File this one under “weaksauce”. After trying to cut research funding by hundreds of millions for hydrogen technology (most of which was restored by Congress), the Department of Energy has announced a $1 million prize for a hydrogen technology breakthrough. The contest seeks an entry that will improve current hydrogen storage issues, involving highly-pressurized tanks.
But plenty of rules, red tape, and a short deadline may shortchange this contest of its best entrants.
By Andrew Williams •
August 25, 2009
London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced plans to create Britain’s first “hydrogen highway” by building a network of hydrogen filling stations throughout the capital.
As part of the scheme, a pilot fleet of around 150 hydrogen cars, five buses and 20 black taxis will be assembled in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.
The flamboyant mayor has gone on record as saying that he wants Britain to become a world leader in fuel cell technology and his team have made the ambitious claim that, within twenty years, up to one in three of the 31m cars in Britain could be fuelled by hydrogen.
A big factor holding up the push for alternative-energy vehicles is cost. Bringing alt-fuel to the masses means making it easy and cheap to reproduce. But until then, one sure way to get around the cost factor is to appeal to people for whom money is no object. Ferarri and Lamborghini are now underway developing hybrid/alt-fuel cars of their own, and Tesla’s roadster costs north of $100k.
Another contender, in the works for years and with a road-worthy prototype now complete, hails from the Ronn Motor Company. Called the Scorpion, this hydrogen-injected supercar hopes to turn the exotic world on its head.
By Andrew Williams •
August 18, 2009
General Motors has revealed that it is still on-track to bring a hydrogen fuel-cell car to market, within the next three years.
Industry insiders had speculated that the imminent retirement of existing boss Larry Burns would lead to the fuel-cell program being mothballed, but according to new R&D chief Alan Taub, GM will continue with its development of the technology.
“Technology leadership is one of the pillars of the company,” said Taub. “That is going to remain, and it will probably be emphasised as part of the brand of GM.”
By Tina Casey •
August 7, 2009
The concept sounds like spinning fabric out of thin air, but the science is rock solid. Catalyx Nanotech, Inc., a relatively new player in the nanomaterials market, has completed its pilot project to manufacture nanofibers from landfill gas, using a patented cracking process to break down methane into soot free elemental carbon and hydrogen. Based on Catalyx’s success with a similar production facility in Canada, it appears that yet another way to recycle old landfills is right around the corner.
By Tina Casey •
July 28, 2009
The world is awash in a glut of crude glycerin, a major byproduct of biodiesel manufacture. The big question is what to do with it all. In the U.S. alone, about 340,000 tons of unrefined glycerin came into the market in 2007. Over half of that came from biodiesel, and those numbers are bound to go up as the market for this alternative fuel grows. Glycerin is used to manufacture soaps, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and many other products, but crude glycerin is an impure form that is unsuitable for many of these purposes. Right now most crude glycerin is simply incinerated, a practice which undermines biodiesel’s potential as a truly sustainable fuel. But all that is about to change.
This past weekend, over 7,000 hot rods, street rods, muscle cars and classics invaded Syracuse, New York for the annual Syracuse Nationals. This is NOT the eco-friendly event of the year; it is in fact, anything but. But I still love me some cool cars, and you don’t have to be a gearhead to appreciate classic sheet metal of this caliber.
But still, I was shocked to stumble across this 1972 Chevy Vega claimed propulsion by hydrogen. An alternative fuel car at a show full of dinosauce suckers? Where are the mobs and pitchforks?
By Eva Pratesi •
July 17, 2009
An Italian research team has developed a technique that could be used to make clean fuel from water. The method discovered by researcher Roberto Bini and his team from the European
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A New Mexico-based company has announced plans to build what it is calling, the world’s first utility-scale, zero-emissions hydrogen power plant.
Although most-often discussed as a high-efficiency transportation fuel, hydrogen’s role in other sectors of the energy landscape is also making headway. On Wednesday, Jetstream Wind Inc. announced it has broken ground on a new $219 million plant in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico that would use electricity from wind, solar and “other renewable energy sources” to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using a process called electrolysis. The resulting hydrogen would then be burned to spin turbines, similar to those found in natural gas plants.
By Andrew Williams •
July 10, 2009
Earlier this week, the world’s first piloted aircraft powered solely by hydrogen fuel cells, took to the skies above Hamburg Airport, Germany, producing zero carbon dioxide emissions.
The Antares DLR-H2, jointly developed by the German aerospace centre DLR, Lange Aviation, BASF Fuel Cells and Denmark’s Serenergy, has a range of 750km (390nm) and can stay airborne for 5 hours at top flying speeds of about 90kt (170km/h).
According to DLR, a main hurdle was improving fuel cell performance capabilities and efficiency to such an extent that the motor glider could take off using fuel cell power alone. DLR’s Johann-Dietrich told reporters, “This enables us to demonstrate the true potential of this technology.” (see more pictures after the jump).
By Nick Chambers •
July 6, 2009
Could this be what the future of fuel looks like?
Pee. What can’t it do? From its reputable use as a fertilizer to questionable use as a hangover cure, urine has way more uses than you might imagine (or even want to know in the first place). Seriously. Some people even claim drinking it makes you healthier. Sounds completely quack to me, but what do I know?
Actually. Scratch that. This I know: drinking your own pee is universally questionable behavior.
But in the realm of interesting uses for your own bodily fluids, using urine as a source of hydrogen to power the cars of the future is a serious undertaking and based on completely sound science.
