Unless you are a vegetarian, you probably agree that chicken is delicious. But could this fowl have a future in automobiles? According to a presentation made at the 13th Annual Green Chemical and Engineering Conference this weekend…maybe. It seems that carbonized chicken feathers can hold hydrogen quite well; better than carbon nanotubes or metal hydrides currently being tested as hydrogen carriers. Could this solve the infrastructure problems currently holding hydrogen technology back?
Picture this; you’re driving down some long, flat, dusty road on your way to the Middle of Nowhere when your car suddenly runs out of fuel. You haven’t passed a fuel station in a hundred miles, and you’re at least half as far from your destination still. Well what if you could just get out of your car, unzip your fly (at least for us lads) and fill your car up with your bodies own natural emissions?
Sounds pretty science fiction and maybe even a little gross. But that is the idea behind at least one entrant’s car in the Progressive Automotive X-Prize, an international challenge for alternative, super-fuel-efficient vehicles. A pee-powered car? Well, why not.
I’ve always enjoyed the antics of Jesse James, the motorcycle mogul who owns the custom bike shop West Coast Customs. He was the star of Monster Garage, where him and a team of equally-eccentric characters were challanged with creating oddball rides, such as an ambulance that does wheelies. That is one trip to the hospital I wouldn’t mind. But he isn’t exactly what I would call an “enviromentally concious” person, especially after last week’s episode of Jesse James Is A Dead Man, where Mr. James was tearing across through housing projects and golf courses in a nitrous-injected Camaro.
But apparently the idea of breaking the land speed record for hydrogen cars has been on his mind for some time now. Last Wednesday, Jesse blew past the current record of 185 mph and set a new record of 199.7 mph
By Dave Tyler •
June 17, 2009
The financial woes at General Motors could finally be catching up with its fuel cell vehicle development program.
In a Web-based interview with the media Tuesday,
CEO Fritz Henderson said the company may take a close look at what it spends on fuel cell development. When asked by the Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle’s Matt Daneman about fuel cells, Henderson said “while we need to be more efficient in this area, we are confident we can maintain the capabilities necessary to win in the market going forward.” Th giant automaker declared bankruptcy this month and is selling off subsidiaries.
A new hydrogen-powered car, whose designs will be “open source” and posted for free use on the web, was unveiled today in London. The company behind the Riversimple urban car claim the new model proves hydrogen automotive technology is ready for roll-out now rather than in 10 years’ time.
The open-source approach means entrepreneurs around the world could download the designs and manufacture the two-seater prototype locally for free.
The car, which drove in to the launch event, is capable of a 50mph top speed, 0-30mph acceleration in 5.5 seconds, and has a 240 mile range. The car’s backers say it has greenhouse gas emissions of 30g/km CO2, less than a third of the latest hybrid petrol cars such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight.
The lightweight Smart car-size vehicle uses hydrogen in a modest 6kW fuel cell, and – in the case of this prototype – uses hydrogen converted from natural gas. Hydrogen can also be created from water using electrolysis and potentially even from bio-fuels.
Hydrogen is an alternative fuel whose viability is directly dependent on the amount of money and effort placed behind its development. Electric cars have an inherent advantage as the power grid infrastructure is already in place, but hydrogen requires a whole different kind of transportation and filling station other than the outlet in your garage. But Mazda is still pushing forward with its hydrogen dreams by delivering the first of its Premacy Hydrogen Rotary Engine Hybrids to the Iwatani Corporation.
“Our grading system will be controversial but is well-defended,” said Dugan. “We defy anyone to show that the current practice of using taxpayer subsidies to produce motor fuels from coal is decent public policy, or even that automakers can produce an affordable, durable car that runs on cleanly produced hydrogen.” Judy Dugan, research director for Consumer Watchdog
When talking about the technologies that will lead us into a new transportation paradigm, I feel like I’m driving down a winding road full of potholes and missing the shoulders. What technology is best? Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEVs)? Flex-Fuel Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles? Plug-In Electric Vehicles (PEVs) or maybe cars that run on compressed natural gas or hydrogen fuel cells? I’m not a waging person so I won’t place my bets but I am willing to “collect the money” from those who want to gamble on the winner.
The Scandanavians are a resourceful lot, and they have to be, having inhabited one of the most inhospitable regions on Earth for centuries. They have given us Vikings, demonically infused death metal, and of course, Nokia. But hydrogen-powered sports cars? Well technically, those are coming from Mazda, in the form of their rotary-powered RX-8 sport coupes. But the first examples of these wunderkin are being shipped off to Norway for field testing, as Norway is the first country to have built an extended hydrogen-based infrastructure to support these cars.
Powered By A Four-Cylinder Liquid Hydrogen Engine, This CB750 Is Controlled By An OLED Touch Screen With Wifi, GPS And 3G!
If Honda wishes to bring back the CB750, look no further than Igor Chak’s Hydrogen concept.
The bike — which ran in production from 1969 to 2003 — was an unprecedented piece of machinery. It was the first to offer a front disc brake and an straight-4 engine with an overhead camshaft all on one affordable, production bike.
By Amiel Blajchman •
April 5, 2009
US military developing fuel cell propulsion technology for use with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
The Pentagon will spend $400 million to develop solar-charged, hydrogen fuel cell blimp which will reach an altitude of 65,000 feet and remain airborne for 10 years.
