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| The Hydrogen News # 14 |
| 07.25.04 (7:35 pm) |
Book Review: Building A Solar Hydrogen Fuel Cell System
By: Phillip Hurley
For my story in this week's edition I would like to tell you about a book that I just finished reading.I recently saw this book being advertised on the web and immediately procured a copy. I like it a lot and I think that it would be a great resource for any adults who would like to become familiar with the emerging world of hydrogen energy and for students of all ages (with proper supervision) and I think it would make a great classroom resource as well.
The Author begins with a short overview of the history of hydrogen, from it's early researchers and such right up to the present and explains the merits of a "hydrogen from water" energy storage system which is powered by renewable power sources such as solar and wind.
Then he explains how to build each component of the system from readily available or easily obtained items and lists sources for the less common pieces. No special knowledge of chemistry is required, just some basic experience with electricity and common household chemicals. The instructions are simple to understand and yet as detailed as they need to be in order for the reader to understand the various systems that are needed to construct a working system. There are many drawings, tables and photos included to help the reader in building the project as well as some templates that are used in building the fuel cell.
All in all I think it is a great resource for anyone who wants to better understand hydrogen energy, even if they don't intend to build the system described. Seeing how easy it is to work with hydrogen helps to bring the technology down from the difficult to understand, "high tech" domain where it so often resides in the media and makes it as easy for the "common" person to understand as natural gas or propane.
To order a copy of the book go to the Wheelock Mountain Publications site, here: http://www.goodideacreative.c... The book is currently available only as an e-book in various formats.
MJ
(1) Stillwater Mine going green with hydrogen-powered vehicle
http://www.billingsgazette.co...
ZEUS - short for Zero Emissions Utility Solution - is like no other piece of mine equipment. What appears to be a typical flatbed mine truck doesn't belch black smoke
from its exhaust pipe. Instead, the hydrogen-powered prototype releases a tiny trickle of water. It uses metal hydride storage and a hydrogen fueled internal combustion
engine.
(2) Ohio, Michigan big powers in fuel-cell development
http://www.toledoblade.com/ap...
University of Toledo researchers received more than $1.3 million in state funds to buy equipment for efforts to convert diesel and other fuels into hydrogen for powering
fuel cells, part of more than $30 million in grants the state has doled out to universities and companies in the last two years.
(3) Kettering U. steps up research on fuel cells
http://www.detnews.com/2004/a...
The year is 2015, and you hop into your car powered by fuel cells. When you open your hood, instead of the familiar internal combustion engine, the black rectangular
fuel cell stacks look like computer hardware.
(4) Going hybrid
http://www.mailtribune.com/ar...
"It looks like a little pregnant roller skate going down the road," said Jim.
(5) Prof. Hydrogen gets top marks
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp...
Bragi Arnason, known as "Professor Hydrogen," began studying alternative energies and fuels in the late 1970s at the University of Iceland. His mission was to find a
way to make his country less dependent on oil and coal imports.
(6) H2 Expo 2004
http://www.h2expo.de
Hydrogen expo and workshops on fuel cells and hydrogen for aerospace and maritime applications. Being held in Hamburg, Germany September 16-17.
(7) Platinum Today: BP developing hydrogen infrastructure - 22nd July 2004
http://www.platinum.matthey.c...
The fuel cell industry appears to be gathering momentum with news that global energy giant BP is to build a second hydrogen facility, incorporating groundbreaking
technology that it says will be replicated across China. (Who even knew there WAS a Platinum magazine? Ed.)
(8) Coble wants city to get high on hydrogen
http://www.thestate.com/mld/t...
Mayor Bob Coble will unveil a five-step plan today to make Columbia the center of a Southeastern Hydrogen Highway.
(9) Westport Signs MOU with Leading Chinese University for Hydrogen Research Project
http://www.bctechnology.com/s...
Westport Innovations has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s Tsinghua University to co-research and demonstrate technologies using Hydrogen-
Compressed Natural Gas (HCNG) in public bus fleets in Beijing and other Chinese cities.
(10) Report: Can hydrogen fuel aid N.J.?
http://www.app.com/app/story/...,21625,1008910,00.html
Policy makers should figure out whether it is in New Jersey's interest to promote hydrogen as part of its energy and economic development policies, according to a
report released yesterday at Rutgers University.
(11) Iceland: The fire within
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp...
Island nation's geothermal resources make it an ideal launching pad for the hydrogen economy.
(12) Retail Filling Station in Singapore Adds Hydrogen
http://www.solaraccess.com/ne...
Hydrogen fueling stations don't normally mix with retail gasoline, but the U.S. based company Air Products put a hydrogen fuel pump at a BP filling station in
Singapore.
(13) S'pore's fuel cell cars S-E Asia's first
http://business-times.asia1.c...,4567,123074,00.html
There are two units of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class F-Cell car running around Singapore at the moment.
