hydrogen Archives – The Green Optimistic

Hydrogen’s Recent Ascension as Fuel for Future Electric Cars

Effie P — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 13:17:04 +0000

Fuel cells produce electrical energy directly from the chemical potential energy that is stored in H2 and O2 molecules. Using a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM), the unit needs only to be supplied with pressurized H2. Fuel cells are inherently more efficient and reliable than combustion engines, and their only by-product is water. These advantages make […]

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Researchers Surpassed Theoretical Efficiency Limit on Biohydrogen Production

Arsenij Percov — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 10:27:37 +0000

Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln surpassed the theoretical ceiling on the amount of biohydrogen that bacteria could produce via fermentation. They used a genetic engineering technique that leaves bacteria with two possible options: either to die or to adapt. The limit was proposed by researcher Rudolf Thauer in 1977, and it was 4 units […]

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New Hybrid Catalyst Generates Hydrogen from Water More Efficiently

Arsenij Percov — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 20:06:31 +0000

Ripping water apart into hydrogen and oxygen can form the basis of artificial photosynthetic devices. These devices potentially can power homes and businesses, and car manufacturers will be able to start massive production of hydrogen-powered vehicles. However, catalysts for this type of reaction are either effective but expensive and unstable, or are affordable, stable, and […]

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How Hydrogen Can Become the Fuel of Choice in the Future

Arsenij Percov — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 19:39:29 +0000

The idea of using hydrogen fuel as an energy source is amazing since it doesn’t produce any pollution. However, producing pure hydrogen from water (the only clean way to do it) requires more energy than it will generate. Hydrogen fuel can be used as storage The solution to the problem mentioned above is using hydrogen […]

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Controlling Electron Spin to Improve Hydrogen Production Efficiency

Ece Polat — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 20:19:57 +0000

During hydrolysis, water is split into hydrogen and oxygen gas; however, during this process hydrogen peroxide forms too. As a byproduct, hydrogen peroxide intervenes with the reaction rate. The production of hydrogen peroxide is due to the spin of electrons. Thus, the Eindhoven University of Technology and the Weizmann Institute researchers found the way to […]

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Toyota Plant Uses Hydrogen to Reduce Emissions

Courtney Lepping — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 20:37:24 +0000

The Miyata Plant of Toyota Motor Kyushu has exciting plans for the use of hydrogen in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. With the incorporation of solar and wind energy as the initiation of a project by of Fukuoka Prefecture, Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc, Kyuden Technosystems Corp and Toyota Tsusho Corp, it is expected that carbon dioxide […]

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EasyJet to Power Aircrafts with Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Mila Luleva — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 13:01:08 +0000

EasyJet, one of UK’s leading low cost airline companies, has announced their new plans to power planes with hydrogen fuel cells. Over the past few years, we (in Europe) witnessed an incredible boom of low cost airline companies, which offer cheap tickets to and from pretty much any destination around. With this arose the issue of carbon emissions from aviation, […]

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Japanese Consumers to Gain More Renewable Energy Options by 2020

Annika Tostengard — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 20:57:30 +0000

Tokyo has been picked as the location of the 2020 Summer Olympics, and the city hopes to showcase its commitment to renewable energy as part of the fanfare. If Tokyo’s plans move ahead on schedule, Japanese consumers will get 20% of their electricity from renewable sources including solar, hydrogen fuel cells, and hydropower. As the […]

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Australian Company to Ship Hydrogen to Japan as Renewable Energy Source

Annika Tostengard — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 21:44:00 +0000

Australian company Renewable Hydrogen plans to harness solar energy to make hydrogen and “bottle it and ship it to Japan on a true industrial scale”, as executive director Andrew Want told ABC. The process uses solar energy to electrolyze purified seawater, separating hydrogen from oxygen, that then gets converted to ammonia for shipping. The energy […]

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Hydrogen Fuel Cars Focus of Department of Energy Grant

Annika Tostengard — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 19:24:07 +0000

One of the major factors holding back hydrogen cars up until now has been storage. There is currently no economical way to store the gas onboard a vehicle. However, the Lawrence Livermore Nationa Laboratory aims to solve this problem as part of a tri-lab consortium working on new materials and tools to make hydrogen fuel […]

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Study: Underground Hydrogen Storage is Cheapest, but Hard to Implement

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 19:25:56 +0000

Just like natural gas is being stored for eons in the underground, hydrogen could too one day be stored the same way. This is the conclusion reached by a Sandia National Laboratories study that was sponsored by DoE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office. The underground storing solution comes at a very low cost, and could be […]

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German Clean-Tech Company Makes Fuel From Water

Mila Luleva — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 14:55:22 +0000

