fuel cells

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  • GM fuel cell mobile power generator

    GM aims to use hydrogen fuel cells for mobile power generators

    GM is bringing its hydrogen fuel cell technology to mobile power generators.

  • Hyundai's 'Hydrogen Vision 2040' includes trailer drones and a fuel cell supercar

    Hyundai's 'Hydrogen Vision 2040' includes trailer drones and a fuel cell supercar

    Despite its problems including inefficiency and pollution, Hyundai is betting big on hydrogen.

    Steve Dent
    09.07.2021
  • Deutsche Bahn and Siemens Mireo Plus H hydrogen train

    Germany's national rail operator will experiment with hydrogen trains

    Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn has announced that it’s developing a hydrogen-powered train with an eye to replacing diesel trains.

    Steve Dent
    11.26.2020
  • NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 02: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT01 Honda leads Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB16 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on August 02, 2020 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

    Honda will quit Formula 1 to focus on fuel cell and EV technology

    Honda is ending its participation in Formula 1 in order to focus its research and development on fuel cells and EV technologies, the company announced. It currently builds the turbocharged hybrid power units for Red Bull Racing, which sits in second place in the F1 constructor standings, along with Red Bull’s adjacent team Scuderia AlphaTauri.

    Steve Dent
    10.02.2020
  • UW-Madison researchers invent a metal-free fuel cell

    The development of fuel cell technology has been hamstrung by the need for expensive and difficult-to-manufacture catalysts like platinum, rhodium or palladium. But a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison believe they've found an ingenious alternative that employs a molecular, rather than solid, catalyst.

  • 'Defective' graphene makes for super-efficient fuel cells

    Though graphene is noted for its beautiful symmetry, when you add a few warts and imperfections, it becomes more interesting -- specifically, it has the potential to make fuel cells better and cheaper. Scientists from Northwestern University and other institutions were toying with the material as a hydrogen fuel cell membrane, and found that by knocking out at least four carbon atoms from the normally pristine structure, it performed vastly better. A large number of protons (and nothing else) slipped through imperfections in the atom-thick material in just a few seconds, efficiently generating electricity.

    Steve Dent
    03.18.2015
  • Rohm 5Wh hydrogen fuel cells power up smartphones, ready for the trash after one charge

    Rohm's hydrogen fuel cells are meant to power smartphones and other mobile devices, but unlike other juicing-up solutions, the cells are only good for one charge. Rohm says disposable fuel cells can be made smaller and lighter than their multi-use counterparts, and as the only byproduct is hydrogen, the company is touting the cells' eco-friendliness. The system generates electricity by using hydrogen that's created by the reaction of a metal material and water. While the device we saw here at CEATEC is a prototype, Rohm may offer its recharging system as both a smartphone case and a USB-attachable juicepack. Each offers 5Wh and can fully charge a handset once. There's also a 200W power generator, which certainly stretches the meaning of portable but can keep a laptop, LCD TV and a peripheral or two going for three to four hours. Rohm says its fuel cells will see a commercial release some time in 2013; for now you can get a sneak peek in our hands-on gallery below. Zach Honig contributed to this report.

    Sarah Silbert
    10.02.2012
  • MIT engineers develop glucose-based fuel cell to be used in neural implants

    We've seen fuel cells used in a variety of gadgets -- from cars to portable chargers -- and while medical devices aren't exactly at the top of the list, they're yet another application for these mini power sources. MIT engineers are turning to sugar to make fuel cells for powering brain implants. The scientists developed cells that use platinum to strip electrons from glucose molecules found in a patient's cerebrospinal fluid to create a small electric current. The fuel cells are fabricated on a silicon chip so they can interface with other circuits in a brain implant. The prototype can generate up to hundreds of micro watts, which is enough to power neural implants used to help paralyzed patients move their limbs. Mind you, this technology is years away from making it to market. The next step will be proving that the devices work in animals, which reminds us of one Ricky the rat, who survived a biofuel cell implant back in 2010.

    Sarah Silbert
    06.13.2012
  • Apple breaks ground on second solar farm for North Carolina data center

    Last February, Apple came clean about its efforts to clean up the environment, detailing intentions to make its Maiden, NC data facility a greener place. That site, already home to one solar farm, is now set to host a second 20 megawatt photovoltaic array spanning 100 acres, a one-two power punch that'll jointly generate 84 million kWh annually. Combined with the company's in-development biofuel cell plant, scheduled for opening later this year, that theoretic yield should hit the 124 million kWh mark -- an amount sufficient to power nearly 11,000 households -- providing 60 percent of the center's electric demands. Still, that's not enough to adequately keep operations afloat, so for that very necessary, leftover 40 percent, the house that Jobs built plans to purchase similar clean energy from outside local sources. When all is finally up and running smoothly, the southern facility will earn the distinction of "most environmentally sound data center ever built." Or, at least until another well-heeled competitor comes along to contest that title. Now that's a friendly competition we can get behind.

