Posts Tagged hydrogen fuel cell

Gold and Rust Unlikely Partners in Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Duke University

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hydrogen Power on May 23, 2013

Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity directly from hydrogen and generate zero carbon dioxide emissions, unlike conventional methods of electricity generation. In order to accomplish this feat, a catalyst in the hydrogen fuel cell starts and maintains the reaction. Hydrogen in the fuel, typically pure hydrogen gas, is combined chemically with oxygen from the atmosphere, generating [...]

Geobacter Bacteria Used to Create Electricity from Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Hydrogen Power on May 20, 2013

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst have recently engineered Geobacter metallireducens, a bacterium that can feed with hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce electricity. “This represents the first result of current production solely on hydrogen,” says Amit Kumar, who worked with Derek Lovely, the scientist who first isolated Geobacter metallireducens 26 years ago, in the Potomac River. [...]

California, Global Leader in Hydrogen Refueling Stations by 2016

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hydrogen Power on April 22, 2013

Worldwide, there are just over 200 hydrogen refueling stations, which reflects the addition of just 27 stations in 2012. There are probably just as many hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the road, which doesn’t include fleet operators with private hydrogen refueling stations. Still, this kind of progress is expected to be slow, just as the [...]

Hydrogen Fuel Generation – Breakthrough Catalyst Investigated in India

Posted by Benji Jerew in Experiments, Hydrogen Power on April 19, 2013

Hydrogen fuel used in hydrogen fuel cells, as a replacement for natural gas, or even in an internal combustion engine, burns clean and emits zero carbon dioxide. This is great news for those concerned about increasing carbon dioxide emissions, but the current-best method for generating hydrogen fuel isn’t very efficient. Electrolysis uses electricity to split [...]

Artificial Leaf Generates Hydrogen, Even in Contaminated Water

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hydrogen Power, Solar Power on April 11, 2013

Daniel Nocera, previously of MIT and now Harvard, once called the artificial leaf “one of the Holy Grails of science,” but what if it was improved even further? In all green trees and plants, photosynthesis uses energy from the sun to split water into oxygen gas and hydrocarbons, that is, sugars which the tree uses [...]

BMW Proud of In-House Fuel Cells Used in Forklifts

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hydrogen Power on March 15, 2013

While generalized hydrogen infrastructure is very slowly gaining ground on the nation’s highways, BMW fuel cell vehicles are already inhouse at BMW Spartanburg, South Carolina. A warehouse or manufacturing facility is the last place that you want to have an internal combustion engine running, which is why materials handling equipment, from fork trucks to man [...]

Iron-Based Fuel Cell Catalyst to Make Hydrogen Cars Cheap

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Hydrogen Power on February 18, 2013

An efficient iron-based fuel cell catalyst has been discovered by PNNL scientists. It uses a hydrogenase molecule to split hydrogen and create electricity. For years, scientists have been playing around with various alternatives to platinum, an expensive catalyst used in hydrogen fuel cells today to create electricity directly from hydrogen. Fortunately, platinum has the intrinsic [...]

Elon Musk on Hydrogen Fuel: “It makes no sense”

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hydrogen Power on February 17, 2013

“Except for the upper stage of a rocket, hydrogen makes no sense,” Elon Musk, the parent of the battery-powered Roadster and Model S said in an e-mail interview to ScienceFriday. If there is anyone to ask about electric vehicles, it would be Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors. In fact, the second electric vehicle to [...]

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles in the UK – Future in Doubt

Posted by Benji Jerew in Green Policy, Hydrogen Power on February 5, 2013

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles may very well be the future, and administrators in the UK are expecting to have the first on the road by 2015. By 2030, they expect to have maybe 1.5 million on the road, which is pretty ambitious, to say the least. Of course, the fuel cell technology costs a bit [...]

New Platinum Electroplate Method Could Make Hydrogen Fuel Cells More Affordable

Posted by Benji Jerew in Electric Vehicles, Hydrogen Power on December 7, 2012

In order for the anode and cathodes in hydrogen fuel cells to survive, that is, do the job without degrading, they are covered with a material that needs to resist corrosion as well as conduct electricity. Unfortunately, some of the materials needed for such coatings, such as platinum, are expensive. Additionally, the processes used are [...]

Innovative Micro Fuel Cell Could Power Future Electronics

Posted by Benji Jerew in Green Electronics, Hydrogen Power, New Inventions on December 6, 2012

The first hydrogen fuel cells [HFC], much like the first mobile phones, were large, bulky, and expensive. Technologies in various fields, such as metallurgy, electronics, and chemistry, have made the mobile phone, not only smaller, but more available than ever before. With the advent of the smartphone, battery and smartphone manufacturers have been working to [...]

Mercedes-Benz’s Ener-G-Force Powered by Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Posted by Mike Sandru in Hydrogen Power on December 4, 2012

The 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show brought some great new concepts this year. One of them is the Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force. Big and bully, like the oversized Hummers, the G-Force only looks like a notorious SUV. This model is equipped with fuel cells, whose only emission is water. Following the lines of the G-class models, back [...]

Hy9 and Altergy May Mainstream Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Posted by Leigh Kim in Hydrogen Power on November 27, 2012

Hy9 and Altergy have announced a 3-year partnership and distribution agreement to develop and market a new integrated fuel processor for Altergy’s Freedom Power fuel cell system. Hy9 develops hydrogen systems and purifiers and Altergy develops proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, potentially making this partnership very successful and appealing to multiple industries. Both companies [...]

Platinum-Cobalt Alloy Boosts Hydrogen Fuel Cell Output by 12

Posted by Janina Lazo in Hydrogen Power on November 1, 2012

A cost-effective new alternative to fuel cell’s catalyst have been developed at Cornell University, promising a 5X reduction in cost, an output of 12X more than the conventional platinum catalyst, and a high stability even after more than 5,000 cycles. An efficient and cheap hydrogen fuel cell would be an ideal renewable energy device as [...]

Fuel Cell Micro-CHPs Provide Efficient Power and Heat for Homes

Posted by Mila Luleva in Hydrogen Power on October 31, 2012

Micro combined generation of heat and power (CHP) have been added to the qualities of fuel cells. These smaller scale CHPs can be used as a replacement of conventional household boilers or as an addition to gas and heating systems. Used either way, this energy efficiency technology could place Germany in a very favorable position [...]