First of its kind liquid hydrocarbon fuel, developed by a German company for clean technology, holds the potential to transform the world of renewable energy. The synthetic fuel, which resembles petrol, diesel and kerosene is a product of water and carbon dioxide conversion. To produce the new synthetic fuel, the guys at Dresden’s Sunfire GmbH followed […]

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Hydrogen Production and Solar Energy Storage Boosted by New Catalyst

Mila Luleva — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:46:11 +0000

A catalyst that increases both hydrogen production and solar energy storage has been developed in a unique experiment conducted in a famous Stanford chemical lab. The substance can be used to solve the two most highly discussed issues in the field of renewable energy- hydrogen production and solar energy storage. Production of pure hydrogen is a […]

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Teenager Designs a Unique Portable Device to Purify Water and Generate Electricity

Mila Luleva — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 13:26:29 +0000

Regardless of how many times it happens, it is always fascinating to read about a teenager, who has done something incredible. This time the star of the show is the 17-year-old Australian student Cynthia Sin Nga Lam, who found herself in the top 15 of the Google Science Fair, with her portable device that generates electricity […]

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Light and Nanoparticles Help Split Water into Hydrogen and Oxygen

Danny Harper — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 19:33:00 +0000

The recent discovery of a catalyst allowing for the creation of hydrogen from sunlight has led to what scientists say could be a realistic path to a clean and renewable source of energy. A team of researchers at the University of Houston, attempting to split water using light (an ongoing task since the 1970’s), made the breakthrough by using […]

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Scientists Discover Cheap And Efficient Way To Produce Hydrogen From Rocks

Mila Luleva — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 17:54:10 +0000

French researchers discovered a new method to produce hydrogen much cheaper and more effectively than any other currently known technique. By adding aluminium oxide, the team was able to achieve an acceleration of the natural process of producing the gas from the well-known rock olivine and water. If successfully applied on a global scale, the […]

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The Future of Transportation Means Hydrogen And Electricity, Says Shell

Mila Luleva — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 18:05:20 +0000

There are many speculations and predictions to what the future for the transport industry holds. Based on past and current trends, many have tried to produce the most realistic projections that could represent the future markets. What is most striking, however, is that if previously renewable energy sources have been mostly mentioned in the reports […]

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New Smartphone App Improves the Hydrogen Fueling Experience

Mila Luleva — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 16:26:33 +0000

Last week, The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, based in Brussels, was a host of the 5th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety. Various hydrogen technologies were presented by international research teams from all over the world. This year, the organizers aimed at improving public awareness by showing the progress associated with health and […]

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New Tech Stores Solar Energy as Hydrogen

Mila Luleva — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 14:49:35 +0000

Scientists from HZB and TU Delft, The Netherlands, were able to store five percent of solar energy in the form of hydrogen using a solar cell and a photo anode made from metal oxide. The new solar fuel device is cost effective, highly stable and highly efficient. The system is a combination of cheap and […]

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Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Could Help Hydrogen Fuel Cells Get Cheaper

Mila Luleva — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 06:35:36 +0000

Researchers from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea, developed a method, which provides cheap and environmentally friendly mean to create nitrogen-doped graphene nanoplatelets (NGnPs). The study published in the latest issue of Scientific Reports states that this technology could replace platinum-based catalysts used in dye-sensitized solar and fuel cells. Platinum-based […]

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“Green” Hydrogen Fuel From Sunlight, Salts and Ancient Protein

Mila Luleva — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 13:45:12 +0000

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory produced completely “green” hydrogen fuel by utilizing light to initiate a catalytic process. The key was to use bacteriorhodopsin, a protein found in ancient desert microorganisms, and combine it with semiconducting titanium dioxide nano-particles. Splitting the water molecules by exposing titanium dioxide nanoparticles to bright […]

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Rust and Sunlight Enabling More Efficient Hydrogen Production

Mila Luleva — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 10:40:03 +0000

Researchers from Switzerland, the US and Israel discovered a new way to efficiently split the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight and small particles of rust. The study published in the latest issue of Nature Materials brings new hopes for cheap and efficient hydrogen production. The small particles, referred to as “champion nanoparticles” of […]

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Artificial Chlorophyll Can Generate Hydrogen from Seawater, UOW Researchers Find

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 05:55:46 +0000

A new way to turn sea water into hydrogen has been developed by scientists at the University of Wollongong, in Australia. It uses artificial chlorophyll that acts as a catalyst to split saltwater in a way that’s never been used before. The team of researchers, led by Dr Jun Chen and Professor Gerry Swiegers, say that only five […]

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Toyota FCV-R Hydrogen Fuel Cell Concept Set for Production in 2015

