Hydrogen Fuel News

(Note: To learn more about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their potential to solve the oil crisis, please read the series of articles titled “Twelve Hydrogen Facts” which is part of the Hydrogen Manhattan Project.) James Healey, the auto journalist for USA Today, wrote an article that was published today that gives a very thorough review [...]

(Note: To learn more about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their potential to solve the oil crisis, please read the series of articles titled “Twelve Hydrogen Facts” which is part of the Hydrogen Manhattan Project.) Here are two quotes from an AutoblogGreen post on August 19th by Sebastian Blanco: “PRESS RELEASE: FORD FUEL CELL FLEET EXCEEDS PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS, TEST [...]

(Note: To learn more about hydrogen fuel cell cars and their potential to solve the oil crisis, please read the series of articles titled “Twelve Hydrogen Facts” which is part of the Hydrogen Manhattan Project.) The following DW-World.de article notes that: “Matthias Brock from Daimler in Stuttgart said he believes that the fuel cell is very promising when [...]

(Note: To learn more about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their potential to solve the oil crisis, please read the series of articles titled “Twelve Hydrogen Facts” which is part of the Hydrogen Manhattan Project.) The following Business Week article from yesterday states that: “The European Parliament has called on the EU’s executive to introduce measures to [...]

A reader pointed out to me a couple of days ago that an Allis-Chalmers (AC) tractor actually predated the GM Electrovan as the world’s first fuel cell vehicle. I politely wrote back that the AC tractor ran on propane and not hydrogen. But, I may have been too hasty with this reply, so I did a little more digging . In 1966 the GM Electrovan using a Union Carbide hydrogen fuel cell took a few laps around the General Motors’ parking lot to establish it as the first of its kind to do so. But, on October 15, 1959 an Allis-Chalmers farm tractor with fuel cell was demonstrated in Milwaukee. The tractor was equipped with 1,008 individual cells and could haul 3,000 pounds. The Allis-Chalmers alkaline fuel cell was developed Harry Karl Ihrig, had the output of 15 kw of electricity and is currently housed in the Smithsonian Museum. Using the same alkaline fuel cell technology first pioneered by Francis Thomas Bacon in the 1930’s, Allis Chalmers would go on to create a golf cart, submersible, and fork lift in the early 1960’s. Propane was probably used as fuel for the alkaline fuel cell since it was readily available in that day and it is both a hydrogen rich and oxygen rich compound...

Here is a list of hydrogen facts that were posted in week 5 of the Hydrogen Education Challenge: Day 21 Larry Burns, vice president of R&D and strategic planning for GM, said in 2006 that hydrogen fuel cell cars will cost the same as gasoline-powered cars when they reach a production level of one million units.  “Lack of scale [...]

Today we all are feeling the need of growing green. We have already put the various resources of planet earth on risk and some of the resources will not last for our great-great grandchildren for future use. So it’s better that we start mending our ways. Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and [...]

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that 639 individuals and businesses in 43 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been selected to receive US $35 million in grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy systems or to improve energy efficiency in farm and business operations.

I’ve talked at length about the resistance to fuel cell vehicles from a technological standpoint, but have not really delved into the psychological resistance to hydrogen cars. I was reading this article titled, “Fuel Cells Not Exciting Car Makers in Germany” and the first thing that popped into my head was not the technological hurdles, that the article is about, but rather the psychological hurdles. As we already know, there are many battery electric vehicle (BEV) fans that want to see their chosen technology succeed at the expense to what they perceive to be their closest competitor, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This is understandable. If hydrogen cars succeed on a large scale, the fear is that the development of BEV’s will be retarded for many years and that resources will be taken away from this developing market in favor of FCV’s. But, there is another group of people who also many not be thrilled with fuel cell vehicles (FCV’s) taking over the marketplace and I will call this group the gearheads (automotive enthusiasts). This is a group who love their cars and in particular the internal combustion engine (Got a Hemi in there?). Let’s face it, the fuel cell is ..

Neither Al Gore nor T. Boone Pickens mentioned hydrogen cars in their plans to address America’s energy crisis. Therefore, I issued the Hydrogen Education Challenge to Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens, so they can learn more about hydrogen cars.  I am posting one hydrogen fact for them to read each weekday over ten weeks between August [...]

Tradable credits are the renewable equivalent of the Alaskan bridge to nowhere says a recent filing made with the Florida Public Service Commision (PSC). The Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE) filed comments with the Public PSC on August 26, 2008 suggesting that the state move towards a system of feed-in tariffs rather than going down its present path.