(14) Hoku Scientific plans to move to the Leeward Coast
http://pacific.bizjournals.co...
The Hawaii fuel cell developer Hoku Scientific Inc., ready to manufacture components for hydrogen fuel cells, has outgrown its offices in Kalihi and is preparing to move
to the Waianae Coast.
(15) Wind Powers Hydrogen Production in Iowa
http://www.solaraccess.com/ne...
At the end of June, the city council of Ames, Iowa, voted 6-0 in favor of installing two utility-scale wind turbines to be part of a project to research using wind power to
create hydrogen.
(16) DaimlerChrysler aims for mass-market, hydrogen-fueled cars in 10 years
http://www.enn.com/news/2004-...
Car giant DaimlerChrysler said Monday it hopes to sell pollution-free, fuel-cell cars to the public within a decade but acknowledges that making them cheap enough
will be its toughest challenge.
(17) Hydrogen in, vapour out
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
Hydrogen could possibly be the next alternative source of energy for mobility, meaning no more petrol and no more diesel fumes polluting the air.
(18) Motiva and Marathon Refineries Strike Deal with Air Products
http://www.csnews.com/csnews/...
Air Products and Chemicals Inc. will construct a facility in Louisiana to supply hydrogen to the Motiva Enterprises LLC and Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC (MAP)
refineries, and also provide hydrogen to its Mississippi River corridor pipeline system.
(19) Fuel Cells to Advance Zero-Emissions Energy; New Research Will Help Fuel Cells Move to Commercial Viability
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham today announced a new phase of fuel-cell research designed to hasten the wider availability of zero-emissions energy.
(20) Dreaming of clean coal: No emissions and hydrogen to boot
http://www.independentmail.co...,1886,AND_8203_3044892,00 .html
To help usher in the "hydrogen economy" and capitalize on America’s bountiful supply of coal, the Bush administration has developed its FutureGen proposal, a $1-
billion, public-private partnership to build a zero-emissions coal-fired power plant within 10 years.
(21) Black gold: Maligned coal still has powerful future
http://www.independentmail.co...,1886,AND_8203_3044891,00 .html
The W.S. Lee Steam Station on the banks of the Saluda River outside Williamston is a typical older coal plant, complete with train cars full of the black nuggets
leading up to a soaring mound piled out back and three tall smokestacks across its brick roofline.
(22) Why Cheap Fossil Fuel Costs Us Plenty
http://bobwhitson.typepad.com...
Cheap fossil fuels are expensive. We don't pay a lot at the pump, but our addiction to fossil fuels costs us more than we know.
(23) Producing H2
http://www.greencarcongress.c...
here is much agreement that hydrogen is the probable energy carrier of the future—there is little agreement on how exactly that hydrogen will come to be. Unlike wood,
coal or petroleum, hydrogen isn’t sitting waiting to be harvested, mined or pumped. Rather, it needs to be produced.
(24) Unraveling the Great Hydrogen Hoax
http://www.aiada.org/article....
This story is interesting, if for no other reason, because it appears in the American International Auto Dealers Association.
(25) 'Cool' Fuel Cells Could Revolutionize Earth's Energy Resources
http://www.sciencedaily.com/r...
As temperatures soar this summer, so do electric bills. Researchers at the University of Houston are striving toward decreasing those costs with the next revolution in
power generation.
(26) UC gets $250K grant for fuel-cell research
http://www.cincypost.com/2004...
The University of Cincinnati College of Engineering received a $250,000 grant in a presentation at the college Engineering Research Center Monday. The grant would be
used in high-temperature fuel-cell research.
(27) Pinning hopes on the tar sand
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp...
To produce a low quality fuel — bitumen — is ... 90 per cent of the hydrocarbon energy is stored in ... to produce either electricity or hydrogen
(28) UNLOCKING the Secrets of Titanium, a 'Key' that Assists Hydrogen ...
http://www.physorg.com/news47...
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the New Jersey Institute of Technology have taken steps toward understanding how
a titanium compound reacts with a hydrogen-storage material to catalyze the release and re-absorption of hydrogen.
(29) PEA RESEARCH, IAeSR
http://pea-research.50megs.co...
LeRoy Pea has a nice collection of hydrogen carburetors and various other little known energy related patents.
(30) FuelCell Energy Begins Operations to Power Democratic National Convention
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/0...
Fuel cell will provide 250 kilowatts of clean electric power
(31) Protonex Awarded Military Development Contract By Army Research Office
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
The program's goal is to accelerate the development of Protonex's NGen™ hydrogen-air and direct methanol fuel cell stacks for man portable military applications.
(32) NYC, Eight States Sue Utilities Over Emissions
http://www.planetark.org/dail...
Five big U.S. power companies were sued yesterday for creating a public nuisance, accused by eight states and the city of New York of being the largest global-
warming polluters in the country.
