cell.
Her system operates similarly to the electrolysis of water, a process that can be used to produce hydrogen for fuel cells - except that ammonia and urea hold their hydrogen atoms less tightly than water does, so less energy is required to split them off. Botte isn't the only scientist with her mind in the sewer. A group of scientists in the UK, for example, is working on a fuel cell powered directly by urine.
Botte's technology has the greatest potential for power generation in settings where large numbers of people gather - airports and sports stadiums, for example. An office building with 200 to 300 workers could generate 2 kilowatts of power, Botte has calculated. Granted, that's not enough to power the building, but every drop in the bucket helps.
The approach could also address pollution associated with animal feedlots. The urine produced by 1,000 cows could generate 40 to 50 kilowatts of power, Botte estimates - getting rid of noxious ammonia in the process.
Earlier this year, E3 Clean Technologies was launched to commercialize "pee power," with Botte as chief technology officer. The company aims to have a "GreenBox" prototype ready by the end of next year and sees cities as its first potential customers. "You can clean the water in a municipal wastewater treatment plant with much less energy," Botte says.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/09/pee-power-fuel-hydrogen-urineThe shower is well known as a source of good ideas. But the toilet? Equally promising,... more
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As the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive heads around the globe on its 125 day world trip to advocate for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology, Eco-Trek presented by German actress and presenter Anita Antonj will bring you the most innovative green ideas, initiatives and projects from the cities, towns and villages we pass though each week. This leg of the tour brings us from Paris, France to Barcelona, Spain where we discover some of the many ways Spain is keeping its cities green. Join us on this week's episode of Eco-Trek as we discover:
*Beach Garbage Hotel- Madrid A brand new hotel has opened in Madrid's city center made entirely of waste. The walls of the Beach Garbage Hotel, the brainchild of German artist Ha Schult, are made of materials found in landfills, the beaches and even flea markets.
*Sun Power - Spain is paving the way towards solar sustainability and its solar power development has been heralded. The Forum's photovoltaic pergola is one of the most popular symbols of Barcelona's new urban architecture, but more than that, it is an emblem of the city's commitment to renewable energies and sustainability. Interview with Eco-Architect Enric Ruiz Geli about how he incorporates green engineering into his modern buildings such as the Media-TIC building in Barcelona, an information and communication technology hub designed to incubate, generate, exhibit and invite new ideas and developments.
*Robotic Fish - Spain unleashes schools of Oceanic Pollution-Sniffing Robo Fish, to swim in the sea and monitor the level of pollutants coming from its busiest port.
Join us next week as Eco-Trek brings you more great green news stories from the path of the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive as the tour leaves Europe and continues on to the US from Miami, Florida.
To view more Eco-Trek episodes and further info on The Mercedes F-Cell World Drive log on to http://www.youtube.com/ecotrek2011As the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive heads around the globe on its 125 day world trip to... more
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As the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive heads around the globe on its 125 day world trip to advocate for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology, Eco-Trek presented by German actress and presenter Anita Antonj will bring you the most innovative green ideas, initiatives and projects from the cities, towns and villages we pass though each week. This leg of the tour brings us from Paris, France to Barcelona, Spain where we discover some of the many ways Spain is keeping its cities green. Join us on this week's episode of Eco-Trek as we discover:
*Beach Garbage Hotel- Madrid A brand new hotel has opened in Madrid's city center made entirely of waste. The walls of the Beach Garbage Hotel, the brainchild of German artist Ha Schult, are made of materials found in landfills, the beaches and even flea markets.
*Sun Power - Spain is paving the way towards solar sustainability and its solar power development has been heralded. The Forum's photovoltaic pergola is one of the most popular symbols of Barcelona's new urban architecture, but more than that, it is an emblem of the city's commitment to renewable energies and sustainability. Interview with Eco-Architect Enric Ruiz Geli about how he incorporates green engineering into his modern buildings such as the Media-TIC building in Barcelona, an information and communication technology hub designed to incubate, generate, exhibit and invite new ideas and developments.
*Robotic Fish - Spain unleashes schools of Oceanic Pollution-Sniffing Robo Fish, to swim in the sea and monitor the level of pollutants coming from its busiest port.
Join us next week as Eco-Trek brings you more great green news stories from the path of the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive as the tour leaves Europe and continues on to the US from Miami, Florida.