On Friday, Toyota announced that it will begin leasing its FCHV-adv to Japan’s Ministry of the Environment plus a few other government entities. In early June, Toyota had announced that it had acquired certification from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to put this new, advanced vehicle on the road. Toyota has been working on both its Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) on the fuel cell stack and hydrogen storage tanks for the FCHV-adv. The improvement in the fuel cell mainly involves cold weather starts and handling of internally created water within the stack. The range of the FCHV-adv has also improved with the development and addition of the 70Mpa high-pressure hydrogen tanks, which improve the range of the Toyota SUV to over 500 miles. Toyota first began leasing the older model FCHV in 2002 to the Japanese government. The current lease of the Toyota FCHV-adv will last for 30 months and will cost a little over $7,700 per month, USD, which is a hefty price in comparison to the lease agreement of the Honda FCX Clarity at $600 per month. The Toyota lease is expect to garner more real world testing of the vehicle so that the number one Asian automaker can tak..

Filed under: Hydrogen , Toyota Toyota has started offering its fuel cell powered Highlander for lease by government agencies and energy related companies. The latest version, known as the FCHV-adv, uses an updated version of Toyota's in-house developed fuel cell stack which offers an extended range of over 470 miles on the latest JC08 test cycle. In 2007, Toyota engineers drove an FCHV 347 miles from Osaka to Tokyo on a single tank of hydrogen and then later drove one 2,300 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia . The FCHV-adv uses a 10,000 psi compressed hydrogen storage system and a nickel metal hydride battery pack to recapture kinetic energy during regenerative braking. Fleets that want to try out the fuel cell Toyota will be paying a hefty price. The FCHV-adv will cost $7,700 per month for a 30 month lease. The Toyota press release is after the jump. [Source: Toyota] Continue reading Toyota to start leasing fuel cell vehicle in Japan Permalink | Email this | Comments

(Note: To learn more about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their potential to solve the oil crisis, please read the series of articles titled “Twelve Hydrogen Facts” which is part of the Hydrogen Manhattan Project.) The major cost issue with fuel cells is when expensive platinum is used as a catalyst.  However, this will not be [...]

Neither Al Gore nor T. Boone Pickens mentioned hydrogen cars in their plans to address America’s energy crisis. Therefore, I issued the Hydrogen Education Challenge to Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens, so they can learn more about hydrogen cars.  I am posting one hydrogen fact for them to read each weekday over ten weeks between August [...]

Neither Al Gore nor T. Boone Pickens mentioned hydrogen cars in their plans to address America’s energy crisis. Therefore, I issued the Hydrogen Education Challenge to Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens, so they can learn more about hydrogen cars.  I am posting one hydrogen fact for them to read each weekday over ten weeks between August [...]

Neither Al Gore nor T. Boone Pickens mentioned hydrogen cars in their plans to address America’s energy crisis. Therefore, I issued the Hydrogen Education Challenge to Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens, so they can learn more about hydrogen cars.  I am posting one hydrogen fact for them to read each weekday over ten weeks between August [...]

Filed under: Etc. , Ethanol , EV/Plug-in , Flex-Fuel , Hybrid , Hydrogen , Legislation and Policy Now that Sen. Barack Obama has been officially anointed as the Democratic Party's choice to head the ticket in November, it's perhaps time to take a closer look at some of his policies as they relate to the subject matter of this blog. Over at Green Fuels Forecast, they have a pretty thorough run-down on what Obama is promising and some of how he proposes to pay for it. Contrary to the sound-bites you here on the typical mainstream media news report, both candidates actually have relatively detailed proposals and its up to you to decide which is the best for the future of the United States and indeed the world. Obama has set some pretty aggressive goals for moving to renewable energy sources and getting plug-in vehicles onto American roads in large numbers. He also proposes a Clean Technologies Deployment Venture Capital Fund to help get new technology beyond the research stage. What's interesting about this point is the VC Fund terminology. Venture Capitalists don't typically invest their cash out of concern for the common good. They usually want a stake that they can cash out at IPO..