(33) Fuel Cell japan
http://www.fcpat-japan.com/
A nice site devoted to collecting information about hydrogen fuel developments in Japan. With a list of related patents.
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| The Hydrogen News # 13 |
| 07.17.04 (7:28 pm) |
The Hydrogen News # 13
This week I had wanted to do the interview that I promised to do with the person from England who is collecting donations to build a car that produces it's own fuel from water ( http://www.earth2012.org ). I did contact him and he agreed to the interview. We got about half way through it when he suddenly became busy and I haven't heard anything from him since then. I decided to publish the portion of the interview that we completed as part 1 and will publish the balance of the interview when and/or if I can again get his cooperation to finish it up.
Interview With Stef Kling
MJ: Hi Stef, I publish an online ezine every week about hydrogen fuel and related subjects. I ran a brief piece on you in the last edition.
Would you consent to an interview for the next one?
Stef: Yes of course, with pleasure. Fire away your questions! What's the website address?
MJ: I will write up a list of questions and forward them to you. My website is http://www.geocities.com/mj_1... My blog:
http://enki.tblog.com I also edit the science/technology/energy /hydrogen section of the DMOZ search engine and it's sub categories.
Let me say that, at this point, I am a skeptic of what you are claiming. That doesn't mean I can't be won over if you can produce
enough hard evidence that it is a) possible to do what you want to do and b) that you can do it. This can consist of a well reasoned
scientific argument based on established facts and (ideally) a small working model that can be exposed to public scrutiny.
I would like your project to be a success. I have been researching the electrolysis process for about 5 years now and your goal is indeed
admirable. So don't be offended, if you can make a reasonable argument for the technology that you propose then I will help you out as I
am able.
The first and largest question would be regarding the technology you plan to use. Is it similar to any other existing work, such as that of
Stanley Meyer?
Second, just to be sure we are on the same page, you are saying that you intend to produce the hydrogen to fuel your car on board the
car from water using power supplied by the car, are you not? That is a start. Thanks for you cooperation.
Stef: I can understand you are sceptic. I was too in the beginning. Also there have been so many people that claim they have built a car that
runs on water but none delivered proof.
You are asking for hard evidence. The only hard evidence one can give is to demonstrate a working prototoype. Hence we are in catch
22 as to build the prototype we need funding. We for ourselves know that the technology works as a working prototype has been
developed in the eighties (but that was lost when the project was obstructed at the time). So one has to look at soft facts to see that
we are serious.There are a number of things to consider in this respect:
1. This is not one man working in a shed - there is a team of people innvolved in the development
2. Several people (including myself) have given up a well-paid full-time job to do this project.
3. Fundraising is done through a professional organization (Earth 2012) that is registered and audited.
4. We are so confident that we have gone to the press at this stage already. We have no secrets to hide and will report progress regularly on
our website. We are absolutely convinced that if we get funding now we can present the prototype end of next year. If we can't show
anything end of next year my personal credibility and that of Earth 2012 will be ruined forever.
5. The way we will reveal the technology is different from others. - First of all we will present the prototype at a big press conference where
we will explain how the technology works. - We will invite a respected institute to reproduce the design and verify that our claims are true.
- The design will be published so that ohers can reproduce this too.
- We will offer our services to car manufacturers to perfect the technology and get it ready for series production.
As for the technology:
We make use the resonance frequency of water to break it down (as Stanley Meyer did) but that is where the similarity ends. The way our
device works is very different from that of Stanley Meyer. The hydrogen will be produced on board. Initially the engine starts on a
normal car battery, this is then charged as in a current engine.
MJ: Thank you for your response. First off let me re-state the fact that I will attempt to be objective here and am not starting out with a
particular, preconceived judgement of your project. I guess I will just respond to you below and throw in a few questions of my own
as I go and see if I can flesh the story out that way.
First question; What is your background in hydrogen and/or electrochemistry. In other words are you formally trained or self taught?
Is this your own development or is it someone else's or a joint venture between you and others?
Hard evidence is what the world always seems to want. I would be happy with a few well reasoned scientific arguments to back up your
position for now though.
How much would you need to build a working model on a small RC car or a used VW? What is the biggest anticipated expense, the
vehicle or the hydrogen producing device?
You say that a working prototype of your water fueled car was developed in the eighties. By whom? Did you see this model or were you
able to test it to determine it was the "real deal"?
You then say that this prototype "was lost when the project was obstructed at the time."
Who "obstructed" the project? A government, a company?
You say there is a team working on this project, do you mean in the '80's or now (including yourself)? What kind of work were you in
prior to this? Who are your associates (if I may ask)?
Oh, it is good to know that you are registered as a business. How is it registered, as a for-profit or non-profit corporation (or some
other type of entity)? This is important so that people know whether to treat their donations as "investments", "gifts" or tax deductible
contributions. Each has their advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of the person with the money (as I am sure you know).