Benji Jerew — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:31:27 +0000

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles haven’t seen a whole lot of the limelight in recent times, in part because the technology is wildly expensive, not only for the infrastructure, but the vehicles themselves. Still, imagine a vehicle that has zero emissions [tailpipe anyway] like an electric vehicle, but can refuel in about the same amount of […]

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Naturally-Occurring Hydrogen Fuel Could Come From Geological Formations

Benji Jerew — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:09:09 +0000

One problem that hydrogen fuel has is the efficiency of the system by which it is produced, mainly electrically or chemically, but what if there was a naturally-occurring source of hydrogen? This is one reason why some believe that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles aren’t a good idea. On the other hand, a lot of current […]

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Genetic Engineering Increases Hydrogen Yield from Biomass, Virginia Tech

Benji Jerew — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:59:20 +0000

Hydrogen itself is a clean fuel and can be used in fuel cells to generate electricity or even burned in traditional internal combustion engines with zero harmful emissions, but producing hydrogen isn’t so clean. The goal of hydrogen power is to eliminate carbon dioxide from the equation, but this has proven difficult. The never ending […]

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Leftover Ash Generates Hydrogen Gas, We Just Need to Collect It

Benji Jerew — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:24:41 +0000

When power plants burn coal, wood or even refuse to generate electricity, the leftover ash generates hydrogen gas, which is why it must be stored outside. Leftover ash from power production often finds its way to landfills or, in some countries, as a construction material. It can’t be stored inside though, because the leftover ash […]

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell Locomotive Gains Ground in Multiple Applications

Benji Jerew — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:34:50 +0000

Natural gas becoming more abundant doesn’t necessarily leave the hydrogen fuel cell locomotive without a track forward. More likely, hydrails will continue to grow from small beginnings in 2009. Earlier hydrogen fuel cell locomotive technology lent itself to smaller applications, such as the BNSF Port of Los Angeles HH 1205 locomotive developed in Kansas. The […]

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H2USA Plan Pushes for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles and Infrastructure

Benji Jerew — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:10:10 +0000

Several automakers have already decided that they want to release fuel cell vehicles as early as 2017 or so, and the Department of Energy’s [DOE] H2USA plan could expand the infrastructure. There are already a few hydrogen fueling stations in the US, but only a couple dozen or so are available for public access. This […]

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Artificial Leaf Unfurled, Stores Solar Energy as Hydrogen

Benji Jerew — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:35:28 +0000

Photovoltaic solar cells generate electricity that must be used immediately or stored, but an artificial leaf could store solar energy in a different manner, chemically. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] have recently unveiled an artificial leaf prototype that does indeed generate electricity when exposed to sunlight, but when placed in water, generates hydrogen […]

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New Catalyst Gets Hydrogen from Methanol at Normal Pressure/Temp

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:36:07 +0000

Because it contains 4 atoms of hydrogen, methanol (CH4O) is generally considered a good hydrogen carrier, but has never been used in actual applications where gas is directly extracted from it and used. A team of University of Rostock chemists discovered a way to extract hydrogen from methanol at low temperatures and ambient pressures. This […]

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Forze VI – Fuel Cell Race Car to Compete in Dutch Caterham Cup

Benji Jerew — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:48:13 +0000

The Dutch Caterham Cup is a Lotus 7 race league. These cars weigh in at just 1,212 pounds and are powered by 200hp engines. There should be a newcomer this year, one with a completely different powertrain, a hydrogen fuel cell and electric motors. The Forze VI hydrogen fuel cell race car has been under […]

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Gold Nanorods Generate Hydrogen Using Solar Power

Benji Jerew — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:56:16 +0000

Gold nanorods, a titanium dioxide filter and platinum were used by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen fuel cell, in fact, is nothing new, and has been around for nearly one hundred years. The most ideal fuel, hydrogen gas, isn’t freely available in the […]

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

Benji Jerew — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 07:11:44 +0000

“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 […]

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Bio-Oil Hydrogen Generation Just Needed a More Efficient Process

Benji Jerew — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:31:35 +0000

We’ve been watching hydrogen fuel for a while now, and the utilization of hydrogen has seen fairly rapid development, as seen in the decreasing size of fuel cell stacks and increasing efficiency. In fact, by 2015, Toyota, BMW, and others are planning on having at least one hydrogen fuel cell model in production. Of course, […]

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Delaware Solar Fuel Generator Advances One Step Further

Benji Jerew — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:14:28 +0000

A few quick notes about hydrogen. As an element, it is the simplest, lightest, and most abundant on this planet that we call home. Also, when it is pure, which rarely happens naturally, hydrogen is highly combustible. When it does burn, though, it releases no carbon dioxide like hydrocarbon fuels do. We have known for […]

