Fuel Cells

People are getting more and more excited about green automobiles, so it was kind of surprising to see such a neutral reaction to the Fuel Cell Car by Riversimple. While this project has a very interesting slant from other cars that we have seen in this niche, it was met with a very lukewarm reception and things have not really heated up on in yet. However, the Riversimple Fuel Cell Car continues on and will hopefully be available for release in the next few years. 3 Comments

Hydrogen is an extremely environment friendly fuel as when it burns it releases only water vapor into the atmosphere, but the problem is that it is not easy to store it because it needs to be stored like other compressed gases. A new solid may solve the problem. A nonreactive noble gas called xenon combined with hydrogen and other massive pressure gives rise to a solid that can be later used to store hydrogen fuel. The research paper is published in the November 22, 2009, advanced online publication of Nature Chemistry. The discovery initiates a new line of materials that which could render impetus to new hydrogen technologies. 5 Comments

Surveillance and communication are the lifeline of the armed forces. These days they are utilizing small UAVs for naval missions. If the armed forces are using electric UAVs, they have the additional advantage. Electric UAVs can’t be detected from the ground. The Ion Tiger has just demonstrated the likelihood of a long endurance missions with an electric UAV. Naval forces can get a larger cruise range. Naval forces can reduce the number of daily launches and landings too. This increases the capability and yet naval crew can save on the time and effort fronts. 4 Comments

In our energy deprived world scientists are trying to find out various elements, alloys and substances that can provide clean and green energy along with meeting our energy demands. This quest has led them to superconductors. Superconductor materials have no electrical resistance. This property paves way for electrons to travel through them freely. Superconductor materials also carry large amounts of electrical current for long periods of time without losing energy as heat. Scientists are of the view that metallic hydrogen can prove to be a high-temperature superconductor. 6 Comments

A group of bright young Rensselaer students will soon take up the Hudson River, but with a difference. They are using a boat driven by clean and green hydrogen fuel. Their boat is the 22-foot New Clermont looked after by a three member crew. It is fitted with a pair of 2.2-kilowatt fuel cell units. 16 Comments

It seems simple but if put it into practice then we can develop real potential for hydrogen fuels. A new method of “recycling” hydrogen-containing fuel materials could pave the way for commercially viable hydrogen-based vehicles. An article published in world’s leading chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, makes a claim about recycling hydrogen-containing fuel materials. Los Alamos National Laboratory and University of Alabama researchers working within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Chemical Hydrogen Storage Center of Excellence express a noteworthy progress in hydrogen storage science. 7 Comments

Hydrogen has great potential as a fuel of future because it is an environmentally clean energy fuel and save us from the undesirable side effects of greenhouse gases. Before becoming it a fuel of the masses we need necessary infrastructure to store it and move it. We will also need fuel cells on economical scale. To make hydrogen as a popular alternative fuel some engineers are working on storage factor of hydrogen fuel. They don’t want compressed hydrogen into a tank. They want to store hydrogen fuel into a large molecule. When we want hydrogen out of the molecule we will need a catalyst. Now, researchers have new details about one such catalyst. 3 Comments

Environmentalists are continuously searching for green and clean fuel. Until now they have been putting a lot of energy and talent into hydrogen fuels because when hydrogen is burned, the only emission it makes is water vapor. So it is a great advantage that burning of hydrogen doesn’t produce carbon dioxide. Clearly, hydrogen is less of a pollutant in the air because it emits little tail pipe pollution. Engineers at the University of Leeds are working on a project keeping hydrogen in mind. They are developing an energy efficient, environmental-friendly hydrogen production system but with a difference. They are trying to extract hydrogen from waste materials. These materials can be vegetable oil or the glycerol by-product of bio-diesel. They are aspiring for the high purity hydrogen-based fuel that could be utilized for large-scale power production. They are also developing hydrogen cells for laptops or other gadgets. A grant of over £400k has been awarded to the University by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) within a consortium of 12 institutions known as SUPERGEN Sustainable Hydrogen Delivery. 6 Comments

A new hydrogen car was unveiled in London, UK by Riversimple. This Riversimple Urban Car (RUC) is powered by fuel cells. These fuels cells combine hydrogen with oxygen from the air to release energy. What comes out from the exhaust pipe is not toxic fumes but water. Even using hydrogen fuel from source to car’s fuel tank, its carbon emissions for urban driving are only 30 grams/km. The weight of this hydrogen car is 772 pounds. You can travel 186 miles on just 2.2 pounds of liquid hydrogen. The Riversimple Urban Car is powered by a cheap, 6-kilowatt fuel. The car's top speed is 50 miles per hour (80.4672 kilometres per hour). It can be accelerated from 0 to 30 mph (48 km/h) in 5.5 seconds. 15 Comments

Scientists are tirelessly working on sources of alternative energy so that we can have a better substitute for fossil fuels in near future. We know that sunlight, wind and geothermal sources of energy are better for everyone. But they also need efficient fuel cells for better utilization of power. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) seem promising enough for both stationary and mobile applications. Stationary use can cover residential applications to power plants. Mobile applications contain energy for ships at sea and in space, as well as for automobiles. Another advantage of the SOFCs is when they are working in reverse manner as solid oxide electrolyzer cells they create pure hydrogen by splitting water. 4 Comments

We are hearing about many inventions and discoveries in the alternative energy sector. But we don't get to read about many 'actual' finished products doing their work in real world. What we know is many models being tested in laboratories. But here we are seeing Bucher CityCat H2, the world's first municipal utility vehicle powered by fuel cells, made its debut last week in Basel, Switzerland. This street-cleaning CityCat will be doing her work on an eighteen months trial basis. It will be a matter of study that how this vehicle nicknamed as Bucher CityCat H2 be helpful in reducing air pollution than traditional diesel engines. Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have, in collaboration with Bucher Schoerling, Proton Motor, BRUSA Elektronik AG und Messer Schweiz, developed a hydrogen powered municipal street cleaning vehicle that was unveiled to the public on 14th May 2009 in Basel. 7 Comments