You say that even at this initial stage of the project, you are confident that it will be successful. Confidence without a working model is
dangerous ground... Assuming that you manage to raise the million pounds that is your goal amount, and don't manage to achieve
the desired result; yes your credibility may be damaged BUT you will be a million pounds richer and that will perhaps be some solace.
What if you only raise half a million though? What will you do? Refund that amount to the donors? Just curious as, if you really NEED a
million, and don't manage to raise that much then you won't have enough to build the car, right?
You say that you will give the details of this technology away for free, but you could do that now, right on your website for next to nothing
(explain how it works). Why wait? Or do you just want to have the working model on hand when you make the announcement?
You say your claims will be verified by a respected Institute.Did you have anyone in mind? If so have they agreed already? When are you
anticipating having the project finished? For example the Hydrogen Wales group (http://www.h2wales.org.uk/) is dedicated to the same
end (hydrogen energy) and has plenty of funding from the Crown. Maybe they would help you?
Will there be a cost for the design that you plan to give to the automakers? Is the design finished now or is there more research to be
done? After all, the car manufacturers will be making money from the design so why give it away? In that case will those who contribute
money in this initial phase of the project be eligible to receive a portion of your possible profits then as dividends or in shares of stock or
something?
So you are saying that you believe that Meyer's device(s) worked as advertised? Which of his methods in particular were you
considering 1) the water through a plasma spark plug 2) the laser beam separator or 3) the water capacitor cell using high freq/voltage
DC pulses? Once I know I can ask more detailed questions on whichever one you are intending to use.
You say your device is different from Meyer's design. In what way? Meyer covered the three most readily available applications of the
vibrational water splitting concept (as mentioned above). How is your very different? Using sound perhaps?
How are you going to deal with the issue of the process already being patented in some form (as it very likely is)?
Since you say the car will produce it's own fuel; here is one more thing to think about. A car engine uses around 7 hp of it's total to turn
the alternator. An internal combustion engine is only about 30% efficient. So the electrical energy available to you from the alternator is
only a tiny fraction of the energy represented by the fuel that is used to run the car. This obviously raises questions related to the
conservation of energy rule and the second law of thermodynamics. I know these will be the first things that you are asked to explain.
How do you explain being able to produce enough fuel to run the vehicle off such a small amount of available energy?
Thank you for your prompt response to my initial questions. This second group will put us firmly on the same page regarding what it is
you are proposing to do and how you plan to do it both financially and scientifically.
Stef: I'm a bit pressed for time today and am out of the office tomorrow, so I will come back to you a bit later on this. I would rather take the
time to answer properly than to rush it. By the way Im impressed by your questions, more thorough than most people I speak to. You
are obviously doing a good job! Speak to you later.
This was effectively the end of the interview to the present. I am hoping that Stef will get back to me and answer the questions that I put to him. Without those answers it is impossible to make a prediction regarding the viability of his project. It would be nice to see a car that runs on water but that is without doubt an extraordinary claim. And until extraordinary evidence is presented it remains only a nice thought.
MJ
(1) Ballard's celebrated drive hits a bumpy road (a must read!)
http://www.globeandmail.com/s...
There was a time not so long ago when an annual general meeting of Ballard Power Systems Inc. generated a level of excitement that
was almost palpable and played to a packed house of investors....
(2) Mitsubishi Heavy Set to Launch Office-Use Fuel Cell
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to launch sales of so-called solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) by 2005 for use in large buildings,
offices, hotels and hospitals, company officials said Wednesday.
(3) Ngee Ann Poly, GasHub Power design eco-friendly, hydrogen powered, human transporter
http://www.channelnewsasia.co...
A school and a local firm have joined hands to design a human transporter, making travels from place to place a breeze.
(4) IIT researcher playing big role in hydrogen energy
http://www.suntimes.com/outpu...
An Illinois Institute of Technology professor is drawing on his experiences growing up in energy-starved Jordan to help plan a hydrogen
energy highway in Illinois.
(5) Ford Research Vehicle Points the Way Towards Viable Fuel Cell Technology
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1602,4711,00.html
Ford engineers have equipped the Ford Focus C-MAX with a prototype hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2 ICE).
(6) European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform holds information and brokerage seminar
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1602,4709,00.html
On behalf of the European Commission, the Secretariat of the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform is organising an
information and brokerage event for the 2004 calls covering Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in order to inform proposers and assist with the
process of preparation and submission of proposals.
(7) SatCon racks up $1M in fuel cell component orders
http://boston.bizjournals.com...
Cambridge-based SatCon Technology Corp. said Wednesday that it has logged more than $1 million in new orders for components it
manufactures for use with fuel cells.
(8) Key Bush Environmental Accomplishments (from whitehouse.gov)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/new...
