After years of development, the Washington-based company InnovaTek is testing a hand-sized microreactor that can convert virtually any liquid fuel into hydrogen, producing a portable hydrogen stream for use in adjoining fuel-cells.
Since the microreactor units can be linked together, InnovaTek has developed systems capable of producing anywhere from 1 to 160 gallons of hydrogen per minute—enough to supply a hydrogen refueling station or, even more exciting, creating on-board hydrogen for fuel-cell powered vehicles.
That’s InnovaTek’s eventual goal anyway: having their technology built into cars, where energy-dense renewable fuels could be converted into motion, bypassing combustion and the production of exhaust gases entirely, and powering a much more efficient engine. (Imagine for a moment, filling up on biodiesel and driving off to the exhaust-free hum of an electric motor.) InnovaTek plans on commercially licensing the microreactors by 2009.
Weighing less than one pound, the square piece of shiny steel (pictured above) houses an array of microchannels containing patented catalytic sites. Each microtube helps convert (or reform) a continuous stream of hydrogen from fuels like gasoline, diesel, vegetable oil, biodiesel, propane, natural gas, even the glycerol byproduct from biodiesel manufacturing.
While hydrogen produced by the device has been lauded as the “energy of the future,” it faces major developmental issues. Hydrogen is not a great energy carrier. It has a relatively low energy density, it’s difficult and dangerous to transport, and finding a way to store it on-board in hydrogen-powered vehicles has proven difficult (the first Mercedes F-cell had a range of only 110 miles). The refueling infrastructure is also non-existent.
Even more to the point, we haven’t yet established a renewable source of energy to produce hydrogen.
But that hasn’t stopped us from building hydrogen fuel-cell powered cars. GM, Ford, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota all have prototypes in the works, and Mercedes already released their subcompact F cell in late 2007.
Taking all this into consideration, Innovatek’s reactor could revolutionize the energy and transportation infrastructure of the country.
Innovatek has already signed a $500,000 joint development agreement with Chevron to pursue fuel processing technology for hydrogen refueling stations. (If you think that’s big, in Sept. ‘06 the Navy also awarded Innovatek with a $1.8 million contract to develop portable recharging systems for equipment Marines typically carry by foot.) One of Innovatek’s chief board members commented on their ability to reduce the cost of hydrogen generation: “The smaller system size, reduced catalyst volume, and more efficient process that is realized with InnovaTek’s technology represents another significant step in moving the hydrogen economy from science to commercial reality,” he said.
While InnovTtek’s reactor can run on a variety of non-renewable hydrocarbon sources they, like the potentially revolutionary Coskata Biofuels, are expressly interested in sustainable power, even to the point of preferring biodiesel in their test runs. Innovatek also said that biodiesel just plain works better: it contains fewer impurities and reforms at lower temperatures than petrodiesel.
Now let me beat naysayers to the punch here: no way are we going to power all of America’s cars on biodiesel, even using this kind of technology. I’m also interested in investigating what byproducts the microreactor produces and how they would be collected and used. But without being able to write off algae biodiesel or other majorly productive feedstocks as potential solutions, and based on the inherent coolness of this device, I think we could all be cautiously optimistic.
Related Posts:
NEW: First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online April 1, 2008
GM Announces Biofuel Partnership: Cheap, Green Ethanol?
First Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Goes Online, Makes Fuel From Wood Waste
Switchgrass Could Displace 30% of US Petroleum Usage With 94% GHG Reduction
BREAKING NEWS: First Cars Run on Algae Biodiesel; Breakthrough Production Possible
A Biodiesel Prius? VW To Release 69.9 MPG Diesel Hybrid
The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Car: 285 MPG, Not A Hybrid
Sources:
InnovaTek, Inc. (see “Press Releases”)
Biodiesel Magazine (Mar. 2008): Power Without the Burn
Grainnet (Mar. 17, 08): InnovaTek Introduces New Fuel Cell Processor Technology That Favors Biodiesel
Via: Biodiesel Magazine
Photo Credit: InnovaTek
Last week I was interviewed by Timber Talk, a forestry radio station in Arkansas, which coincidentally took place at the North American International Auto show in Detroit, Michigan. Timber Talk approached me last fall after reading a post on VegTruck.com that dealt with using straight vegetable oil as a fuel source.
Fun fact: Timber Talk radio covers a population of 2,400,000 in three states.
We spoke for about 30 minutes on a range of topics, including the new renewable fuel standard, cellulosic ethanol and GM’s announcement, algae biodiesel, vegetable oil as a fuel, and so on.
Listen to the show here.