Environmentalists, common man, scientists, politicians, everyone want to breathe fresh and clean air and leave this earth in a better shape for next generation. Environmentalists and scientists are working to make this planet a better place to live. Hydrogen driven vehicles are a small step towards that goal. But the main hurdle to produce hydrogen vehicles on a mass scale is that they can’t store much fuel. Researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Arizona State University have developed a sponge-like material, a new metal-organic framework that has a record breaking surface area. This kind of material can be very useful for many industrial applications such as catalysis, separation, and gas storage. 4 Comments

It is great news that defense forces are promoting the use of alternative fuels in their own unique way. American army is using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Afghanistan. The greatest advantage of UAVs is that they are nearly untraceable from the ground. They are used heavily by defense forces in overseas missions when uniformed men are already at a disadvantage by just being at a totally foreign and hostile territory. Here using UAVs, terrain can be scanned and intelligence can be gathered. Now it is possible that these UAVs might be flying on alternative fuels. UAVs are used to minimize loss of life of soldiers and pilots in dangerous zones. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing an improved version of these aircrafts that can travel to distant places more efficiently and more quietly and run on the newer fuel cell technology. 14 Comments

This age is known as electronic age. It seems impossible to run life without electronic goods. They are part and parcel of our personal and professional life. We use many small devices in our everyday life. And each small device needs power. Now devices are becoming smaller with each passing day hence scientists are finding out ways to power them. Scientists are putting their effort on a material known as palladium. This may turn out to be a hopeful substance in near future to power fuel cells. Another advantage that palladium has over other metals is, it is cheaper and more abundant. Vismadeb Mazumder who is a graduate student and assisting chemistry professor Shouheng Sun in writing the paper, explains the benefits, "This approach is very novel. It works. It’s two times as active, meaning you need half the energy to catalyze. And it’s four times as stable." No Comments

We are searching for the alternative energy which can conveniently be used for our industrial and everyday purposes. Wind, water, geothermal and many other alternative energy sources are good and clean and green. But all of them lack one thing or another and don’t seem commercially viable. Researchers all over the world are trying to find solutions for this impending and inevitable energy crisis. Scientists from University of Rochester are trying to do the same thing. They are aiming to produce longest platinum nanowires. This feat has not been achieved by anyone. These longest platinum nanowires could make an impact on the development of fuel cells for cars, trucks and other devices. The wires, 1/50,000 the width of a human hair, are thousands of times longer than any previously made, according to a report in Nano Letters. 6 Comments

Plants produce energy with the help of photosynthesis. One of the important steps of photosynthesis is splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen and release of energy in this process. Scientists are trying to duplicate this process in the laboratory for the production of energy i.e. hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen fuel is a clean and green alternative fuel. Now researchers are observing single oxygen atoms hopping on a metal oxide slab, glowing brighter here and dimmer there. This very process is helping chemists to understand how water splits into oxygen and hydrogen in a better way. This process is increasing the understanding of the chemical reaction that had previously only been talked about. This reaction will assist us in future to generate hydrogen fuel from water or to clean contaminated water. 5 Comments

Hydrogen-powered fuel cells hold enormous promise as a power source for future generations. Hydrogen is the simplest element known to humans. Each atom of hydrogen has only one proton. It is also the most abundant gas in the universe. Hydrogen has a unique property. It carries the highest energy content of any common fuel by weight (about three times more than gasoline), but interestingly it has the lowest energy content by volume (about four times less than gasoline). Hydrogen is the lightest element, and it is a gas at normal temperature and pressure. Hydrogen is not a widely used fuel today but it has great potential as an energy carrier in the future. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of sources (water, fossil fuels, and biomass) and is a byproduct of other chemical processes. 16 Comments

Several companies in the past have showcased their plans to use hydrogen fuel cell technology to power a bicycle. Recently, Chinese company Pearl Hydrogen became the latest company to showcase the idea, at a recent technology convention in Shanghaimart. The 20" wheel prototype weighs 32kg and is powered by a PEM fuel cell and brushless electric motor. The top speed is 25km/hour and the 600L twin cylinder fuel cells have a maximum range of 100km. Some trial orders have already been placed for 20,000 Yuan (about US$2,650). The company is optimistic that their hydrogen bike will be successful enough to begin mass producing bikes for the mainstream Chinese market, for a more affordable 4,000 Yuan (US$530). There are no current plans to ship the fuel cell bicycles overseas. 6 Comments

Swiss Company Pyromex has been developing waste management technologies for almost twenty years. Their goal is to lower emissions and reduce landfill waste with their patented ultra-high temperature gasification system. In 1999 the first industrial plant was built in Germany. According to the company, the Pyromex gasification system can treat all types of waste, with the single exception of heavily contaminated nuclear residues! The Pyromex technology just may be the ultimate waste energy solution - to treat all types of waste without waste residues and without harmful emissions to the atmosphere - while recovering all valuable constituent of the waste at highly economic conditions. 27 Comments

Ambient energy generators have the potential to replace battery power as an energy source in a variety of practical applications, particularly in remote locations. Research has shown that it is possible to produce electric power from ambient sources like human energy, radio waves and transmission wires. Traditional electrochemical batteries and fuel storage systems are limited by factors such as battery life, fuel supply and weight. Recent advances in electronic components and sensor technologies are steadily reducing the energy requirements of many remote components and devices, further advancing the potential capabilities of ambient energy power generation. 13 Comments