The Green Optimistic

Water oxidation is an essential component for generating hydrogen from water by only using sunlight. Emory University researchers, led by Craig Hill, discovered the most powerful homogeneous catalyst known for oxidizing water, which could lead to successfully replicating the way photosynthesis works, but much more efficiently and controllable.

Today, the commercially available devices powered by fuel cells are still pretty pricey. But Kyoto-based Aquafairy has presented a new range of affordable fuel cells for portable electronic devices.

MIT chemist Dan Nocera claims that with just one bottle of drinking water and four hours of sunlight, he can generate 30 KWh of electric energy, being enough to power an entire home. This process consist in a a cobalt-based catalyst that uses solar energy to split water and produce hydrogen.

Javad Rafiee, a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute developed a new method of ultra-efficient hydrogen storage based on graphene.

Bloom Energy has just brought to the market a new fuel cell system that is able to run on various fuels. While working on natural gas, it can decrease the CO2 emissions by half compared to conventional power sources.

Fuel cells can be used in various applications such as spacecraft, remote weather stations, large parks, rural locations, military applications and automotive industry. Fuel cells have hydrogen as the base element for their power.

Scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University, Peking University in Beijing and the Chinese Academy of Science in Shanghai made a discovery that could help other researchers build hydrogen containers that could make the gas compete with petrol-based fuels in terms of energy density and availability.

Kevin, from Hydrogencarsnow.com recently talked to Louis Ventre, Executive VP and General Counsel for HCE, LLC, who filed a patent application for a new hydrogen storage system, based on nano-sized hydrogen bubbles contained in a water environment.

This idea is not new, but until now scientists have focused on trying to mimic or modify the molecules directly involved in splitting hydrogen. “We’d like to adopt an entirely different concept, to mimic photosynthesis by copying the elaborate architectures of green leaves,” says Tongxiang Fan.

The device, called the “Horizon Hydrofill”, manages to extract hydrogen from its own water tank and to store it in solid form in small refillable cartridges, by pluging it into the wall socket, connecting a solar panel or a small-sized wind turbine to it.

There are some ideas that could evolve no matter what technology is used to apply them. For example, James Yarger, an industrial designer, thought of a concept vehicle made from recyclable materials, inspired by Dean Kamen’s Segway.

Recently, Thomas Weber, Head of R&D at Mercedes, said that the upcoming Euro 6 is expected to skyrocket the prices of diesel cars. This is because the automakers are forced to use expensive technology in making the new fine injectors and filters, and this is going to be felt in the customers’ pockets.

A group of researchers from France revealed some tests in this week’s issue of the journal Science that shows how platinum can be substituted with nickel, by mimicking the process going on in anaerobic-living algae. These have an enzyme, called hydrogenase, and use it to metabolize hydrogen.

Daniel G. Nocera of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the inventor of the most important solar energy system of the century. His 2007 designed system is able to create cheap solar energy based on the photosynthesis process.

Prof. Bruce isolated the core of the photosynthetic process from certain algae, and proved that, if coupled with a platinum catalyst, it could produce hydrogen in the presence of light. Photosynthesis is at the base of our fossil fuel energy, because it comes from the plants that lived here millions of years ago – indirectly, from the Sun.

ACAL Energy (Cheshire, UK) has recently developed a liquid cathode technology that will be used for boosting the power output for a kilowatt-scale fuel cell system.

The market is in a continuously search for a battery pack that should be able to power portable electronic devices for a longer period of time and with shorter charging times. Toshibas’ Dynario Charger is the perfect solution for the moment.

A team of scientists from the University of Rochester has a tough mission creating a hydrogen fuel cell that not only burns cleanly but the fuel itself has to be created from clean sources. They have developed a process that uses artificial photosynthesis and nanotubes to finalize this project.

This man (a retired school teacher) says he applied what many others on the internet describe as “on-board hydrogen generation”, with a couple of jars, some electrodes and potassium hydroxide.

Ion Tiger is a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle (UAV) developed by the Naval Research Laboratory . It has set an unofficial flight endurance record by flying 23 hours and 17 minutes at Aberdeen Proving Ground.