Filed under: Hydrogen , BMW BMW certainly hasn't been shy in promoting its hydrogen-powered vehicles, and that promotion extends into some classrooms. As part of its education/promotion campaign, BMW has issued a document called H2 - Mobility of the Future , and yesterday provided an updated version of the package on this website by clicking on the heading "Educational Projects." What's in this "educational package"? 31 chapters on the supply of hydrogen, how fossil and renewable energy will continue to play a role in BMW's future and how we'll eventually get to a hydrogen economy. The H2 package also includes "an extensive glossary, a list of additional internet links, as well as a portfolio of exercises specially tailored to the needs of pupils aged 15 and older. Practical notes from Germany's State Institute for Teaching Quality and Education Research (ISB) on the inclusion of the materials in science teaching round off this information pack." Sound like good reading? The Bavarians will mail you a free print copy if you'd like (see details after the jump). [Source: BMW] Continue reading BMW updates free "H2 - Mobility of the Future" documents Read | Permalink | Email this | Com..

The Linde Group, based in Munich, Germany is opening up the world’ first hydrogen fueling station for fuel cell ships in Hamburg’s City Park. In January 2008, I had talked about how Zemships (zero emission ships) would be cruising around the Hamburg harbor starting this summer. The first 100-passenger Zemship will carry passengers around both the Alster River as well as the Elbe River. The 100-passenger Zemship is a hybrid-electric vessel using both hydrogen fuel cell, developed by Proton Motor, and battery pack to propel the water vehicle. With zero emissions ships on the rivers there will be fewer gasoline slicks floating on the water and fewer puffs of black smoke from diesel engines to be seen as well. The Linde station will dispense liquid hydrogen for the ships at minus 253 C, which will then be compressed and burned in the fuel cell. Right now Linde holds claims to being the world’s largest manufacturer of hydrogen systems with over 120,000 hydrogen fuel-ups so far in 15 different countries. Linde also has over 50,000 employees worldwide in 100 different counties. As I explained a couple of weeks back, Big Oil is not the biggest player in the hydrogen fuel station and..

Filed under: Emerging Technologies , Hydrogen We - and our readers - know quite well that "increase your MPG" claims fly fast and furious in the green car industry. One such claim is that adding hydrogen to your gasoline or diesel fuel line will make your car burn the fuel cleaner and therefore get more miles per gallon. We've tackled the question about whether on-board hydrogen generators can increase your MPG - they don't . No, seriously, they don't - but there have been a lot of people who feel the need to test this system, or at least did back in 2006 (see here and here ). Nonetheless, Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies is hoping that people are ready to give on-board electrolysers and Hydrogen Fuel Injection (HFI) a chance in their own vehicles. HHT says that it has completed field trials of the HFI system and would be more than happy to install the system in your car through its network of "over 140 Certified Installation Centres all across Canada, the United States, and a number of international markets." HHT's words are after the break, but we've gotta recommend reading this before you go to the shop. [Source: Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies Inc.] Continue reading Read carefully be..

Consumers Energy dedicated its new Marshall Training Center, a US $5 million investment that the company says will help prepare utility workers to meet the challenges of the 21st century, including service to the growing renewable energy market. The new Marshall Training Center will use renewable energy and state-of-the-art training techniques for approximately 2,000 utility service workers each year.

U. S. space agency NASA has been using hydrogen fuel cells since the 1960s to provide power for astronauts aboard their spacecraft. The hydrogen fuel cells have also provided drinking water for the space goers. UTC Power hydrogen fuel cells have been aboard all Space Shuttle flights with over 100,000 operating hours to their credit. But, what many people don’t know is that back in May 1977, NASA also came out with a document stating that hydrogen helps gasoline-powered internal combustion engines increase mileage and lower emissions. A week ago, I talked about how the U. S. Department of Transportation ( DOT ) made the same claim just last year. Some critics have stated that if hydrogen injection is such a viable technology, then why isn’t our government talking about it. The short answer is, they are. We just haven’t known where to look to find the details. According to the 31 year old document titled, “Emissions and Total Energy Consumption of a Multicylinder Piston Engine Running on Gasoline and a Hydrogen-Gasoline Mixture” adding small amounts of hydrogen to the gasoline and air mix extends the lean range of the vehicle. In other words, hydrogen with its higher flame..