To view more Eco-Trek episodes and further info on The Mercedes F-Cell World Drive log on to http://www.youtube.com/ecotrek2011As the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive heads around the globe on its 125 day world trip to... more
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As the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive heads around the globe on its 125 day world trip– Eco-Trek will bring you the most innovative green ideas, initiatives and projects from the cities, towns and villages we pass though each week. The purpose of the tour is to promote the building of the global infrastructure needed to make this emission free technology available to customers for everyday use around the world. This leg of the tour brings us from Stuttgart Germany to Paris France where we discover some of the many ways Paris keeps its city green. Join us on this weeks episode of Eco-Trek as we:
-Join The Mercedes F-Cell World Drive on the road through Paris
-Investigate the spectacular living wall on the Musée du Quai Branly with landscape designer Patrick Blanc
-Take a look at Paris’s FedEx bike powered fleet
-Visit French eco-artist Mathilde Roussel-Giraudy in her Paris studio
Be sure to be on the look out for next weeks episode of Eco-Trek as we joins the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive for the third leg of there historic trip around world from Paris to Spain.As the Mercedes F-Cell World Drive heads around the globe on its 125 day world... more
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The Mercedes-Benz F-CELL World Drive 2011, a tour of 3 Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL around the world is well under way. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was at hand in Stuttgart for the start of the tour. The purpose of the tour is to promote the building of the global infrastructure needed to make this emission free technology available to customers for everyday use around the world. Here is a first impression from the road - Stuttgart - Paris.The Mercedes-Benz F-CELL World Drive 2011, a tour of 3 Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL... more
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Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a biohybrid photoconversion system -- based on the interaction of photosynthetic plant proteins with synthetic polymers -- that can convert visible light into hydrogen fuel.
LINK : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110203152544.htmResearchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have... more
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Lockheed Martin has been developing technology to save the world from fossil fuels since the 1970s, and are getting really close to finishing their work on Hydrogen. Yes, hydrogen, the stuff everyone associates with a burning Hindenburg mental image. For those who are in the know, Hydrogen will become our end-all-be-all energy source (see www.phoenixprojectfoundation.us/ for more info on the details about it). The video above is just a sample of what will be coming our way. I'm excited, and if you just watched that video, you're excited too. Water = energy!
The way it works is by exploiting the temperature difference in Tropical Oceans (top layer of water is warm, deeper waters are cold, got it?). The system uses a "working fluid"...which is a fluid that is gas in warm water temperatures and liquid at lower temperatures. The fluid is pumped between the two temperature levels, boils, turns a generator, then repeats. The generator LM is building/testing now is 10MW.
No big...BUT the technology is scalable to 100MW, which is enough to power small cities. Two or three (or a hella lot, since the things are pollution free and the ocean is big enough) and you've got inexhaustible energy on the majority of coastlines worldwide.
Boom, goodnight oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear.
Suck it BP, Big Oil, Mountain Killing Coal, Terrorists, Nuclear, 'cause you all just lost your bets to Hydrogen.
Check out this website, they're smart and thorough:
www.phoenixprojectfoundation.us/
Go Hydrogen.
CTJLockheed Martin has been developing technology to save the world from fossil fuels... more
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I have done a blog on this man who I think was one of our great inventors of the world many don't know about him and some are still to this day trying to invent his secret but they can't after reading this blog you are welcomed to follow me and get future information on this topic. I have the whole story in a nut shell about the beginning til the end, to some it up Stan Meyers did this for us as Americans and not for the money but someone decided to kill him for trying to get the patent in America now we always have to suffer for someones greed in our country.
http://polishyt.blogspot.comI have done a blog on this man who I think was one of our great inventors of the world... more
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Cars that emit mainly water vapor from their tailpipes, instead of NOx, SOx, CO2, CO and who knows what else… Not only does it sound too good to be true, it recalls science fiction scenarios from Heinlein, Asimov, Dick, and others. Hydrogen fuel is a reality of course, although I personally haven’t seen proof in a large demonstrative way. There was once an alternative energy vehicle rally I attended with a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle or two, but they were nothing more at the time than emblematic of a future that was too remote to live within.
In about five years Toyota says it will be selling a $50,000 hydrogen fuel cell powered sedan and that they’ve brought the price of hydrogen technology down 95% since the early 90’s. Sounds fantastic, will there be accessible hydrogen delivery in five years? Where will that hydrogen come from? The majority of hydrogen gas is currently made from natural gas… that doesn’t seem to fit in well with fossil fuel-less driving. Also, who will be able to afford 50K for a car? And, by 2015, the new crop of electric cars will have a significant head start on any hydrogen tech.
So we’re back to a kind of economic elitism, where only a small segment of the population can use the technology that may not have a real environmental benefit. Apparently GM, Hyundai, Daimler, and Honda say they too will have relatively inexpensive (current generation hydrogen fuel cell cars cost upwards of $1 million EACH to produce) hydrogen cars out by then. Why can’t there be a focus on small, affordable vehicles using hydrogen, like a scooter? Would that wind up costing $11,000 though? If I have a heads up now, I can start saving for my Super Hydrogen BatWing Scooter.
Will the cars be built, announced with great fanfare, and then sold only as fleet vehicles to be used by government workers? Hydrogen car potential recalls the old Lucy yanking the football right when Charlie Brown is about to kick it in scenarios from Charles Schulz.
