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Aircraft the size of bees that get the energy they need by feeding themselves a diet of dead flies could be buzzing around the battlefields and motorways of the future, thanks to research in southwest England. The aircraft, up to 15cm long and equipped with sensors and cameras, could have a number of uses in civilian life and modern warfare, including reconnaissance missions, traffic monitoring or fire and rescue operations. By "digesting" its own fuel, the aircraft could become autonomous and operate without the need for refuelling, changing batteries or recharging from the mains. The research is being carried...

WASHINGTON - About four miles east of the U.S. Capitol, in an industrial section of town, sits a gas station that looks like any other. But it's not, because on Wednesday it became the first in North America to have a hydrogen dispensing pump. Shell executives, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (news - web sites) and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams unveiled the technology, which the Bush administration hopes will help reduce the country's dependence on imported oil. "This will be, in fact, the first step toward the real transition in the economy from the carbon-based economies of the...

LOS ANGELES -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced an environmentally friendly Hummer on Friday -- but not exactly the hydrogen-powered car he promised voters he would build when he campaigned for office. Criticized by environmentalists for owning a gas-guzzler, Schwarzenegger said during last year's recall campaign that he would convert one of his Hummers to run on hydrogen. Though he hasn't done that, the governor did introduce an alternative at an event that mixed environmentalism and stagecraft: a hydrogen-powered Hummer custom-built by General Motors at his request. The governor drove the shiny blue SUV to a hydrogen fueling spot at Los...

US vehicles would require a million wind turbines, economists claim. Wind power might be green, but it is unlikely to power the hydrogen revolution. Converting every vehicle in the United States to hydrogen power would demand so much electricity that the country would need enough wind turbines to cover half of California or 1,000 extra nuclear power stations. So concludes a British economist, whose calculation is intended to highlight the difficulties of achieving a truly green hydrogen economy. "This calculation is useful to make people realize what an enormous problem we face," says Andrew Oswald, an economist from the University...

To efficiently operate a fuel cell, carbon monoxide has always been a major technical barrier. But now, chemical and biological engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have not only cleared that barrier—they also found a method to capture carbon monoxide's energy. To be useful in a power-generating fuel cell, hydrocarbons such as gasoline, natural gas, or ethanol must reform into a hydrogen-rich gas. A large, costly, and critical step to this process requires generating steam and forcing a reaction with carbon monoxide (CO). This process, called water-gas shift, produces hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). Additional steps then must reduce the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Should developing a "hydrogen economy" be the number one priority for meeting our long-term energy needs while cutting greenhouse emissions? Or should we be investing in more immediate ways to cut emissions, such as burying the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels? Energy experts are bitterly divided on the issue. John Turner of the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, is a leading advocate of hydrogen. He argues in the journal Science (vol 305, p 972) that using renewable energy to generate hydrogen is the only...

Sun and hydrogen 'to fuel future' By Jo Twist BBC News Online science and technology staff Turning sunlight into hydrogen could be the future Capturing sunlight to make enough hydrogen fuel to power cars and buildings has been brought a step closer by a British research company. Hydrogen Solar says it has managed to convert more than 8% of sunlight directly into hydrogen with fuel cell technology it has specially developed. For an energy source to be commercially viable, it must reach an efficiency of 10%, which is an industry standard. Hydrogen power, a renewable energy, has the potential...

A tiny prototype fuel cell the size of a thumb has been developed by Toshiba. The Japanese electronics giant said the methanol fuel cell could power a gadgets such as a digital music player for 20 hours. Fuel cells generate electrical power by catalysing substances such as hydrogen and methanol. Toshiba hopes that by 2005, the fuel cells could be used in handheld electronic devices instead of lithium-ion batteries. Size matters Fuel cells have been touted as a green power source for the future as they produce electricity by converting hydrogen and oxygen into water. Many companies are working on...

Status:  Manufacturing Facility Nearing CompletionClick Here for the latest update.  United Nuclear is currently in final testing, and will shortly be producing Hydrogen conversion systems / Hydrogen generators for most fuel injected, Gasoline powered vehicles.  Powering a vehicle by Hydrogen is by no means a new idea, and in fact, almost all automobile manufacturers are currently developing a new generation of vehicles that run on Hydrogen as opposed to Gasoline. This new generation of vehicles are essentially electric cars that use a Fuel Cell instead of a battery to run the electric motor. Using a chemical process, Fuel Cells in...

Can Gasoline Jump-Start Hydrogen? Researchers say a gizmo called a reformer can extract the clean fuel from good old unleaded -- and give fuel-cell cars double the mileage Environmentalists dream of energy-efficient cars that run on hydrogen, with tailpipes spewing out nothing more noxious than water vapor. Judging from the popularity of Toyota's ( ) Prius hybrid -- a kind of car with both an electric motor and a gasoline engine -- a fuel-cell-powered all-electric car that gets equal or better mileage from hydrogen would seem a surefire hit. The big drawback: Where do you go to fill 'er...