I’ve talked several times before about the Hydrogen Engine Center in Algona, Iowa. For a couple of years now, this company has been building new internal combustion engines or reconditioning and retrofitting older engines to run on hydrogen and other alternative energy fuels. The Hydrogen Engine Center (HEC) has just received an order for a 250kW 4+1TM Oxx Power® hydrogen generator. This generator will be part of the world’s first wind-hydrogen-diesel energy project to be tested in Ramea, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Ramea is a remote region that is already using powered supplied by a similar wind-diesel energy system that has been online since 2004. The wind-hydrogen-diesel power system will make the electrical generation just that much cleaner and greener in the region. With the HEC Oxx generation system, four engines run in parallel with one in reserve to maximize reliability. Wind will be the main source of electricity for Ramea with the extra power stored as hydrogen via the electrolysis of water. When the wind is dormant, stored hydrogen will be run through the Oxx generator to create electricity. Diesel fuel will be used as a last resort and backup for this power..

PSEG Global LLC and energy storage pioneer Dr. Michael Nakhamkin announced that they have formed Energy Storage and Power LLC (ES&P), a joint venture to exclusively market, license, support the development and supervise project execution of the second generation of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology.

Tatra, a Czechoslovakian company, is the third oldest vehicle manufacturer in the world behind Daimler / Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot. Not to be confused with the ultra cheap Tata Motors from India, Tatra has come out with a new design concept (as in not yet a prototype) of a fuel cell vehicle called the 903 Fuel Cell Concept. Created by Mike Jelinek for Czech magazine AutoDesign & Styling, the Tatra 903 Fuel Cell Concept was to show off a futuristic aerodynamic design of what a hydrogen car could look like some time off in the distance. Tatra had stopped building cars altogether in 1999 and now concentrates only on the truck marketplace. Designed like the Deusenberg of the 1930s, the Tatra 903 Fuel Cell Concept was influenced by modern wind tunnel design with a teardrop rear and sleek four-door functionality that doesn’t take away from the lines of the vehicle. There are no official production plans for the Tatra 903 Fuel Cell Concept, though there should be. With its unique styling , early adopter auto enthusiasts everywhere would be waiting in line for a limited edition version of this very slick vehicle.

Filed under: Diesel , EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Hydrogen , GM , HCCI , Lightweight Click above for more early images of the production Chevy Volt It's no secret that we appreciate what General Motors has been able to do with just two-liters. The direct injected and turbocharged mill powering the rear-wheel drive Solstice GXP and Sky Redline along with the front-wheel drive HHR SS and Cobalt SS models is an excellent one. What's more, its 260 horsepower represents 130-horsepower per liter, the highest ever from a GM production engine and on par with the best from the world. Expect to see more of this kind of technology from new GM engines along with more six-speed transmissions. Also expect an ever-higher percentage of aluminum to appear in all engines from all manufacturers. GM also has plans for diesels and hybrids. The upcoming 4.5-liter diesel for full-size trucks and SUVs manages to weigh about seventy-five pounds less than other diesels of similar size. On the hybrid front, Automotive News says that GM will offer one new hybrid per quarter for the next four years -- that's sixteen new hybrids. That number would not include the Volt, a car which GM considers fully electric with a ..

A new "green" technology developed cooperatively by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service and North Carolina State University could lead to production of hydrogen from nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

A team of Australian and American researchers has developed a catalyst that effectively catalyzes the photooxidation of water. The core of the catalyst is a manganese-containing complex modeled after those found in photosynthetic organisms.

The Hydrogen Road Tour ’08 that I’ve been talking about over the past few weeks finished with style in Los Angeles this past Saturday. The procession of mostly fuel cell cars (except for the Hydrogen Beamer with ICE) pulled up to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (host to two past Olympiads) around 12:30 pm to a throng of photographers and music playing “Eye of the Tiger” that one may remember from the Rocky III movie. The Hydrogen Road Tour started in Portland, Maine on August 11, 2008 then made its way to 30 other cities in the next 13 days. There were some stretches of road where some of the fuel cell cars had no hydrogen refueling stations along the route, particularly, between Rolla, Missouri and Albuquerque, New Mexico where some cars were carried on flatbed trucks. Of course, this does make the point that more hydrogen fueling stations need to be built to support the cars that are already on the roads and driving cross country trips. The California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) set up a ride and drive event before the road trip vehicles arrived. I drove two of the fuel cell vehicles and one Hydrogen ICE vehicle at the CaFCP event. The BMW Hydrogen 7 luxury car was t..

In experiments, sweet potatoes grown in Maryland and Alabama yielded two to three times as much carbohydrate for fuel ethanol production as field corn grown in those states, scientists report. The same was true of tropical cassava in Alabama.

