A Dutch researcher has developed a magnesium, titanium and nickel alloy that has huge potential as a hydrogen storage tank for cars of the future. On a relative basis, the weight of a storage tank made from this alloy would be 60% lighter than a lithium ion battery that could take a car the same distance.

One of the major stumbling blocks of hydrogen cars (fuel cell or otherwise) involves the storage of hydrogen on board. Hydrogen is very combustible and poses an extreme fire/explosion danger, especially when stored as a highly compressed gas.

Read more of this story »

Well, here it is folks. A company has finally gone and built the controversial hydrogen hybrid system (or hydrogen injection, or Water4Gas or HHO system – choose your poison) into what appears to be a true production car. Not only that, the car looks, well, stunning… to put it mildly.

Read more of this story »

His name is James Hunt, I wrote about him and his invention last year. Now, from his AKVO Energy headquarters in Monmouth, Illinois, James talks about his invention and says it’s ready for manufacture and marketing.

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

He refers to a series of videos he’s produced on YouTube, one of which you can see on my accompanying blog on Gas2.

You can see the series of videos on YouTube .

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

Put six-gallons of water in your fuel tank and drive anywhere you wish. The only thing you’ll need to replace, is a bit more water.

Last May, I wrote about Jim Hunt, a student at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois concerning his plasmatic induction system that turns water into hydrogen gas to fuel your vehicle.

Today, the system works, and Jim is looking for a company to manufacture and market his invention. His patent is secure, the system is proven and now ready to produce.

Read more of this story »

Editor's note: Yes, we're bringing on the new writers! Alex Ho is the latest to join the group. Alex blogs regularly at Generation Exe, and lives in the Bay Area. He'll be covering the green tech field for us.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 Series Sedan is not currently available for purchase, but I am sure it will be eventually. It has started a limited production run and will currently only be made available to influential public figures such as Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It has a V-12 engine that produces 260 horsepower. What makes this car great is that when it is running on hydrogen, it releases zero emissions as the hydrogen fuel just releases water vapors.

Since there are currently only a limited amount of hydrogen refueling stations, the engine is designed to run on either hydrogen or gasoline. There are two fuel tanks located at the rear of the car: one holds 17.5 lbs of liquid hydrogen while the other holds 16 gallons of gasoline. A filter pipe for the hydrogen is constantly chilled to -418 F degrees. In order to keep the gas cold, a special material 30 mm thick insulates as well as a 56 foot thick styrofoam panel. The driver can easily switch between the two by pressing a button on the steering wheel. The hydrogen can power the car for 123 miles while 300 miles can be driven with the gasoline.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 has gone through numerous development and testing processes including performance testing at the Nurburgring tracks in Germany, the heat of Death Valley, and the chilling cold of the Polar regions.

Here is a link to read more about the car. Here is a video from BMW on the Hydrogen 7.

First stop, the nation's capital, then to Disney World, Gettysburg, the Black Hills, Yellowstone National Park, and while you’re in the vicinity, a side trip to the Grand Canyon. You visited a few relatives along the way. You’ve stayed in hotels and motels, camped out a couple of times, and eaten at both fast food restaurants and a couple of four star eateries.

The only thing you didn't buy was gasoline. You took the SUV, the gas hog, but you didn’t put one drop of gas in the tank. Let’s see, the price of gasoline is $3 a gallon, plus or minus, and you drove at least 3000 miles in a vehicle that averages 15 mgp. Wow, that’s a savings of at least $600, not bad in this day and age.

And, as you sit at the kitchen table adding up the cost of your odyssey, you offer up a silent "thank you" to a young, disabled Navy vet, 36 year old James Hunt who lives in Galesburg, IL, and attends Carl Sandburg College.

Hunt spent a year and a half working in his garage before taking his new fuel concept project to college officials who liked what they saw, and funded a lab with all the materials needed to continue the work. Hunt formed the CSC Inventors Club, and was joined by several like-minded students who developed working bench models of his system.

What’s the secret? It's hydrogen gas, extracted from those six gallons of water by plasmatic induction, and fed to the motor as a gas to power the engine. When hydrogen burns, it gives off water, which is fed back to that six gallons; the only thing coming out the tailpipe is hot air. It's all perfectly safe: you'll never re-create the Hindenburg disaster in the car. I know, water in the gas tank, it's been done before but stay with me here…

Can this work? Yes. Jim says they have internal combustion engines running on hydrogen gas produced by the energy conversion system in the lab. In June, the students will retrofit a 1991 Chevy Cheyenne 4×4 pickup to begin road testing the system. First they'll tour the Carl Sandburg campus until they receive permission to operate a non-conventional fuel-powered vehicle on city and state thoroughfares.

Is anyone really interested? Hunt says the program manager of GM’s (that’s General Motors) Fuel Cell Technology Development Division contacted him, requesting more information. In a story from Galesburg’s Register-Mail newspaper, Hunt told reporter John R. Pullium that three Fortune 500 companies have contacted him, along with several investors and possible sponsors. In his latest communication to me, Jim said he’s received inquiries from individuals concerning expanded uses for the system, such as fuel to generate electric power for small communities. "We have started to take on private investors" he said "to help raise money for research and development of our final prototype".

How much would it cost to retrofit your vehicle? Hunt figures about $2000. Will it fit in your car? Sure, he says: just replace your fuel tank with his recovery system, add water and drive away. The only thing you’ll change are some non-lethal carbon rods, about once a year. They’ll cost somewhere in the range of what you’d pay for gasoline in one month of driving.

Will it work? Will he get his patent, and will his dream survive the anticipated onslaught from big oil corporations and other interests who’d rather not see this type of energy generation system take hold? In another Register-Mail article, Hunt is quoted as saying, “I’d like to see the world benefit” and added, “I am fearful of the bad guys in the background.” Today, he feels his future is looking up, happy that he’s apparently managed to break the hydrogen safety barrier.

Jim has promised to keep me updated on their progress, and we’ll be watching this story very closely, posting updates as they become available, regardless of the outcome.

SOURCES:

CSC Investors Club BlogSpot: Newspaper Articles