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Researchers create instant hydrogen from water and aluminum
Hydrogen power seemed all the rage for awhile, until we had to face the practical considerations of using it. Yes, it's clean and abundant, but it's also incredibly difficult to transport. One team may have accidentally found the key to jump starting this struggling economy, though; researchers at the US Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground Maryland made a chance discovery when they poured water on a new aluminum alloy. It began to give off hydrogen automatically.
Researchers create hydrogen fuel with artificial photosynthesis
Scientists all over the world have been attempting to recreate photosynthesis in the lab in hopes of being able to mimic the process to create fuel. Now a team of researchers from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Virginia Tech have figured out the secret behind a man-made molecular system or a "supramolecule" that can do the job well. Their lead researcher originally created two supramolecules a few years ago. Both of them can perform the processes needed for photosynthesis to occur: absorbing light, separating and transporting electrical charge and catalyzing the reactions needed to produce hydrogen that plants use to turn carbon dioxide into glucose. However, one was more effective than the other, so the team performed experiments to figure out why.
Stanford researchers find a cheaper, better way to make hydrogen gas
A team of researchers from Stanford University unveiled an easier and more efficient way to strip hydrogen atoms from water molecules on Thursday. It's still the same electrolysis method that's been in use for years. But instead of using two different kinds of material for the cathode and anode, like conventional electrolysis procedures, Stanford is incorporating a pair of identical nickel-iron oxide catalysts. When a 1.5V current is applied, the system operates at 82 percent efficiency -- many times more than what its conventional equivalent can make with the same charge. It could be precisely the production breakthrough that the hydrogen fuel economy needs to actually take off.
Delaware Ph.D. student hopes to solve energy woes with renewable hydrogen production
Hydrogen fuel is a fickle mistress. On one hand, it teases us with the promise of renewable energy and a cleaner tomorrow. On the other hand, it's most often produced with natural gas as the source -- hardly the clean break from fossil fuels that many had envisioned. Fortunately, there are other methods to harness this abundant element, and a doctoral student at the University of Delaware may have created a worthwhile process. Similar to previous research we've seen -- which relies on ceric oxide and energy from the sun -- Eric Koepf has designed a reactor that combines zinc oxide powder, solar rays and water to derive hydrogen as a storable energy source. Most intriguing, it's thought that the zinc oxide byproduct from the reaction will be reusable -- a potential gateway to sustainable energy. Koepf will spend the next six weeks in Zurich at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where his reactor prototype will be put through its paces to determine its efficiency and effectiveness. If successful, his advisors envision that one day, we may see giant versions of Koepf's reactors producing hydrogen on an industrial scale. We certainly won't fault them for dreaming big.
Microbial fuel cell produces hydrogen from wastewater without wasting energy
Back in 2005, Bruce Logan and his team of Penn State researchers developed a microbial fuel cell capable of converting poop into power. Now, Logan has refined his system to the point where it can produce hydrogen from wastewater or biodegradable organic materials without using a drop of grid electricity, and without emitting even a hint of carbon dioxide. His approach, outlined in the September 19th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involves something known as reverse-electrodialysis (RED) -- a process that harvests energy from the ionic discrepancy between fresh and salt water. Logan's bacterial hydrolysis cell (pictured left) features a so-called RED stack that's comprised of alternating positive and negative ion exchange membranes, which it uses to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Normally, this process would involve about 25 pairs of membranes, but by using RED technology in conjunction with electricity-producing exoelectrogenic bacteria, Penn State's team was able to extract hydrogen with just five membrane pairs. All told, Logan's cells proved to be about 58 to 64 percent energy efficient, while producing between 0.8 to 1.6 cubic meters of hydrogen for every cubic meter of liquid that passed through the system. The researchers' results show that only one percent of that energy was used to pump water through the cells, which are completely carbon neutral, as well. According to Logan, this breakthrough demonstrates that "pure hydrogen gas can efficiently be produced from virtually limitless supplies of seawater and river water and biodegradable organic matter." Somewhere, the US Navy is taking scrupulous notes. Full PR after the break. [Image courtesy of Penn State / Bruce Logan]
Shell opens America's first pipelined hydrogen-fueling station in Southern California
Residents of SoCal's Torrance should consider themselves lucky, as they're now living in America's first-ever city to have a pipelined hydrogen-fueling station. You can thank Shell and Toyota for picking up this government-funded green project. Sure, while the few other hydrogen stations still rely on delivery by supply truck (presumably running on diesel, ironically), this nevertheless marks a new milestone for our squeaky clean fuel, and it's only a matter of time before more stations get piped up to Air Products' hydrogen plants. If there's any indication of a time frame, Wired reminds us that 2015 should see the arrival of many new mass-market hydrogen cars from Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz. Not long to go now, fellow tree huggers.
Hornblower Hybrid ferry relies on eco-friendly trifecta: hydrogen, solar and wind power
Plan on visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island via ferry next year? If so, pay close attention to the vessel you board, as it just might be the world's first to rely on hydrogen, solar and wind power for motorization. Currently, the New York Hornblower Hybrid (not to be confused with the San Francisco Hornblower Hybrid) is under construction in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and if all goes well, it'll reach completion in April. The 600-passenger boat be equipped with Tier 2 diesel engines, hydrogen fuel cells, solar panels and wind turbines, with power coming from a proton exchange membrane fuel cell that turns hydrogen into electricity. We're told that the diesel rigs will only kick in to cover "additional energy needs," but it's hard to say how often they'll actually be used. The eventual goal, however, is to do away with emissions altogether in the ferry process, and it seems that the technology is already capable of being scaled for use in other hybrid ferries, hybrid yachts and even hybrid tugs.
Korean tech makes hydrogen up to 30 times cheaper to produce -- clean energy solved?
With oil prices in free-fall and the world's economies in the toilet, short-sighted governments and C02-denying GM execs will undoubtedly defer priority given to clean energies in the next round of fiscal budgets. Too bad, because Korea's S&P Energy Research Institute has just issued a press release about a new discovery it claims puts the era of clean energy within reach. Dr. Sen Kim claims to have achieved the separation of Hydrogen using just 0.1kwh of energy compared to the traditional 4 - 4.5kwh required using the ol' electrolytic method. Dr. Kim postulates that "manufacturing the H2 by our method will lower the cost of H2 as much as 20 - 30 times" compared to electrolytic H2. That makes SPERI's method suitable for H2 fuel production from say, an in-home hydrogen fueling station. So is this the solution to all of our clean energy concerns? Perhaps, but we've heard these economical hydrogen-generation claims before. Let's wait for the claim to be more thoroughly vetted by bigger brains than our own before getting too hopeful.
BMW Hydrogen 7 is unveiled as first for luxury performance space
While plenty of car manufacturers have been working hard to bring hydrogen-based vehicles to the everyman, it seems BMW has been taking an alternate tact, and instead got bizzy squeezing a hydrogen drive into a 7 Series model. The car's engine can run on either hydrogen or gasoline, and includes tanks for both. You can manage around 124 miles on hydrogen and an additional 311 miles on gasoline, which should cut down on the whole "stranded in the middle of nowhere since there aren't enough hydrogen stations yet" situation. Performance is passable, at 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds, but this ain't no Tesla. The switch between power sources is performed automatically at the push of a button, and the car will be produced in a limited series for selected users, meaning you probably won't even have a shot at one. All the same, it's good to see alterna-fuel vehicles getting so close to reality -- and BMW seems convinced that in reality, the future won't just play host to compact boringcars.