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Daimler Partners Ford and Nissan to Develop Hydrogen Vehicles

Benji Jerew — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:19:05 +0000

Hydrogen vehicles are more than just a dream that won’t die, but are getting closer to production than ever before. Hydrogen just could be the perfect fuel, and advances in production of hydrogen as well as hydrogen fuel cell [HFC] technology have made it possible to realize a clean transportation future. Just last week, Toyota […]

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Nanosize Silicon Found to Generate Hydrogen Efficiently

Benji Jerew — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 07:33:26 +0000

The science of nanotechnology, specifically nanomaterials, has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade, and scientists are discovering more material characteristics than they ever could have before, just examining macromaterials. For example, when silicon [Si] oxidizes with water [H2O], it gives off hydrogen gas [H2], leaving a layer of silicon dioxide [SiO2]. While […]

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Artificial Photosynthesis Could Generate Hydrogen Fuel

Benji Jerew — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:42:38 +0000

Hydrogen could be the perfect zero-emissions fuel, if only the generating process could eliminate its carbon-footprint. There are a couple of ways to produce hydrogen for use in hydrogen fuel cell or even internal combustion engined vehicles, but they are not without their quirks. Electrolysis splits the hydrogen and oxygen from water molecules, but unless […]

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Cheap and Safe Hydrogen Solution by Indian and Italian Researchers

Benji Jerew — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:13:58 +0000

Mention hydrogen, and for anyone who’s watched Myth Busters or The History Channel, the name Hindenburg immediately comes to mind. The reason is because hydrogen, especially large quantities of pure hydrogen, is one of the most reactive substances we know of, and it wants to get rid of that solo electron so bad it’ll bond […]

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100 Hydrogen Refueling Stations Planned in Japan

Benji Jerew — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:21:16 +0000

One of the advantages hydrogen fuel cell [HFC] vehicles have over electric vehicles [EV] is that they refuel in the same amount of time as a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle. However, HFCs and EVs share at least one disadvantage, limited refueling stations. At first, EVs didn’t have much in the way of public recharging stations, but […]

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Hydrogen Cars to Overtake Battery EVs

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 18:49:21 +0000

In the meantime that battery EV’s are less prioritized by automakers, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles may get ahead from them as the next big thing in alternative fuels. Toyota and Honda have announced their plans on mass market of hydrogen cars for the coming years. Toyota Motor Corporation will be cutting down its efforts on […]

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Hy9 and Altergy May Mainstream Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:42:05 +0000

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 […]

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Alternative Energy Sources May Reduce the Gulf States’ Reliability on Fossil Fuels

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:41:31 +0000

The Gulf desert states are some of the largest greenhouse gas polluters in the world. Fossil fuels are consumed at record speed thanks to desalination, large-scale construction projects, and widespread air conditioner use. Projects fueled by the gas and oil industry also contribute to large scale fossil fuel consumption. To add insult to injury, Saudi […]

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New Sun-Powered Water Splitting Process Discovered

Leigh Hutchens — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 07:29:16 +0000

Researchers have determined that water splitting can produce clean energy hydrogen and use small metal particles exposed to sunlight to perform the splitting. Researchers at Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory used gold particles less than one nanometer in size to increase hydrogen production, far exceeding the hydrogen production of other catalysts. Less than […]

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Photosynthesis-Inspired Hydrogen Production Method Developed

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 06:15:57 +0000

Creating hydrogen fuel may not be a pipe dream after all. Researchers have deepened their understanding of photosynthesis using computer models, and this has led to the possibility of developing renewable, clean hydrogen fuel. The molecular structure of the photosynthesis reaction site in plants was revealed through extensive computer modeling. For the first time ever, […]

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Rust and Solar Power Equals Free Hydrogen, Israel Institute Finds

Leigh Hutchens — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:48:35 +0000

Technion-Israel Institute may have found a way to revolutionize the solar industry, and researchers at the Institute believe their cost-effective approach would lead to better and more efficient storage of solar energy in the form of hydrogen-based fuels. Researchers have determined that using sun rays and iron oxide (known to the layman as rust) splits water molecules […]

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Hydrogen-Producing Enzyme Allows for Efficient Green Energy Storage

Mila Luleva — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 11:08:55 +0000

The environment of the catalytic site acts as a reservoir within a hydrogen-producing enzyme, making the production of hydrogen for renewable energy much more efficient. This is the conclusion scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI CEC) and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) reached through a detailed spectroscopic investigation published in the […]

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Hydrogen Vehicles: The Dream Lives On

Benji Jerew — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 21:09:29 +0000