    Joseph Volpe
    05.17.2012
  • RIM continues its fuel cell streak, applies for two more patents

    Looks like RIM is more interested in fuel cell technology than we thought: the BlackBerry maker has just applied for two closely related patents for including a fuel cell in an electronic device, one for the frame and one for the fuel tank itself. Although the primary aim of either patent is to show how to fit a fuel cell into the tight space of a mobile gadget, they do show a more rectangular and modern device chassis than the last patent we saw, which had more than a slight whiff of the classic BlackBerry about it. Neither application is necessarily a roadmap for the future, and they don't mean your next BlackBerry smartphone will need top-ups of lighter fluid or methanol every few weeks. Still, they hint that fuel cells are at least somewhat more than a passing fancy in Waterloo.

    Jon Fingas
    05.10.2012
  • Brookstone fuel cell USB charger to keep phones powered for two weeks, Engadget editors happy

    If there's a pain that Engadget writers know all too well, it's running out of battery life for a smartphone when we need it most. Say, at a major trade show. That's why we're enthused to hear of an upcoming fuel cell USB charger that Lilliputian Systems is developing for Brookstone. The lighter fluid-filled tank should provide up to 14 full charges for your phone before you need to spend a few dollars to top up, or two weeks if you power up daily -- we'd call that about two CES' worth in our lingo. Better still, using a solid oxide membrane on silicon not only makes a long fuel cell runtime possible, longer than we've seen for methanol, but makes the phone-sized pack safe to carry on the airliners we ride entirely too often. Pricing has yet to be sorted out, but with Brookstone stores likely to start carrying the fuel cell before the end of the year, it should be ready just in time for our next big trip to Las Vegas.

    Jon Fingas
    05.09.2012
  • Daily Update for April 2, 2012

    It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS

    Steve Sande
    04.02.2012
  • RIM gets funky, patents fuel cell manufacture for mobile devices

    If the engineers in Waterloo have their way, your future mobile handset may be able to recharge itself on-the-go with the help of fuel cells. A new patent from RIM describes a method of manufacture that sandwiches a fuel cell assembly between the keyboard and printed circuit board, wherein the fuel cell ventilates through the keyboard (and likely, channels in the keys themselves). The claims describe the PCB as being formed on the fuel cell -- perhaps in effort to reduce size -- to which a fuel tank is then located beneath the printed circuit board. It seems that users will be able to initiate the fuel cell assembly in some manner, as the claims also describe a conductive, metallic plunger on at least one of the keys that's able to fit through a hole within the fuel cell. One omission we've spotted right off the bat is a lack of description of how the fuel tank is filled, so perhaps we'll learn that tidbit another day.

    Zachary Lutz
    03.14.2012
  • Apple's 2012 environmental report reveals giant solar array

    Apple just released its 2012 environmental report, detailing all the ways it's conserving energy and working to make Mother Earth a slightly cleaner place. A highlight of that effort is clearly the company's data center in Maiden, North Carolina. The giant white-roofed server bunker will soon be home to the largest end user-owned solar array in the US -- covering 100 acres and producing 42 million kWh of electricity each year. The 20-megawatt installation is only the beginning too. A five-megawatt fuel cell facility will soon be going up alongside it. Hit up the source link for the full report, but be forewarned, it comes only in PDF format.

  • AT&T becomes the first telco to use energy-efficient Bloom Box servers, will power 11 sites in California

    Remember Bloom Energy servers, those low-cost, energy-efficient fuel cells born out of a scrapped NASA project? The company made a splashy debut last year, starting with a spot on 60 Minutes and a long list of early-adopting corporate heavyweights like FedEx, Walmart, Google, Coca-Cola, Staples, and eBay. Since then, we haven't heard much from the company, but today she's back -- AT&T says it will be the first telco to use these refrigerator-sized servers to power its operations. For now, the company's planning on using the technology to run 11 sites in California, a move AT&T says will cut its carbon dioxide emissions in half and virtually eliminate SOx, NOx, and other smog-forming particles. All told, its servers should produce 62 million kWh of power annually -- once all of these servers are fully up and running sometime in the middle of next year, that is. We say good on AT&T, though we'll really be stoked when these things start lighting up more average Joe homes.