A group of Hydrogen powered cars and sport utility vehicles lined up for public test drives in Phoenix as part of an unprecedented cross-country Hydrogen Road Tour to promote the fuel of the future. The two week road trip, which started in Maine and ends this weekend in Southern California, toured more than 30 cities in the United states as part of a joint venture by nine auto manufacturers and the U.S. Department of Transportation to demonstrate to the public that Hydrogen powered vehicles are nearly ready for showrooms. The hand built demonstration vehicles on the tour are all based on existing cars and small sport-utilities and were put into the hands of regular drivers so they could experience how pollution free driving is visualized for the future. The automakers involved include BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/08/23/20080823hydrogen23.html

Filed under: Hydrogen , BMW Two weeks ago, the 2008 Hydrogen Road Tour started up in Maine. Today, the tour made its final stop in Los Angeles, following a cross-country tour that opened new hydrogen stations in Missouri and Massachusetts along the way. BMW's Hydrogen 7 was along for the ride and the Bavarians sent out a press release today announcing the completion of the 4,000-mile trip (read it after the jump). BMW sent along two dual-fuel Hydrogen 7 and two mono-fuel versions of the luxury sedan. The hydrogen-only version of the 7 has a range of 200 miles of hydrogen-only driving. This is just one more example of the many, many miles of PR BMW has gotten out of these vehicles and with the Hydrogen Road Tour now over, do you think this is all we've heard about the Hydrogen 7? Not very likely. [Source: BMW] Continue reading 2008 Hydrogen Road Tour comes to an end in LA Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hydrogen Air Products is already one of the biggest producers and distributors of hydrogen. Most of what the company produces currently is distributed by tanker trucks. More recently the company has been collaborating with Harvest Energy Technology, Inc to develop and test on-site hydrogen generation systems. After successfully deploying installations of Harvest's reformer technology in Las Vegas and State College PA, Air Products has now bought the smaller company. The methane steam reformation generators can be used for industrial applications or fueling stations. In the past 10 years, Harvest has delivered 20 of its generators to customers around the world. Such on-site generation systems could eliminate the need for distribution of hydrogen by relying on existing distribution networks for natural gas. Similarly localized electrolysis systems powered by renewable sources could allow for fueling networks to be established with locally available resources. [Source: Air Products ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hybrid , Hydrogen , Hyundai , Kia Earlier this week when Hyundai America product development VP John Krafcik revealed that the company would unveil a hybrid version of the Sonata at the LA Auto Show, some of the PR people in the room seemed to be caught by surprise. Now the Chairman of the Hyundai-Kia Auto group, Mong-Koo Chung has confirmed that and more. Over on the Kia Buzz blog, the chairman has affirmed production of a hybrid version of the Elantra in Korea in 2009 followed by a mid-size hybrid (namely the Sonata) in 2010. Mong seems to think that more environmentally-friendly cars actually make business sense judging from this comment "low-carbon, environmentally friendly cars represent a high value-added industry of the future that will promote sustainable growth." The ability to offer more efficient, less polluting vehicles are expected to actually be a selling point as fuel prices and environmental concerns increase. Going beyond the hybrids, Hyundai and Kia intend to continue pushing forward with fuel cell technology as well. The group wants to commercialize hydrogen vehicles beyond the 66 vehicles they have running in the field today. The company plans to e..

Filed under: Hydrogen As the National Hydrogen Road Tour rolled through Rolla, Missouri, the first hydrogen filling station in the state was opened. The station - located at the Missouri University of Science and Technology's E 3 (E-cubed) Commons - will be supplied with compressed gaseous hydrogen by Linde North America. The University is working with several government agencies and the Gas Technology Institute to research hydrogen as a transportation fuel. Linde also supplies liquid hydrogen for the fleet of BMW Hydrogen 7s. Linde and the Gas Technology Institute are collaborating on work to commercialize hydrogen distribution. [Source: Linde ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

I first talked about Formula Zero racing two year ago almost to the day. Formula Zero is a hydrogen fuel cell go-cart style racing venue initiated by Dutch designers, Godert van Hardenbroek and Eelco Rietveld. Today starts off the first day of the 2008 Formula Zero Championship also called the World Premiere Rotterdam FZ-GP. The event runs August 22 – 23, 2008 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The racing teams competing include Herculas from University of California, Los Angeles, Greenchoice Forze from TU Delft, The Netherlands, EUPLATECH2 from Eupla, Spain, Imperial Racing Green, from Imperial College London, UK, Zero Emission Racing Team from Groep T, Belgium and Element One from Lawrence Technical University from Southfield, Michigan. All of the vehicles competing are using a Hydrogenics HyPM8 8.5kw fuel cell and are promoting the use of clean zero emissions hydrogen technology on a platform easily accessible to the public. While the venues and vehicles are starting out small, the plans are to scale up both for future races. In 2011, Formula Zero will scale up for its Street Edition and once again in 2015 they will scale up to Formula Three size for the Circuit Edition. Here’s..