Hydrogen [H2] as a power source has been under on-and-off development and use in various sectors since the 1900s, but has its own special considerations when it comes to storage and use. The high reactivity of H2 makes it an excellent fuel, but also difficult to store and deliver. Combustion of H2 also produces no […]

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Japanese Hydrogen + Gasoline Car Prototype Unveiled

Benji Jerew — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:24:53 +0000

According to Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai World News, a private firm in Tokyo, Japan, has built an alternative fuel vehicle that runs on both hydrogen and gasoline. They converted a standard gasoline-powered Suzuki car to run on either fuel. Upgrades included the addition of a hydrogen tank and injector, as well as a control module to […]

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New Iron Catalyst Modeled from Nature Developed for Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Maria Reyes — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:01:47 +0000

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is using nature to model a more efficient catalyst for hydrogen fuel cells. The new catalyst uses an iron center with molecular chains composed of nitrogen atoms that can extract electrons from hydrogen atoms. This can potentially replace the expensive commercial platinum catalyst, which can lead to the production of […]

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New and Improved Biofuel Production from Agricultural Wastes

Maria Reyes — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:57:07 +0000

Researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) develop a new biofuel production process that generates 20 times more energy than currently known methods. The process highlights a novel use of microbes to produce ethanol and hydrogen from agricultural wastes. Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist, is the co-author of the study along with Allison Spears, MSU graduate student. […]

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Caltech Researcher Improves Heat-Driven Hydrogen Production Technology

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:36:15 +0000

Usually, to get hydrogen, the first method that you think of is the electrolysis of water. However, this is not the most efficient way to get the precious energy-carrying gas, and as hydrogen cars will slowly emerge on the market it will need production efficiency, not only the mere fact that it works. So far, […]

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New Water-Splitting Catalyst 1000 Times Cheaper Than Platinum May Boost Hydrogen Economy

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:23:36 +0000

A new electrocatalyst developed at Brookhaven’s National Laboratory can finally make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles a viable reality and can bring cheap electricity for all (hopefully). The researchers discovered how a new form of catalytic nickel-molybdenum-nitride can successfully replace platinum, which sells at $50,000 a kilo these days. “We wanted to design an optimal catalyst […]

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Student-Built Reactor Produces Hydrogen From Sunlight, Zinc Oxide and Water

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:37:18 +0000

A new way to have sunlight produce hydrogen has been perfected in a University of Delaware lab. The inventor, Erik Koepf, has designed a reactor that works at ultra-high temperatures and that uses zinc oxide and water to produce hydrogen at a potentially industrial scale without reforming fossil fuels, as it’s done in the industry […]

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Nuclear Power Could Provide Heat for Hydrogen Production

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:06:54 +0000

Ibrahim Khamis, Ph.D at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, has recently described to the scientific community a method nuclear power plants could use to provide the heat necessary for the production of hydrogen from water, through electrolysis. He presented his research at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American […]

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Osaka Student Team Creates Hydrogen-Powered Car From Scratch

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:51:21 +0000

Everyone started building battery-powered electric vehicles lately, but few are those who built cars whose power comes from hydrogen fuel cells. Such an example comes from a team of students at Osaka Sangyo University, who built a fuel cell-powered car from scratch, creating Japan’s first non-industrial team to ever accomplish this. Actually, they haven’t been […]

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PNNL Scientists Studying Cheap Borane-Based Hydrogen Storage System

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:48:10 +0000

Lots of money are spent on research and development of electric vehicles. Electric cars, powered by hydrogen fuel cells have an increased driving range and are also environmentally friendly. In not such a distant future many hydrogen powered vehicles may fill the U.S. roads, but this will only happen after the issues concerning the recharging […]

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BMW to Use GM and Toyota Technology for Future Hydrogen-Powered Cars

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:25:23 +0000

BMW is seemingly looking for ties in the auto industry with Toyota and General Motors to develop future battery and hydrogen fuel cell-powered EVs, says Motorauthority.com, quoting the German Wirtschaftswoche (Business Week). So GM’s Volt technology may not be officially a secret any longer, and Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive could enhance the power of all […]

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Vitamin B12 Helps Scientists Build New Cheap Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:08:42 +0000

Vitamin B12 has recently been determined as one of the many solutions for cheaper hydrogen fuel cells, that convert hydrogen into electricity and have water as their only output. Because they currently use platinum, hydrogen fuel cells are being expensive – much over the price of lithium ion batteries, for example. The research, performed by […]

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Researchers Find Method of Making Ammonia a More Affordable Hydrogen Storage

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:38:36 +0000

Sometimes quoted as the main component of a new and good hydrogen storage material, ammonia (NH3) could this time rival hydrogen in the race to fuel our vehicles – it could just be The solution to the fuel crisis. Since hydrogen is hard to transport and store, ammonia fills in that niche and makes up […]

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Cheap Hydrogen Obtained By Using Ethanol and Sunlight

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:58:23 +0000

Not only one time had ethanol been tested as a reliable source of hydrogen. Now, a multi-national team of scientists from Spain, Scotland and New Zealand have devised a method to use ethanol and sunlight to extract hydrogen for use in fuel cells to generate electricity.