The Bush Administration's Environmental Philosophy... and energy-efficient technologies, such as hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles,
residential ... first coal-based, zero-emissions electricity and hydrogen power plant ...
(9) Colorado Farmers Lead the Charge for Wind Energy Development
http://www.emagazine.com/
In the drought-stricken farm belt of southeastern Colorado, down-on-their-luck farmers and wide-eyed environmentalists alike are looking
forward to the day when many more Americans derive their electricity from the wind, an ultimately renewable, pollution-free source of
energy. And the state-funded Colorado Green Project is helping make this vision into a reality.
(10) Moving From Hydrogen Demonstration to Implementation
http://www.solaraccess.com/ne...
At a conference in Japan, top executives of Shell Hydrogen unveiled new concept to support the development of the global hydrogen
market.
(11) 'India's crude reserves may exhaust in 20 years'
http://economictimes.indiatim...
India’s crude oil reserves are likely to exhaust in less than 20 years from now, while its natural gas reserves will last another 28 years,
oil and gas industry experts said at a CII lecture on Wednesday.
(12) India to have fuel cell cars?
http://www.rediff.com/money/2...
At the Technology Day award ceremony in New Delhi, last week, President Dr Abdul Kalam unveiled the country's first fuel cell
prototype car.
(13) Ocean CO2 may 'harm marine life'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sc...
Nearly 50% of the carbon dioxide that humans have pumped into the atmosphere over the last 200 years has been absorbed by the
sea, scientists say.
(14) Monster raindrops delight experts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sc...
Scientists have observed the biggest raindrops recorded on Earth - which may be a whopping 1cm in size.
(15) Climate warning from the deep
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sc...
Strange things are happening in the North Sea. Cod stocks are slumping faster than over-fishing can account for, and Mediterranean
species like red mullet are migrating north.
(16) Hydrogen study centre for Shetland?
http://www.shetland-news.co.u...%20stories/hydrogen_study _centre_for_shetland.htm
Yesterday (Wednesday) the Shetland Renewable Energy Forum announced they had received funding for a £20,000 investigation into
the viability of creating a “hydrogen study centre” in the isles.
(17) Hydrogen Delivers for FedEx
http://peterthink.blogs.com/t...
In Tokyo FedEx is testing a hydrogen powered vehicle from GM.
(18) Hydrogen and Electricity compared for Transmission, Storage and Transportation
http://www.electricityforum.c...
A new study titled "Carrying the Energy Future: Comparing Hydrogen and Electricity for Transmission, Storage and Transportation" by
the Seattle based Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment (ILEA,) evaluated the energy penalties incurred in using hydrogen to
transmit energy as compared to those incurred using electricity.
(19) Dawn Solar Systems
http://www.dawnsolar.com/
These guys have a new concept in solar hot water heaters. I thought it was pretty cool.
(20) The Power of Hydrogen
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1602,4690,00.html
HYDROGEN MAY be THE FUEL OF THE future, but that future is still a ways off.
(21) Europeans Still Wait for Summer Weather
http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
VIENNA, Austria - Snowball fights in July. Mulled wine instead of wine coolers. Thermostats set on high. Spring has come and gone,
fall approaches — and Europeans are still waiting for summer.
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| The Hydrogen News # 12 |
| 07.11.04 (3:04 pm) |
The Hydrogen News # 12
One or two issues ago I was pondering the possibilities of using naturally available energy sources to power hydrogen production from the sea. I forgot to list one such potential power source in that story and so am going to advance the possibility here. This would be utilizing the natural potential difference that exists between the ground and the upper atmosphere. A potential difference of 5,000 kV "During fair weather, a potential difference of 200,000 to 500,000 Volts exists between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere, with a fair weather current of about 2x10-12 amperes/meter2. It is widely believed that this potential difference is due to the world-wide distribution of thunderstorms." (from: http://thunder.msfc.nasa.gov/...).
So we have all of this potential energy just waiting to be tapped and we have the ocean, which is itself a huge conductor (water with NaCl electrolyte). At the bottom of the ocean is the ground. The ocean is a liquid atmosphere just like air is a gas atmosphere. So there should be a way to utilize the electrical potential that must exist between the surface of the ocean (or the upper atmosphere) and the sea floor (ground) below.
I was thinking about lightning as an overt demonstration of the flow of power within the electrodynamic system of the planet and looked at some sites about how lightning acts in the ocean. Here are some links:
1) http://science.nasa.gov/headl...
This one has a word map and shows where lightning is concentrated around the world.
2) http://www.thomson.ece.ufl.ed...
This one is about grounding a sailboat. Nice little graphic on how the lightning charge spreads out in the water under the boat.
3) http://www.oceannavigator.com...
General info on lightning at sea.
4) http://science.howstuffworks....
Marshal Brain's "How Stuff Works" site.