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Are biofuel mandates and tax credits such a good idea? It may be wise to learn from the EU’s experience…
After passage of the new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) late last year (see earlier post), which mandates production of 15 billion gallons of corn-grain ethanol by by 2015, many of us are left contemplating the vast implications for US industry, not to mention commodity prices, auto manufacturing, and the greater course of biofuel research and development.
Rewind to 2003, when the European Union (EU) passed a biofuel directive requiring 5.75% of transport energy to come from biofuels by 2010, increasing to 20% by 2020. When paired with tax credits for biodiesel production, business boomed, at least for a while:
Mirroring the U.S. experience with ethanol, European companies rushed to make biodiesel out of a range of things, including rapeseed crops and used McDonald’s frying oil. Low raw-material costs and generous tax breaks meant margins were high. By last year, Europe’s annual capacity to make the fuel had climbed to 10 million metric tons from two million tons in 2003.
As with ethanol in the U.S., though, Europe now has a glut of biodiesel. The world consumed only nine million tons of biodiesel last year. Europe’s producers found buyers for just five million tons. The industry is in trouble, under pressure from soaring costs, disappearing tax breaks, less-costly imports and waning public support.
‘Glut’ is not entirely accurate. Rather, Europe is facing a feedstock crisis which is driving biodiesel prices through the roof. Few will buy the fuel in significant quantities if it can’t compete on price:
Since January, prices for the crops that make most biodiesel have doubled, driving the cost of a ton of biodiesel up 50%, to around $1,440 a ton, or about $4.80 a gallon. Prices for regular crude-oil-based diesel have risen sharply, too, but only to $840 a ton, or $2.80 a gallon. Biodiesel has become more expensive for oil companies to buy than fossil fuel, and they are cutting back.
As in the U.S., the biodiesel industry in Europe depends on tax credits for its survival, and many of these credits are now being phased out or canceled entirely (Germany canceled their tax credit in August 2006).
If this seems shocking, keep in mind the U.S. ethanol production (not to mention the petroleum industry) also depends on billions of dollars in direct subsidies and import tariffs. But it’s more likely we’ll see a proper glut before facing the EU’s problems:
Buoyed by $7 billion a year in subsidies and a tariff on foreign imports, U.S. farmers planted a quarter more corn this year, most of it going toward making ethanol. But supply of ethanol is outstripping demand, mainly because of the difficulty and cost of transporting ethanol, which needs special pipelines. Some U.S. ethanol producers are idling production and a debate has begun over whether the pressure that ethanol production puts on agricultural land is worth the modest cuts in carbon-dioxide emissions it yields.
Where this roller-coast will take us is anyone’s guess, but it wouldn’t hurt to avoid mistakes that have already been made.
Related Posts:
The Growing Need for Fuel Substitution, Efficiency, and Conservation
GM’s Grand Plan For Solving America’s Oil Dependence
Portland’s Grease Wars: Battling for Biodiesel-Bound Cooking Oil
WSJ (Dec. 27, 2007): Europe’s Biodiesel Drive Sputters
]]>Outside of the juicy profits awaiting corporations like ADM thanks to the combination of U.S. farm subsidies and $60-plus-per-barrel sweet light crude, the ethanol frenzy offers more questions than answers. First, there is the questionable energy payback: some studies say ethanol yields more energy than it requires to produce ("The Energy Balance of Corn Ethanol: An Update"), while others say it's a net negative energy source ("Ethanol Fuel from Corn Faulted as 'Unsustainable Subsidized Food Burning'").
There are other concerns as well: more fuel-crop fields mean fewer forests, grasslands and natural ecosystems, higher agricultural water demands, higher food-and feed-crop prices, and more intensive monocropping on already severely depleted soils. Too many questions, too few answers.
A more responsible approach would be to immediately start jacking up fuel-efficiency standards ("Fuel Economy: The Single Most Effective Step for Cutting Oil Dependence") while investing in serious R & D for all alternative fuels and energy sources. Of course, that approach isn't a gravy train for corporate share-holders, so I won't be holding my breath.]]>
Dr. Andrew Weil
Dr. Andrew Weil, who has spent a lifetime instructing people on how to heal our bodies as naturally as possible, has taken on a new project. He's making his own biodiesel fuel in his Vail, AZ back yard.
In an Arizona Daily Star interview, written by staff reporter Carla Mc Clain, Dr. Weil has turned his garage into what he calls his "Bio-Depot", turning out 75-cent per gallon diesel fuel which runs several of his ranch vehicles. The feed stock is nothing more than vegetable oil collected from various Tucson eateries.
According to Weil, "I've always written and taught that it's very difficult to be healthy in an unhealthy world. ... We have to be very immediately concerned about finding solutions for the toxic effects the combustion engine has on human health." He said what we all know, that biodiesel fuel burns cleaner, emits far fewer toxic compounds into the air, and decreases ozone and smog.