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New Aluminum Alloy Helps Generate Clean Water and Cheap Electricity

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:07:12 +0000

A new aluminum alloy could soon clean out water and at the same time generate electricity for afflicted areas. Purdue University researchers Jerry Woodall and Go Choi have been working on the alloy of aluminum, gallium, indium and tin that could split polluted or salt water into hydrogen and oxygen and then reunite them to generate electricity and pure water.

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Molybdenum-Based Catalyst Discovered as Cheap Alternative to Platinum for Hydrogen Production

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:40:29 +0000

There have been many researchers seeking the perfect catalyst for dissociating water into hydrogen and oxygen. Xile Hu and his team from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland have recently tinkered with a cheap catalyst made from molybdenum.

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New Polymer Material Can Store Hydrogen More Effectively

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:49:20 +0000

A new type of container for hydrogen gas has been developed by a team of Lawrence Berkeley Lab researchers. The inventors say it can store much more hydrogen than older versions, like pressurized tanks or those storing the gas inside some kinds of metallic molecular chains.

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Concentrated Sunlight Generating Hydrogen from Water and Splitting Carbon Dioxide

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:34:28 +0000

I've known for years that solar concentrators do a good job at harnessing heat. You may also use them to generate electricity, but it's not their best job possible. A recent article published in the journal Science shows how solar concentrators can be used to directly extract hydrogen from water, without any middlemen such as photovoltaic panels and electricity.

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Purification of Hydrogen Extracted from CNG Made More Efficient With New Dispersed Platinum Catalyst

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:13:02 +0000

A consortium involving three universities has devised an atomically dispersed platinum catalyst that could be of use in future hydrogen production systems. Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos from Tufts University and Manos Mavrikakis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison published their research in today's Science journal.

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Hydrogen Tank Exploded in Green Fuel Station. Is The Technology Safe Enough for Cars?

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:30:26 +0000

Hydrogen, the most clean fuel in the universe, has been seen with skepticism by many. Although bad events involving exploded hydrogen tanks are rare, Monroe County's (NY) hydrogen station on Scottsville Road experienced the explosion of two tanks filled with hydrogen.

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Hydrogen Makes Metals Brittle: Fraunhofer Researchers Improving Material Technologies

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:53:47 +0000

Being the core of the dispute between early electric car adopters, hydrogen may be the solution to the electric movement, eventually even beating batteries by cleanliness. The technology behind hydrogen powered cars poses a few issues, though.

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Scientists Discover How to Extract Hydrogen From Waste Vegetable Oils

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:59:31 +0000

Waste vegetable oils have previously been used to fuel older diesel engines, but until now nobody succeeded to extract the hydrogen in them and to sequester the carbon dioxide with cheap and affordable technologies. Leeds University scientists have broken the ice and discovered an energy efficient method of extracting both hydrogen and carbon dioxide from otherwise disposable vegetable oils.

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New Catalyst for Electrolysis Reduces Costs by 97% and Increases Hydrogen Production Fourfold

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:30:18 +0000

Hydrogen, the cleanest energy storage in the Universe, is most of the time associated with high costs, although it is extracted from water, which is the cheapest yet the most precious element to life. Extracting hydrogen from water is done through a method called electrolysis, but doing electrolysis efficiently requires the usage of catalysts such as platinum, which is very expensive.

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Daniel Nocera Coming Back With Better Material for Splitting Water

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:32:29 +0000

Daniel Nocera, a face we see more and more often on the stage of alternative energy, along with postdoctoral researcher Mircea Dinca and graduate student Yogesh Surendranath, discovered a material that can work efficiently and sustainably as an oxygen electrode for Nocera’s wider research in water splitting by using electricity. This subject has caught a […]

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New Metal Catalyst 70 Times Cheaper Than Platinum Splits Water Efficiently

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 03 May 2010 08:31:56 +0000

A team of researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, has discovered a catalyst metal 70 times cheaper than platinum for use in electrolysis systems, to generate hydrogen from water.