It would seem as though the Earth is already set up as a giant electrochemical cell. The Sun is the power source and the Plasmasphere is one plate and the literal "ground" the other. Seventy percent of the planet is covered by a water/electrolyte solution (the ocean) and all that remains is finding the best way to incorporate all of these available components into a method to release hydrogen. If we accomplish that then all our energy problems (shortages, price gouging, war, etc) will be over and perhaps the human race can move onward to better things.
MJ
(1) AUSTRALIA: Greenhouse gases "threaten Australian way of life"
http://www.planetark.org/dail...
(2) Stef Kling's Water Fueled Car
http://www.earth2012.org
This is the website for another claiment of a car that runs on water. I read over their press release and it seems they are planning to use the technology which was
patented by Stan Meyer. Of course Meyer was later convicted of fraud and died in prison so I don't know if the patent is still valid or even if the device/process works as
claimed. However there are many people in the free energy community who do believe it works. Mr. Kling seems to be trying to raise one million dollars to build the car.
I will not be investing at this point. Is a public demonstration of a working model really that much to ask for? I am going to try to interview Mr. Kling for the next issue.
(3) Hydrogen storage in tiny glass spheres
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/53430...
One research group has developed a safe method for storing hydrogen that uses glass spheres. The amount of hydrogen released is controlled by light intensity at a
specific frequency. A rupture tank full of spheres would not release much hydrogen at all. The spheres are so small that only a powerful direct impact will shatter them.
Fling them onto a hard roadway and nothing will happen.
(4) U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, Florida Tech announce new hydrogen fuel center
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...%5freleases/2004-05/fiot- urd052704.php
I like Florida (except for the sharks, gators and scorpions), maybe I will have to take a trip to check out the various hydrogen centers down there (during bike
week at Daytona preferably).
(5) Hydrogen’s Legacy
http://www.h2cars.biz/artman/...
"Most experts make short and mid term predictions based on the immediacy of the past without computing the impact of technologies that are maturing and soon to
impact the very prognostications they make."
(6) Innovative Energy Solutions Inc. Formed to Deliver Clean Energy Technologies
http://www.h2cars.biz/artman/...
"iESi is organized into three broad divisions to maximize return on its intellectual capital and intellectual property. These divisions include hydrogen generation"
(7) In Search of New Power Source, NY City Looks Underwater
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/0...
"That will make New York City one of the greenest cities in the world when it comes to locally produced clean energy,"
(8) NY tries to jump start its hydrogen energy program
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
Two programs will be running simultaneously to get New York onto the hydrogen highway fast.
(9) Ballard Power sells vehicle fuel cell division to DaimlerChrysler, Ford
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/ar...
"Ballard said DaimlerChrylser and Ford will buy its 50.1 per cent stake in Germany's Ballard AG, formerly called Xcellis. The two big automakers will be responsible for
research, development and manufacturing of the fuel cells."
(10) USA: New stock fund to eye alternative energy sources
http://www.planetark.org/dail...
(11) Stars Power Move to Green Energy
http://go.hotwired.com/news/a...,2554,63883,00.html/wn_ascii
(12) Nano-Proprietary Signs Development, Purchase and License Agreement for Hydrogen Sensor Products
http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/04070...
Love that nanotechnology.
(13) Government Technology Magazine
http://www.govtech.net/magazi...
Ok, this isn't about hydrogen. It is an online ezine "Solutions for State and Local Government in the Information Age" and looked like it might be useful.
(14) Ballard stock down more than 15% on sale of German fuel cell division
http://www.canada.com/saskato...
I guess this would be the downside of selling out to Chrysler/Ford?
(15) New clathrate structure shows promise for H2 storage
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1588,831,00.html
"There is a promising new compound known as hydrogen clathrate hydrate (H2(H2O)2). This clathrate (essentially a solid form of water with hydrogen trapped inside)
holds around 50g of hydrogen per litre."
(16) Let's stop being narrow-minded...
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.u...
A new concept car that may one day be powered by fuel cells is; "So thin, in fact, that the new car has been dubbed the Naro and the company which conceived it has
licenced a new business to develop it called The Narrow Car Company."
(17) The Power of Hydrogen
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1602,4690,00.html
"We don't feel a sense of urgency, or that it's (hydrogen) something marketers need to be spending a lot of time and energy on right now," said Dan Gilligan, president
of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America.
(18) Materials Integrity Management Symposium Fact Sheet - June 2004
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1588,836,00.html
Presenting the June 8 keynote presentation, Daniel O’Connell of General Motors’ Fuel Cell business outlined the company’s path to a hydrogen future.
(19) Herman's Insight; The Website For Herman P. Anderson's Hydrogen Car
http://www.hermansinsight.com...
This guy looks like the real deal. A fascinating website. Unfortunately Herman has died very recently. This link is to a posthumus story about him in a local newspaper:
http://reviewappeal.midsouthn...