Hydrogen projects that cut across a wide spectrum of applications are managing to find enough ramp-up funding from government, industrial, private and academic sources such that several technologies are already breaking in to the commercial space, and others should become mainstream within one or two decades, sector executives say.

Yesterday, I talked about the U. S. Department of Transportation document that says hydrogen injection , as they call it, is a viable source for supplementary fuel. Because this topic is so important I want to continue speaking of the DOT document and providing excerpts that show how seriously our government is taking this new, emerging technology. Here are the excerpts (once again bold and italics are added for emphasis): “There are five ways that the hydrogen can be stored on the vehicle: • As a high-pressure gas, • As a very low temperature liquid, • Chemically bound or physically absorbed onto a material such as a solid ‘hydride,’ • As a component of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel (which is reformed), or • As a component of water (H20) (which is hydrolyzed).” “The most abundant source of hydrogen on earth is water—every molecule of water contains one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. It is relatively simple to separate the hydrogen in water from the oxygen using electricity to run an electrolyzer. An electrolyzer is a galvanic cell composed of an anode and a cathode submerged in a water-based electrolyte. In many ways, the operation of an electrolyzer is the..

Filed under: Hydrogen , European Union , UK , USA We've been keeping tabs on the Formula Zero racing series since we first heard about it in 2006. Using hydrogen to generate electricity which then powers electric motors to propel these small Formula 1-esque cars around a track, there will be no emissions coming from the vehicles taking part in this race. The first leg of the inaugural 2008 Championship this year will be taking place on August 22 in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. Really, the timing of this event could not possibly be better as the entire world is looking for ways to reduce its oil consumption and even the pinnacle of road racing, Formula 1, is looking to lower its environmental impact. Six teams are taking part including the U.S.-based team from Lawrence Technical University in Michigan with their Element One and the U.K.- based team from The Imperial College of London . We'll be naturally keeping an eye out for the results. Stay tuned. [Source: Formula Zero ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

A joint special event during the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2009 (DSDS 2009)

Filed under: Hydrogen , Ford , Green Daily Click on the image above to enlarge When Ford released pictures of the redesigned Ka that will be used in the upcoming action flick Quantum of Solace , the automaker neglected to mention that the car would be powered by hydrogen. From the press release: The 'Quantum of Solace' Ka is unique with metallic gold paint and an exclusive exterior graphics and interior trim combination. Yeah, we see the paint and graphics... but take a close look at the pictures of the car, as seen above, which will be driven by actress Olga Kurylenko as she plays Camille, a friend of our good buddy Mr. Bond - James Bond, and you'll notice that the front of the gold-colored Ka is emblazoned with stickers proclaiming that it's running on hydrogen. Interesting, eh? Additionally, on the sides of the vehicle are stickers which say "Greener Planet," whatever that means. Perhaps Ford will come clean (ha ha, get it?) and let us in on what all of this means - or doesn't mean - before the Ka makes its official debut October 2 in Paris. [Source: Carscoop ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

"When a new hydrogen fueling station is unveiled today in the "Show Me" state of Missouri, Ford Motor Company will preview a new hydrogen-powered shuttle service for military commuters between Fort Leonard Wood and Missouri University of Science and Technology. The two hydrogen-fueled buses will make a guest appearance at the station opening to shuttle local officials and visiting dignitaries to the event." More

Filed under: Hydrogen , Ford We've been following the Ford fuel cell fleet for two years now, and have done our own in-depth test drive of the hydrogen-powered Focus . Ford has been keeping a detailed record of their own experience with these advanced powertrain vehicles and likes what it sees. The company announced today that the Focus Fuel Cell vehicles "performed better than expected" and will be on the road for up to an additional two years thanks to an extension of the program Ford has with the U.S. DOE. Thus far, the advanced fleet has traveled more than 865,000 "real world miles" and these vehicles will go many more before the next-generation hydrogen system is ready around 2010. That system should address weaknesses in the current one, and be able to go farther on a tank of hydrogen, be more reliable and start up when it's below freezing out. Details after the jump. [Source: Ford] Continue reading Ford expands fuel cell test fleet tests by two years Permalink | Email this | Comments

Researchers here have found a way to convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen very efficiently. A new catalyst makes hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature, and using inexpensive ingredients. The new catalyst is much less expensive than others being developed around the world, because it does not contain precious metals, such as platinum or rhodium.