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On-Demand Hydrogen Production System for Commercial Use Released

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:07:55 +0000

eHydrogen Solutions, a company specialized in the development of on-demand hydrogen power stations, issued a press release announcing that they launched the "H2-Reactor Development Project". The H2-Reactor uses water as the hydrogen source, is self-contained and has an alloy of aluminum or magnesium as the reactive material (to get the hydrogen out of the oxygen bond).

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Energy-Efficient Way to Produce Hydrogen from Noise and Vibrations

Mike Sandru — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:18:31 +0000

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a new way to produce hydrogen by using ambient noise to turn water into usable hydrogen fuel. The process harvests small amounts of waste energy in the form of stray vibrations and noise from the environment to break the chemical bonds in water and generate hydrogen and oxygen.

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New Cobalt-Based Catalyst Helps Scientists Produce Hydrogen From Water and Sun

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 07:25:05 +0000

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.

The post New Cobalt-Based Catalyst Helps Scientists Produce Hydrogen From Water and Sun appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Scientists Develop a Quantum-Dot Process to Split Water and Generate Hydrogen

Cristi — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:16:57 +0000

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.

The post Scientists Develop a Quantum-Dot Process to Split Water and Generate Hydrogen appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

31% Efficient Stirling Engines Used to Convert 1.5MW of Arizona Solar Power

Cristi — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:28:23 +0000

Stirling engines are known to mankind for about 200 years but they are not so widely used today, except maybe for the pacemakers and long-distance robotic spacecrafts. This will soon change as 60 stirling engines will be used in Phoenix, Arizona, to harvest solar power which will be converted into electricity.

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Daniel Nocera's Sun Catalytix Receives $7.1 Million for Developing Photosynthesis System

Cristi — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:47:27 +0000

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.

The post Daniel Nocera's Sun Catalytix Receives $7.1 Million for Developing Photosynthesis System appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Tennessee Scientists Generate Hydrogen With Photosynthesis

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:25:14 +0000

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.

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Hydrogen On-Demand System Boosts Van Mileage by 94%

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:45:06 +0000

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.

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New Ceramic Material Makes Fuel Cells Capable of Using Normal Fuels

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:28:40 +0000

Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have invented a new type of ceramic material that could widen the uses of SOFCs, so they could also be used with a wide range of liquid or gaseous fuels, without the need of separating hydrogen or cleaning them.

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Researchers Make One More Step Towards Metallic Hydrogen as Superconductor

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:47:24 +0000

A team of scientists from Cornell University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook announced this week in a specialized publication that they discovered, at least theoretically, how to turn hydrogen into a metal at significantly lower pressures than ever thought and make a superconductor out of it.

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The Napa Winery Making Hydrogen from Grape Wastewater

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:20:14 +0000

Napa Wine Company in Oakville found an interesting way of producing hydrogen by using the winery's own wastewater, using naturally-occurring bacteria and a small amount of electricity to extract hydrogen the organic material they usually throw away,with a generator the size of a refrigerator.

The post The Napa Winery Making Hydrogen from Grape Wastewater appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Clean Hydrogen Obtained Through Thermolysis of Water by H2 Power Systems

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:07:50 +0000

H2 Power Systems, based in the UK, has designed an on-site and on-demand hydrogen producing system based not on electrolysis, but on thermolysis, which is the splitting of water at very high temperatures.

The post Clean Hydrogen Obtained Through Thermolysis of Water by H2 Power Systems appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

South Korea's First Trash-Powered Hydrogen Plant Running by 2010

Cristi — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:10:42 +0000

South Korea is taking their first steps towards hydrogen production. Government has signed a memorandum of agreement with oil refiner SK Energy and SK Engineering & Construction to build the world's first trash-powered hydrogen station. Both companies are subsidiaries of South Korean conglomerate SK Group. The plant will be able to extract hydrogen from methane emitted by landfills.

The post South Korea's First Trash-Powered Hydrogen Plant Running by 2010 appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Crude Glycerin from Biofuel Production has Great Unexpected Uses

Cristi — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:43:50 +0000

Glycerin in its pure form is used to manufacture soap, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and many other products, but the crude glycerin is an impure form that is unsuitable for these products. But what if we could use it putting back biodiesel in its correct position of green alternative power source?

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Norway Inaugurates Hydrogen Highway, Obama Quits the Plan

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:10:56 +0000

I was glad when I read an article last night describing how Norway opened up a 560 km "hydrogen highway", and inaugurated it with a hydrogen car rally between Oslo and a North Sea oil hub, Stavanger. The cars were regular Ford Focuses, Priuses, and other well-known, converted either into burning hydrogen directly in their classic internal combustion engine, or using fuel cells to convert hydrogen to electricity (probably the case of the Prius).