(20) UK: BP flags bumper second quarter profits
http://www.planetark.org/dail...
Let's see, gas hits 2$ plus per gallon because of those dirty Arabs or limited production capacity and the Oil Co.'s make a killing. Same old story, over and over.
(21) Angel's Nest Retreats :: The World's First Hydrogen Powered Fully Sustainable Luxury Retreat Center
http://www.angelsnestretreats...
Not for everyone perhaps, but I think it looks pretty cool.
(22) Oil - how much do we have, when will it run out and can we switch to alternative fuels.
http://www.carlist.com/autone...
There is a fear of vulnerability in our way of life. It is caused by world oil dependence and the fear that oil will soon be depleted.
(23) Global Hydrofuel Technologies Inc
http://www.globalhydrofuel.co...
"has developed a method for producing hydrogen-on-demand from aluminum-assisted water split reaction, hydrogen suitable for any application and without the need for
hydrogen storage or distribution."
(24) Hydrogen Storage Beats Processing
http://www.solaraccess.com/ne...
There is greater potential for on-board hydrogen storage rather than on-board fuel processors in hydrogen fueled vehicles, according to UTC Fuel Cells and Shell
Hydrogen.
(25) Solar Concentrator Hydrogen Testing Proves Successful
http://www.solaraccess.com/ne...
Tapping the hot Arizona sun and a new Solar Concentrator developed by the Lab, the research team said they were able to extract Hydrogen from water at a
temperature of 850 degrees Celsius.
(26) Virent produces hydrogen from sugar
http://www.jsonline.com/bym/n...
The company, Virent Energy Systems LLC, has developed a renewable method to make hydrogen from the sugars in corn and other plants (http://www.virent.com/).
(27) Energetic future
http://www.insidedenver.com/d...,1299,DRMN_82_3025575,00.html
America's - and Colorado's - energy system is the very lifeblood of our economy and our daily lives. Energy is at the heart of our national security and survival.
(28) Windless wind-power fuels Norwegian island
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...
How to get that coffee maker working when all is still and the local windmill just won't budge? By pioneering a new way of storing alternative energy, a small Norwegian
island may have solved the problem that has had researchers scratching their heads for eons.
(29) Who needs "oil independence" - our friendly neighbor to the north is sitting on a black gold mine!
http://www.dogwoodinitiative....
Alberta sits atop the biggest petroleum deposit outside the Arabian peninsula - as many as 300 billion recoverable barrels and another trillion-plus barrels that could
one day be within reach using new retrieval methods.
(30) Russian Oil Giant Yukos in Default, Carve-Up Looms
http://www.themoscowtimes.com...
Yukos is on the brink of insolvency after a group of its foreign
creditors said it was in default on a $1 billion loan, the company
said Monday as tension mounted over expected asset seizures this
week to collect a crippling $3.4 billion tax bill.
(31) Ministry: Chevron Is Still Game for Yukos Bailout
http://www.themoscowtimes.com...
Even as the market waited with bated breath as to whether the
government would destroy investors' former darling Yukos this
week, the Industry Energy Ministry held out hope Monday for significant
foreign investment in the oil sector.
(32) Shell H2 Boss On Making It Real
http://www.greencarcongress.c...
In a speech to the World Hydrogen Energy Conference in Japan, Shell Hydrogen CEO Jeremy Bentham highlighted the successes of current hydrogen infrastructure
efforts and outlined his proposal for a new generation of “Lighthouse Projects” based on mini-networks to accelerate the awareness and adoption.
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| The Hydrogen News # 11 |
| 07.05.04 (3:17 pm) |
The Hydrogen News # 11
This week I was thinking about hydrogen and other alternative energy sources in other parts of the world (nearly anywhere but the US). I think that living in the United States gives a person a rather skewed perspective on energy in general due to the prevailing "never too much" energy attitude where we see our existing fuel supply as limitless and if that means the rest of the world can't have any then, so what?
In other parts of the world there is a different view though. In parts of Europe solar water heaters are fairly common as are "heat on demand" water heaters and the like. Generally people use about 1/3 the energy per person that we do here in the US.
On the other hand in less developed nations many people have no power and still use wood or dung for cooking fuel and heat. In these areas polluted water may be all that is available.
I thought about how easy it would be in those areas to build solar water purifiers so that people could at least have reasonably pure water to drink and solar cookers so they wouldn't have to spend so much time gathering fuel. Both devices can be made from "junk" and if they are made new they are still not very expensive. I did a google search on the topic to see if anyone else was thinking along these lines and came up with the following pages of interest:
1) http://journeytoforever.org/s...
These gys are teaching solar box cooking in the 3rd world
2) http://solarcooking.org/solar...
A paper on the heat pasteurization of drinking water with solar energy
3) http://www.mueller-solartechn...
This one also has info on solar water de-salinization
4) http://www.californiasolarcen...