    Dana Wollman
    07.12.2011
  • Carnegie Mellon researchers develop world's smallest biological fuel cell

    Cars and other vehicles may be the first thing that springs to mind at the mention of fuel cells, but the technology can of course also be used for plenty of other devices big and small, and a team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are now looking to take them to a few new places that haven't been possible so far. To that end, they've developed what they claim is the world's smallest biological fuel cell, which is the size of a single human hair and "generates energy from the metabolism of bacteria on thin gold plates in micro-manufactured channels." That, they say, could make it ideal for use in places like deep ocean environments where batteries are impractical -- or possibly in electronic devices with some further refinements, where they could potentially store more energy than traditional batteries in the same space. The university's full press release is after the break.

    Donald Melanson
    06.21.2011
  • Powertrekk charges gadgets over USB, using one fuel cell and one Li-ion battery (video)

    Portable fuel cell chargers have been around for years, but each seems to have lasered in on a single important quality thus far, such as a reasonable price, an easy refilling scheme, and a decent amount of power -- but never all of the above. Well, it doesn't look like MyFC's Powertrekk is the full package either, but it does have a pretty sweet looking case, which holds not only a disposable sodium silicide container to generate the hydrogen gas (which then gets recombined with oxygen in a proton exchange membrane to produce 1000mAh of usable electricity) but also a 1600mAh lithium-ion battery which can provide up to one amp of juice. This way, you've got a backup battery if you misplace your cans of fairy dust, and a buffer for the fuel cell too, allowing you to keep those volts in powder or electrochemical form instead of carting around combustable hydrogen -- which is always a nice bonus when you think about it. Shame there's no word on price quite yet, but you can see how it all works in a video after the break.

    Sean Hollister
    02.13.2011
  • Hyundai brings hydrogen vehicles to Europe, one free fleet at a time

    Excited for the rise of hydrogen economies, but can't wait till 2015? If you work for the Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or Icelandic governments, you might get to see the future personally. Hyundai's signed a memorandum of understanding with the aforementioned four countries to deliver a test fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles, and the Nikkei Shimbun is reporting that the company will personally foot the (possibly quite reasonable) bill. Free hydrogen-powered SUV? Don't mind if we do!

    Sean Hollister
    02.02.2011
  • FTA awards $16.6 million in grants for fuel cell bus research

    While we were jealously hung up on South Korea's working electric bus system, Christmas apparently came early for a couple of lucky US fuel cell bus research projects -- in the form of $16.6 million in Federal Transit Administration grants. Pasadena based Calstart snagged almost $10.2 million and will funnel 70 percent of the funds to developing the first phase of a low-cost, longer lasting fuel cell power system. Calstart will then spend its remaining $2.9 million in partnership with the Chicago Regional Transit Authority to develop and test the viability of fuel cell bus fleets in cold climates. The Center for Transportation and the Environment in Atlanta was the other project to hit the federal money gravy train. It received a hefty $6.4 million to spread across six different projects that dabble in everything from developing fast-charging 35-foot fuel cell buses, to similar lithium ion versions, to improving existing hybrid bus platforms. Federal pork for fuel cell DSLR development regrettably missed the cut. For the full scoop hit up the press release after the break.

    Ben Bowers
    12.31.2010
  • Inhabitat's Week in Green: speed demon saws, emergency bras, and the pedal-powered monorail

    Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week China blazed a trail for green transportation as their newest train smashed the world record for high-speed rail travel. We also showcased a cutting edge vehicle powered by six circular saws and saw Google invest 1 million dollars in Shweeb's bicycle powered monorail - we can't wait to give it a spin! We also saw big things brewing for alternative energy as wave power lit up the US energy grid for the first time and Stanford scientists unveiled a new type of nanotech solar cells that can produce ten times more electricity than standard PV's yet are thinner than a wavelength of light. Adobe also kept step with the latest in energy tech by upgrading its campus with a dozen Bloom Box fuel cells, and Volvo unveiled plans to create a new type of car body that doubles as a battery! In other news, this week we spotted a great crop of green gadgets including an "emergency bra" that doubles as a gas mask, a flexible new type of electronic skin, and a stunning collection of recycled speaker art, fit to mount on your wall. We also rounded up our five favorite eco gadgets for guys and we ooh'd and aww'd at these incredibly detailed scooters made out of paper!

    Inhabitat
    10.03.2010