The post Norway Inaugurates Hydrogen Highway, Obama Quits the Plan appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

New Method for Extracting Hydrogen from Green Algae

Cristi — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:24:25 +0000

Analyzing a single-celled green alga, researchers have found a fermentation process which was not known before that can revolution hydrogen production. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a soil or fresh water single-celled alga, produces its own energy by fermentation when it has no source of oxygen.

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Cheaper Hydrogen Obtained with Stainless-Steel Brush Cathode

Cristi — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:30:48 +0000

Scientists seem to have found a way to obtain hydrogen from organic matter without the us of the expensive platinum metal. They developed a stainless-steel brush that can help in the microbial electrolysis process reducing the costs in this way up to 80 %.

The post Cheaper Hydrogen Obtained with Stainless-Steel Brush Cathode appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

World's Largest Fuel Cell Town is Built in Japan

Cristi — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:58:45 +0000

The ÃƒÂ¢€Ã…â€œFukuoka Hydrogen Town" project could be the beginning of what organizers say will be the largest hydrogen-powered city in the world.

The post World's Largest Fuel Cell Town is Built in Japan appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Aluminum Producing Hydrogen from Water – Almost Free Energy!

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:28:09 +0000

Penn State University scientists and the Virginia Commonwealth University have found something that is the ultimate dream and hope of alternative energy researchers: use water as a fuel. Their findings show that water can be split into its two constituents, hydrogen and oxygen, at room temperature and without any external energy addition.

The post Aluminum Producing Hydrogen from Water – Almost Free Energy! appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Aberdeen Researchers to Find Low-Temp Fuel Cell Solutions

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:25:49 +0000

Current hydrogen fuel cells work at temperatures for up to 100°C for PEM types, and up to 300°C for SAFC (solid acid). The problem with these, although I don't agree with their developmental direction, is that they don't tolerate carbon very easily, and pure hydrogen is very hard to obtain from carbon-rich sources, such as methane or petrol.

The post Aberdeen Researchers to Find Low-Temp Fuel Cell Solutions appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Sleekest Hydrogen Powered Sportscar: Honda FC Sport

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:52:24 +0000

Though some blogs take it as a surprise, it's not something new coming from Honda: their vision of a sportscar powered entirely by a hydrogen fuel cell... not surprisingly, the same that's into their FCX Clarity, released this summer.

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Hydrogen to be Produced Cheaply With 19th Century Invention

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:51:14 +0000

G.D. Botto, an Italian inventor and physicist, performing experiments on a technique for hydrogen generation, has discovered that a chain of iron and platinum wires, wrapped around a wooden stick and alternately connected as thermocouples, can be used to convert a temperature difference into an electric voltage.

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New Hydrogen Storage from Metal Alloy 40% Lighter Than Batteries

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:35:17 +0000

Robin Gremaud, a researcher from Netherlands, found out through experimentation that an alloy of the metals magnesium, titanium and nickel is absorbing hydrogen very well. What's most interesting about his discovery is that the three metals form a very light alloy, about 40% lighter than a Lithium Ion battery pack at the same size (for example, a Prius battery weights 317 kg, while this hydrogen tank would only weight 200 kg).

The post New Hydrogen Storage from Metal Alloy 40% Lighter Than Batteries appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Blacklight`s Free Energy Device Finally Verified by Rowan University

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:56:13 +0000

As far as I know from 7th grade, hydrogen is the only chemical element that has only one electron spinning around the nucleus. It seems, though things are going to change here, since a medical doctor from New Jersey has discovered a different reality on it. The company Randell Mills founded is called Blacklight Power, and it has been written all over the internet about it a few months ago, when they firstly announced their "free energy" device discovery.

The post Blacklight`s Free Energy Device Finally Verified by Rowan University appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

How to Make Hydrogen from Water and Slag: Watch Tata Steel

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:09:04 +0000

Have you ever imagined you could get energy from melted steel? Probably not. The engineers from Tata Steel (a sister of Tata Motors) in India have obtained hydrogen from pouring water on melted steel at 1600°C.

The post How to Make Hydrogen from Water and Slag: Watch Tata Steel appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Sewage Could Be a New Way For Cheap Hydrogen

Mike Sandru — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:51:36 +0000

In the field of hydrogen fuel cell production, Oregon State University researchers have discovered that sewage can produce cheap hydrogen. In comparison with traditional electrolysis technology, sewage can produce hydrogen at a lower cost.

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Trametes Versicolor Fungi Could Make Fuel Cells Cheaper

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:29:43 +0000

Fungi grown on rotten wood could one day be harvested and genetically engineered for providing future fuel cells with an alternative to the platinum that they nowadays have inside, playing the role of a catalyst.

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