A CSUS professor's idea for the Third World: Let the sun do the cooking
5) http://www.earthtoys.com/emag...
More on solar water purification
I guess the bottom line is that we can't build a hydrogen economy model for the whole world that is based on the "needs" of the American consumer. This is because what may be assumed to be necessary here would be looked at as a luxury elsewhere. Since the goal of the alternative energy community should be worldwide in scope then perhaps, in the end, it will be the US who has to come around to more sensible and responsible levels of energy use and so perhaps most of the development of the new economy should look to the rest of the world as a market first.
MJ
(1) Water fueled car soon to market?
http://timesofindia.indiatime...
This story did run in an Indian newspaper and so the story has validity as a story. Doesn't mean it is true. There isn't enough information
to make a judgement.
(2) Global Warming & Rising Oceans
http://www.actionbioscience.o...
Good paper on global warming with a ton of useful links.
(3) Interactive software applications on global warming from the EPA
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/g...
Of course the "official" position is that there is no such thing as global warming. But just in case here is some software...
(4) Maxwell Technologies Ultracapacitors
http://www.maxwell.com/ultrac...
If you have a need for or interest in ultracapacitors this looks like a fun site to explore.
(5) South Africa could become a global energy leader
http://www.busrep.co.za/index...
"Hydrogen could replace oil as the world's main energy source, and its vast platinum reserves could see South Africa becoming the new
Saudi Arabia."
(6) When alternative fuel guru speaks up, Bill Ford listens
http://www.detnews.com/2004/a...
If there’s anyone inside Ford Motor Co. with the nerve to tell Bill Ford what to do, it’s Mary Ann Wright.....
(7) Nissan to Create Fuel Cell on Its Own, Market Vehicle By FY07
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wc...
Nissan Motor Co Ltd plans to independently develop a fuel cell for automobiles and unveil a working model of a fuel-cell-powered vehicle
by fiscal 2007
(8) Oregon to test mileage tax as replacement for gas tax
http://seattletimes.nwsource....
How long did you really think it would be before politicians found a way to tax alternative energy?
(9) Fuel cell race gets a charge
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/news...
Gas companies and oil wholesalers are speeding up development to put fuel cells into practical use, eyeing fiercer cross-border
competition amid energy sector liberalization.
(10) Alaska at forefront of fuel cell studies
http://www.alaskajournal.com/...%5f20040702007.shtml
Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are becoming experts at testing fuel cell technology, thanks to their participation in
eight different research projects.
(11) Plans for Fort Missoula superpark, hydrogen facility look promising
http://www.missoulian.com/art...
If it all works out, Fort Missoula will be home to a 245-acre superpark unlike any in the United States.
(12) Time for an energy revolution
http://straitstimes.asia1.com...,1886,145-258232,00.html
Imagine a world that would be free of 'manipulative' energy producers and traders. 'After centuries of an increasingly centralised energy
economy, controlled by a tiny elite of corporations and investors and protected by governments, energy might again become a very local
matter.' That means producing, transporting and consuming the stuff will no longer be a matter of geopolitics but of local politics.
(13) Beyond Oil
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sc...
Fusion; the next step for hydrogen energy
(14) Anything Into Oil
http://solutions.synearth.net...
The process of transforming turkey guts, old tires, used plastic bottles, and municipal sewage into fuel oil.
(15) That Hydrogen Won't Come Out of Thin Air
http://www.latimes.com/busine...,1,5217617.story?coll=la-headlines-b usiness
You have to sign up for a free account to read the story.
(16) Trading giant Mitsubishi Corp. sets up hydrogen business venture in Canada
http://article.wn.com/link/WN...
Japanese trading giant Mitsubishi Corp. said Thursday it has set up a company in Canada to engage in hydrogen production equipment transactions.
(17) Sugar rivaling hydrogen on inexhaustible forms of renewable energy
http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2004...
From Manila, see? Small countries looking at all of the options.
(18) ConocoPhillips Selects CB&I to Supply Hydrogen Plants at Four U.S. Refineries
http://www.stockhouse.com/new...
Each facility will use the Company's proprietary HYFORMING (TM) steam methane box reformer technology, which provides superior process performance and proven
reliability within a robust mechanical design. In all of the plants the process is designed to produce 99.9% purity hydrogen for use in clean fuels production. The first
facility is scheduled for completion in late 2005.
(19) PetroChina awards contract for hydrogen units in China
http://ogj.pennnet.com/articl...
The hydrogen units will be part of a major expansion of PetroChina's refinery capacity in Dalian, and the hydrogen product will be used for the production of high-quality
transportation fuels.
(20) Dynetek Industries Ltd. Delivers Hydrogen Fuel Storage Systems to The Hydrogen Car Company
http://article.wn.com/link/WN...
Dynatek delivered hydrogen storage units for the IC engine car being produced by the Hydrogen Car Company
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