BOSTON, Mass. – “The goal is to get off the wall,” says Professor Sanjeev Mukerjee of Northeastern’s chemistry department when he talks about his work developing long-lasting, non-polluting fuel cells. Getting “off the wall,” he explains, means no more plugging in, no more cell phone battery chargers, and no more looking for an outlet for laptops, digital cameras or PDAs. Mukerjee and the firm Protonics have already been contracted by the military to develop portable fuel cells for soldiers in the field. In a future that may be as close as ten years away, Mukerjee envisions small, light, portable cartridges...

First fuel cell German-made submarine for Greece launched 22 April 2004 Provider: Xinhua News Agency BERLIN, Apr 22, 2004 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The first German fuel cell submarine to be exported to Greece was launched in Kiel Thursday, the manufacturer HDW said. The submarine is one of the four that the Kiel-based HDW has been building for Greece. The other three will be constructed at the HDW subsidiary Hellenic Shipyards in Greece. The vessel, estimated to cost 250 million euros (295 million US dollars), is 65 meter long with a displacement of 1,700 tones. Equipped with an air-independent fuel...

VANCOUVER — It's the most abundant element in the universe. It promises limitless supplies of pollution-free energy. Hydrogen is the holy grail for anyone determined to free the world eventually from its dependence on oil and natural gas. Cars and homes will run on electricity made without combustion by combining hydrogen and air, the only byproducts being heat and water. But after years of promotion by its advocates, sometimes bordering on hype, many people have become jaded and even skeptical that a brave, clean new world is just around the corner. The message from industry insiders, though, is hang in...

BURBANK - Burbank will pay $125,000 for five cars that will be converted to run on hydrogen and electricity as part of $2 million, five-city pilot program launched by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The program is designed to pave the way for autos that run solely on hydrogen cells -- a clean alternative to combustion engines that is not yet affordable. The initial hydrogen-electric vehicles are not less polluting than gas-electric vehicles. "This particular technology is meant to be a bridge to our ultimate goal of zero-emission, fuel cell-powered vehicles," said AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood. Burbank will...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top environmental aide told state lawmakers Wednesday the new governor's vision of a "hydrogen highway" to spur the ultimate replacement of the internal combustion engine is realistic by 2010, and won't even cost the state much money. Schwarzenegger pledged to build hydrogen fueling stations every 20 miles along major highways, allowing motorists to buy clean-burning hydrogen-fueled vehicles without fear they will run out of gas. He chose 2010 because that's when automakers have said such vehicles will be readily and affordably available, said Environmental Protection Secretary Terry Tamminen, who advised Schwarzenegger before he made his...

Review: Thames & Kosmos Fuel Cell Car & Experiment Kit Build your own small-scale, hydrogen-powered fuel-cell car. By Hahn Choi For my 11th grade chemistry project, I experimented with electrolysis to see how quickly water separates into hydrogen and oxygen. Don't yawn, because you'll perform the same experiment when you build a model car that runs on fuel cells. The Thames & Kosmos Fuel Cell Car & Experiment Kit provides everything you need to make a fuel-cell car, a concept unheard of when I was in high school. See the eco-racer I built, this week on "Fresh Gear." The Fuel...

Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico have developed a new way of mimicking photosynthetic proteins to manipulate platinum at the nanoscale. The method has the potential of deliver a form of energy manufacture. The idea for the technique is similar to photosynthesis, in which plants use the energy from sunlight to produce sugar. But instead of manufacturing sugar, the new method changes a platinum ion to the neutral metal atoms. The photosynthetic protein mimicks this repeatedly, allowing metal to be deposited as desired at the nanoscale. The method involves putting porphyrins...

FREEPORT — With the flip of a switch Tuesday, Dow and General Motors began the world's first pilot project to make electricity for a chemical plant using fuel cells. It's a test that may have far-reaching effects for average consumers. The 75-kilowatt fuel cell turned on Tuesday is basically the same as the power units used in GM's prototype fuel cell autos. That technology is often touted as hope for cleaner-running, more efficient cars that aren't dependent on petroleum for fuel. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the test opens up the possibility that "a generation from today we will live...

Despite all the promise of pollution-free vehicles, a transportation system based on hydrogen fuel cells is anything but a sure bet, members of a National Academy of Sciences panel concluded last week. Even if the most optimistic predictions prove true, and the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicles reach commercial showrooms by 2015, it would take at least another quarter-century before they have a major impact on the market, the panel concluded. "This is a tremendously important, transforming opportunity we are talking about, but it's not going to happen with current technology and current knowledge," said Dan Sperling, a panel member...

<p>Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp. said Friday it has delayed indefinitely plans to make advanced electricity-generating fuel cells in a $20 million plant in Munhall that's been vacant for more than a year.</p> <p>The stagnant economy, reluctance by customers to buy its products and slower-than expected advancement of the fuel cell technology teamed to derail the project, which was trumpeted two years ago as an economic-development coup for Western Pennsylvania -- one with the potential to create hundreds of jobs.</p>