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August 31, 2005 A novel technique for producing hydrogen from water and organic material has been found recently at Purdue University, a discovery that could help speed the creation of viable hydrogen storage technology. Though the method has not yet been evaluated for economic feasibility on a large scale, chemist Mahdi Abu-Omar said it could offer solutions to several problems facing developers of fuel cells, which are looked upon as a potential replacement to fossil-fuel burning engines in automobiles. The technique requires only water, a catalyst based on the metal rhenium (REE-nee-um) and an organic liquid called an organosilane, which...

WASHINGTON — A fuel cell developer is claiming twice the power density of lithium batteries in a new methanol fuel cell for mobile gear. UltraCell Corp. (Livermore, Calif.) said Tuesday (Aug. 23) its reformed methanol fuel cell scheme uses "micro reformer" technology developed under a military contract to generate hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution used in fuel cells. UltraCell said its portable power system achieves the power density of a hydrogen fuel cell while using cheap methanol fuel. The unit weighs 40 ounces, the company said. The micro reformer technology was developed under a U.S. Army contract. An...

A sleek, almost silent, nonpolluting fuel cell-powered motorcycle is set to begin gliding down U.S. streets by the end of 2006. The bike is dubbed the ENV (pronounced "envy"), short for Emissions Neutral Vehicle. The London-based company Intelligent Energy decided to develop the bike itself after years of cool reception to its fuel cell technology from manufacturers. "We wanted to show how good the technology is right now and basically build what we thought would be a technical example, albeit an example that's wonderful and stimulates interest," said Andy Eggleston, ENV project director. Since its unveiling earlier this year, the...

Environmentally Friendly, Whisper-Quiet Fuel Cell Motorbike Available to Consumers as Early as 2006 LOS ANGELES, June 14 -- Intelligent Energy, a British energy-solutions company that is relocating to Los Angeles, today unveiled the world's first purpose-built fuel cell motorbike, ENV (Emissions Neutral Vehicle), at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif. This sleek-looking, hydrogen-powered motorbike is the first designed specifically with fuel cell technology in mind. The result is an innovative motorbike that emits only water vapors, making it an almost silent and completely nonpolluting vehicle. ENV, pronounced "envy," was engineered and purpose-built from the ground up, utilizing Intelligent...

NanoLogix, Inc.,, a Nanobiotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of technologies for the production of bacteria and disease testing kits, alternative sources of fuel, cancer therapy and remediation of toxic materials, announced that it has filed a provisional patent application for its proprietary method of synergistically combining a bacteria-based hydrogen production method with excess industrial heat. The excess heat utilized by this method helps isolate hydrogen producing bacteria in the bacteria-based hydrogen production method. The bacterial hydrogen production process uses excess heat that is produced during standard usage of hydrogen production method, thereby reducing the cost of...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will advocate that California invest $54 million in public money to help build a network of up to 100 hydrogen fueling stations statewide within five years, according to new details of his "Hydrogen Highway" plan. A team of more than 200 scientists, automakers and environmentalists spent a year drafting the 144-page document, which the governor requested last year, calling hydrogen-powered cars a way to reduce smog, slow global warming and wean the nation from oil. The "California Hydrogen Highway Blueprint" is set to be formally unveiled Thursday at a Sacramento news conference, and is posted on the...

Cambridge-based CMR Fuel Cells said it had made a breakthrough with a new design of fuel cell which is a tenth of the size of existing models and small enough to replace conventional batteries in laptop computers.

'Metal-Decorated' Nanotubes Hold Promise for Fuel Cells May 04, 2005 New quantum calculations and computer models show that carbon nanotubes "decorated" with titanium or other transition metals can latch on to hydrogen molecules in numbers more than adequate for efficient hydrogen storage, a capability key to long-term efforts to develop fuel cells, an affordable non-polluting alternative to gasoline. a Image: This computer model shows how titanium atoms (dark blue) can attach above the centers of single-walled carbon nanotubes (light blue). Quantum calculations and modeling by a NIST researcher and his colleague reveal that each titanium atom can bond with four...

Membraneless Fuel Cell Is Tiny, Versatile CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A fuel cell designed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign can operate without a solid membrane separating fuel and oxidant, and functions with alkaline chemistry in addition to the more common acidic chemistry. Like a battery, a fuel cell changes chemical energy into electrical energy. While most fuel cells employ a physical barrier to separate the fuel and oxidant, the microfluidic fuel cell developed at Illinois utilizes multi-stream laminar flow to accomplish the same task. “The system uses a Y-shaped microfluidic channel in which two liquid streams containing...

HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. (AP) - General Motors Corp. rolled out the world's first drivable fuel cell truck Friday and handed over the keys to an exacting patron: the Army. The olive-green pickup took a demonstration spin around GM's fuel-cell development center in rural upstate New York, carrying Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Brig. Gen. Roger Nadeau, commander of the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. The modified Chevrolet Silverado crew-cab truck will be leased to the Defense Department for noncombat uses at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Camp Pendleton, Calif., and tested in various climates and terrain around the country until...

ENERGY TECH Big Hopes For Tiny, New Hydrogen Storage Material Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 28, 2005 Researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are taking a new approach to "filling up" a fuel cell car with a nanoscale solid, hydrogen storage material. Their discovery could hasten a day when our vehicles will run on hydrogen-powered, environmentally friendly fuel cells instead of gasoline engines. The challenge, of course, is how to store and carry hydrogen. Whatever the method, it needs to be no heavier and take up no more space than a traditional gas tank but provide...

General Motors and DaimlerChrysler have signed 5-year agreements with Federal Government to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. GM will spend 44 million dollars to distribute 40 fuel cell vehicles to Washington, New York, California and Michigan. The Energy Department also will provide 44 million in the deal. DaimlerChrysler will invest more than 70 million dollars in the partnership. The German-American company has the largest fleet of fuel cell vehicles of any automaker. DaimlerChrysler will let consumers drive fuel cell cars. They will give feedback on the vehicles' performance. The company says it's already testing 100 fuel cell vehicles around the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A group of automakers and energy companies will develop and build hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in a multimillion-dollar partnership with the government, aiming for possible mass marketing of the vehicles within 15 years, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday. The marketing will start in California. His department announced plans for several "learning demonstration teams" involving automakers General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. Energy companies ChevronTexaco, BP, and Shell. Ballard Power Systems, a leading manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells, will also join in the partnership. "If our research program is successful, it is...

Innovation Scorecard When it comes to alternative and renewable energy, it's not enough to have the coolest non-oil-using eco-friendly widget. From: Issue 93| April 2005 | Page 65 By: Michael A. Prospero By its very nature, the renewable-energy industry is one of the most innovative around. Solar power, wind power, fuel cells -- all are the result of technologies deployed mostly in just the past decade. But what makes this generation of upstarts truly exciting isn't the power (literally) of their inventions, but the manner in which those innovations came to be. Check out the winners of this month's Innovation...

Need some help here in trying to understand electrical markets. So first, I need my assumptions verified/check and then an explanation 'cause something does not make sense to me. I'm assuming, based upon limited web research, that the home delivery market for electricity has a efficiency of 30%. This is mostly using Natural Gas or Coal steam turbine and the cost of the distribution of that electricity. Several home 'cogeneration' systems are now available with efficiencies of 50% also using NG as fuel. Now assuming we are starting with the same fuel, and even being aware that a home buyer...

The world’s largest fuel cell transaction between Dow and GM is now a reality. On Feb. 10, 2004, with the pull of a lever by Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, and Texas Governor Rick Perry, Dow Chemical and GM began the Phase 1 installation operations of a single fuel cell that will convert hydrogen into electricity. Dow and GM intend to prove the viability of hydrogen fuel cells for a large industrial power system. Operation of the first cell will last four to six months with more fuel cells and electrical generating capacity added during the summer months. Freeport is...

A fuel cell phone would eliminate the need to charge the phone using an electrical cord, rather the user would refill the phone similar to the way a refillable lighter is used.

LOS ANGELES — Hydrogen-fueled cars have been hailed as the future of transportation — clean, safe and propelled by a power source whose only by-products are air and water. [snip] The problem, critics say, is that the technology that makes the fuel of the future generates just as much pollution as the gasoline-powered vehicles we drive right now. [snip] Extracting useful quantities of hydrogen from water requires a massive amount of energy — energy that typically comes from burning oil or coal.

ASU researcher gets grant to explore new methods of hydrogen generation Publication Date:20-January-2005 Source: Arizona State University TEMPE, Ariz. – A group of ASU researchers at the Biodesign Institute received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to explore innovative methods for generating hydrogen. The four-year grant is part of a new round of DOE funded projects in support of President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, to address the technical and economic challenges in developing renewable and distributed hydrogen production technologies. Hydrogen is an attractive energy source because it produces no pollution and is abundant (water is made...

Silicon Valley players seek breakthroughs in alternative-power technology http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage1819.html Publication Date:09-January-2005 Source:Matt Marshall -San Jose Mercury News Until recently, the energy business didn't hold much appeal for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs -- too old-world, too regulated, too, weell, unenergetic. That's changing fast. As the price of oil soars and China's insatiable appetite for growth sparks a race to sign energy contracts, valley start-ups are realizing there could be real profit in alternative energy. The challenge to make technical breakthroughs -- and good money -- is drawing eager scientists. And all this is turning the heads of leading venture capitalists. "That's what...