Filed under: Hydrogen , On Two Wheels , China Nearly a year ago, we first laid eyes on a hydrogen-powered moped from the Shanghai Pearl Hydrogen Power Source Technology Company. Although the machine had, um... questionable aesthetics, we were impressed by its 60-mile range at 15 miles per hour and relatively low $2,600 price tag. According to a report on Shanghai Daily , 30 of the hydrogen-fed units have already been exported. By 2011, the Chinese manufacturer hopes to be building 1,000 units per year for sale both in China and abroad. Considering that many electric two-wheelers already cost more than the hydrogen-powered ebike from Shanghai, there could be a real market for these vehicles, though the hydrogen fueling infrastructure is most definitely still in its infancy. Other brands, such as Suzuki and Intelligent Energy, have plans to introduce hydrogen-powered fuel cell cycles of their own. Both the Crosscage and ENV , though, would surely cost significantly more than their Chinese counterparts. [Source: Shangai Daily via Faster and Faster ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Biodiesel , Diesel , Emerging Technologies , Ethanol , EV/Plug-in , Flex-Fuel , Green Culture , Hybrid , Hydrogen , Vegetable Oil , Boston AltWheels , Green Daily , NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) Last year, the fifth annual AltWheels festival featured a lot of cool green car goodness - along with things like Darth Vader discussing HUMMER and a vegoil MINI . This year, the show returns to the Boston area for three days of greener transportation discussion and presentations, including a one-day fleet-centered show on September 29 that will feature what organizers are calling the "Largest Display of Alternative Fleet Vehicles on East Coast." It certainly looks like a tempting way to spend the day, and should give the people responsible for spending the real big bucks on fuel a chance to figure out how best to reduce costs. For the general public, the two-day show takes place on September 26 and 27 at the Boston City Hall Plaza (the Fleet Day is in Framingham, MA) and is part educational event and part fun fair. I have no inside information on whether or not the evil Anakin will make an appearance, but the organizers are promising "jugglers, unicyclists, clowns, face..

In a new national Sacred Heart University Poll, 74.0% of Americans said it was very or somewhat possible that the 10-year energy independence plan proposed by Texas oilman, T. Boone Pickens, could be accomplished.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Hydrogen , Toyota Speaking at this week's Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, MI, Toyota advanced powertrain program manager Justin Ward reiterated the company's plans to offer hybrid drive systems in every one of its model lines by the end of the next decade. Toyota already has more vehicles with hybrid systems than anyone else, but will need next-generation systems to support larger vehicles like the Tundra pickup, assuming it is still building full-size trucks in 2020. On the subject of fuel cell systems, Ward described the progress the company has made on efficiency (and hence range) as well as performance and durability. However, cost and durability issues still have a way to go and there is the whole issue of hydrogen production and distribution. On the topic of plug-in vehicles, Ward showed a healthy dose of skepticism. According to Ward, in spite of studies showing that 70 percent of commutes are less than 40 miles per day, having plug-ins with a range of only 40 miles would only cover about 35 percent of total miles traveled. The energy required to charge plug-in vehicles also poses problems. Plug-in proponents point to most v..