It’s sad that a mild mocking of what I want to happen for personal transportation’s future is all I can muster at this point. Attaching too much hope to an untested, unaffordable, not widely available, and questionably environmentally beneficial but intellectually appetizing fuel has been a repeated letdown. Even with that there is still some lurking, wild delight in the potential. Sigh. There is a writeup here of the very recent hydrogen exposition in Long Beach, if you dare to read more.Hydrogen Fuel Could, Maybe, Possibly, be in Your FutureCars that emit mainly water vapor from their tailpipes, instead of NOx, SOx, CO2, CO... more
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This car and technology are available now. The Chu video talks about one of the solutions to making it happen is government subsidies. With the idea of leasing pump space at existing stations distribution is possible and the mainstream can buy it.This car and technology are available now. The Chu video talks about one of the... more
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On behalf of the German government, the transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with eight industrial partners to set up the H2 mobility scheme. High profile participants include Daimler, EnBW, Linde, OMV, Shell, Total, Vattenfall and the NOW GmbH National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology.
Speaking about the groundbreaking plan, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, Tiefensee said, “Our aim is to continue consistent and systematic promotion of electromobility based on batteries and fuel cells. Today we can see that Germany is setting the pace when it comes to hydrogen and fuel cell technology. We are aiming at establishing the nationwide supply with hydrogen in Germany at around 2015 in order to support the serial-production of fuel cell vehicles.”On behalf of the German government, the transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee has... more
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Researchers in Greece report design of a new material that almost meets the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 2010 goals for hydrogen storage and could help eliminate a key roadblock to practical hydrogen-powered vehicles.
by ScienceDailyResearchers in Greece report design of a new material that almost meets the U.S.... more
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Hydrogen has alot of potential in the changing world, this new method helps brings technology closer to its goals.Hydrogen has alot of potential in the changing world, this new method helps brings... more
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Turkish students at Sakarya University have built a hydrogen car that gets 1,336 mpg. Well, sorta.
Called the SAHİMO, the vehicle’s current range is about 353 miles on a quarter gallon of fuel (568 kilometers on 1 liter). It travels such an obscene distance with so little fuel due to the vehicle’s uber-light weight: it weighs only 240 pounds (110 kilograms). The car’s made up of 90-percent carbon fiber.Turkish students at Sakarya University have built a hydrogen car that gets 1,336 mpg.... more
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"In preparation for the inaugural Global Green Challenge across the Australian outback, a team of Turkish students have assembled a hydrogen-powered vehicle that has an efficiency of 568 kilometers per liter (roughly 1,335 mpg). In order to get across the outback, they hope to only use three liters of fuel in the vehicle, dubbed the SAHİMO.
The SAHİMO weighs 110 kg--a carbon fiber frame keeps the weight down--and the scary thing is that these Sakarya University students want to up the efficiency to 1,000 km/L.
But doing so won't be cheap, as the cost to build the SAHIMO is already at $170,000, and they're looking for sponsors to keep improving the car before the competition in October.""In preparation for the inaugural Global Green Challenge across the Australian... more
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It's no secret that a ton of problems need to be overcome before there's any real chance we'll all be driving clean-emissions hydrogen-powered cars and trucks. One such problem is how to store the hydrogen, which is a much less energy-dense fuel than gasoline. Researchers at the University of Delaware believe they may have found a possible solution from an extremely unlikely source: chicken feathers.
It seems that chicken feathers take on a unique set of properties when carbonized (slowly heated to 400-degrees Fahrenheit) that makes them dense and highly porous. When packed into a storage tank, these carbonized chicken feathers can greatly increase the amount of hydrogen that can be crammed inside.
Currently, researchers can store enough hydrogen in the carbonized feathers to provide an 80-mile range from a 20-gallon storage tank, but they're working to improve that figure. Fortunately, there's no shortage of available feathers – the U.S. poultry industry reportedly disposes of 2 billion pounds of chicken feathers per year.
Check out the link for the actual article, this was just my synopsis.It's no secret that a ton of problems need to be overcome before there's any... more
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Hydrogen fuel cell technology is full of promise, but it's being held back by the problem of storing the dangerous gas safely and efficiently. Some U.S. scientists have been tackling this, and their solution is as ingenious as it is odd: Carbonized chicken feathers.
feathersThe University of Delaware team realized that the protein keratin, the main ingredient in chicken feather fibers, had fabulous properties when it's heated. Basically the keratin creates very strong cross-links when it's carbonized, and the feather fibers become extremely porous, which dramatically increases their surface area. As a result, the carbonized feathers can absorb huge amounts of hydrogen into their structure.Hydrogen fuel cell technology is full of promise, but it's being held back by the... more
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