Filed under: Diesel , Ethanol , EV/Plug-in , Flex-Fuel , Hybrid , Hydrogen , NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) Click above for more shots from NextCruise 2008 All the major automakers were out in full force at the Woodward Dream Cruise this year showing off their eco-friendly wares at the new NextCruise event, which is running right alongside the main event for the first time this year. Whether ethanol-fueld racers , modern clean diesels , hybrid cars (and SUVs ) or fully electric NEVs , there was something to please everyone in attendance. Instead of writing everything out here in the post, we've created a gallery of everything we saw and captioned the most interesting pictures. Enjoy! Gallery: Woodward 2008: The NextCruise Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hydrogen , SEMA Show , USA Click above for more high-res renderings of the Ronn Motors Scorpion Ronn Motors, the company we introduced you to a while back, plans to properly introduce the world to its Scorpion supercar at the upcoming SEMA Show in Las Vegas. We have very real doubts as to whether the vehicle will function as the company claims. Ronn says its car breaks down water into hydrogen which is then injected into the twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine sourced from Acura. Sure, they could get some hydrogen from water and inject it into the engine along with the air/fuel mixture, but at what gain? These systems have been proven not to work many times, though some still claim that their fuel mileage has dramatically increased after installing them. Let's just say we are highly skeptical but would love nothing more than to be proven wrong. In any case, we are looking forward to getting an early glimpse into the production bodywork considering that the renderings that we've seen have been pretty darn impressive, as you can see from our gallery below. Gallery: Ronn Motors Scorpion [Source: SEMA] Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hydrogen , Nissan Until fairly recently, Nissan has been mostly quiet about its fuel cell development program. The Japanese brand recently became the first to run a fuel cell vehicle around the Nurburgring in Germany when its X-Trail FCV took to the circuit more typically populated by GT-Rs, Corvettes and Porsches. Now it looks like Nissan might follow the lead of Tesla with its first production fuel cell vehicle. Izuho Hirano, Nissan's fuel cell laboratory manager has told AutoCar that a sports car or luxury car would likely be the best place to introduce the technology. Using the same rationale as Tesla and Honda with the FCX Clarity, expensive new technology like lithium batteries and fuel cells would be accepted better in a more expensive car because other premium features could be packaged with it. A fuel cell car must have something to justify the price besides the powertrain. Nissan will make a decision in early 2009 about whether to proceed with a production fuel cell car for launch in 2014. [Source: AutoCar ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle's Task Force on Global Warming has called for implementation of Advanced Renewable Tariffs to encourage the development of the state's renewable energy resources.

Filed under: Hydrogen In conjunction with a visit from the traveling road show that is the National Hydrogen Road Tour , the first filling station for the energy carrier in Massachusetts has opened near Boston. Nuvera Fuel Cells has opened a hydrogen pump at its U.S. headquarters in Billerica, MA. To mark the occasion, the hydrogen-fueled vehicles that are making their way across the country stopped by the facility to top up their tanks. These vehicles include the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell, a Honda FCX Clarity and the VW Tiguan HyMotion got compressed hydrogen gas. The Nuvera PowerTap fueling system is actually generates the hydrogen on-site from natural gas. PowerTap is designed for industrial material handling applications . [Source: Boston Globe ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Researchers have developed a method for converting crop residue, wood pulp, animal waste and garbage into ethanol. The process first turns the waste material into synthesis gas, or syngas, and nanoscale catalysts then convert the syngas into ethanol.

Genomics is accelerating improvements for converting plant biomass into biofuel -- as an alternative to fossil fuel for the nation's transportation needs. Now researchers lay out a path forward for how emerging genomic technologies will contribute to a substantially different biofuels future as compared to the present corn-based ethanol industry -- and in part mitigate the food-versus-fuel debate.

Filed under: Hydrogen , MPG Last week we ignited some healthy discussion in the comments with my post on the (de)merits of on-board hydrogen generators and injectors. While few could argue with my basic thermodynamic analysis of the process, defenders repeated the claim from producers of these systems that something magical happens when you add hydrogen to the air fuel mixture of an engine. We've looked into this a little further in recent days including with a powertrain engineer that actually understands combustion processes. In the comments on the previous article a number of readers repeated claims that adding H2 gas or the H2/O2 blend has a catalytic effect on the combustion properties. While there is no evidence of this being true, the addition of hydrogen to the mix can have some beneficial effects in certain circumstances. Hydrogen does indeed have a faster burn rate than gasoline. Blending even a little bit of it with gasoline will indeed increase the burn rate of the mixture. The idea that was put forward in at least one of the comments is that this would faster burn would trigger knocking in the engine that would be detected by the engine management system resulting in ..

Mad cows (and livid lambs) China and India: heartlands of global protest Outside U.S., credit cards tighten grip Local scientist splits water, saves world, gets on TV read more

Don't get me wrong -- I am very concerned about global warming and climate change. In the long run, that's one of the most serious challenges that humans face as a species. But in the short run, the world is no longer able to produce petroleum in sufficient volume to satisfy its demand. Soon it will not be able to produce petroleum in sufficient volume to satisfy its needs.

Last month, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) issued an Order that allows third-party ownership of renewable energy systems in the state, paving the way for developers to build and operate solar and wind facilities on property that belongs to utility customers. The moves comes as other regulatory commissions across the nation consider whether or not a third party owner of a distributed energy system should be considered a utility.