Fairchild International proposes two hydrogen generation projects
December 13th, 2005 by Hydrogen PowerFairchild International is planning two projects to generate hydrogen.
The first takes leftovers from the Alberta Tar Sands recovery process and uses them to generate hydrogen. The input is shredded rubber or petroleum coke and the output is hydrogen.
The second project, also in Alberta, Canada, uses wood waste products to generate hydrogen.
Interesting here is the combination of technologies, recovering oil from tar sands and generating hydrogen from what would normally be leftover waste.
“Present extraction technologies leave a lot of energy in the discarded sands and byproducts. We can use those discards and squeeze even more energy out of them, while leaving a much cleaner discarded byproduct,”
“Technologies to mine the energy from Oil Sands are developing at an incredibly rapid rate as the rate of discovery of traditional oil sources declines. We are fortunate to be on the cusp of another emerging technology that allows us to profit from waste while improving the environment,” commented Robert Klein, President of Fairchild International Corp.
Yahoo! news
Fairchild International
GM convinced hydrogen cars are the future
December 12th, 2005 by Hydrogen PowerLarry Burns of GM, whom we’ve noted before, is all fired up about hydrogen cars and says GM will have a competitive car ready by 2010. That’s well in front of anyone else’s prediction but he cites the constant improvements in cost and efficiency achieved by GM already. One of his driving forces is the huge profits of the oil companies while car companies struggle. to survive.
The way Burns sees it, the big energy companies have little incentive to invest in new capacity production that carries the risk of being in excess of demand for fuel. “As such, the oil companies have the favorable perfect storm,” Burns argues, “in that they have capacity short of demand and they have constraints in their supply chain that explain away why they have to raise prices.”
The result is an “outrageous” transfer of wealth to the oil industry, as evidenced by the fact that ExxonMobil’s profits are greater than GM’s market capitalization. What galls Burns is that the auto industry has been driven to the point where it is giving its cars away and the oil industry is making the money on supplying fuel.
The passion he brings to the table is exactly what’s needed to make hydrogen happen. 2010 isn’t very far away so we’ll know soon if the passion produces results.
via Autos Insider
Hyundia Greenspeed Gator Fuel Cell Dragster
November 29th, 2005 by Hydrogen Power
Everyone thinks about hydrogen fuel cells installed in very efficient people movers, cruising down the road quietly and cleanly, … very proper. Of course, anyone who has observed the history of self propelled vehicles knows sooner or later, someone’s going to start racing them and I like that. The upcoming 2006 LA Auto Show had a design competiton around a theme called an LA Adventure. The contestants came up with some great ideas and one of them is this hydrogen fuel cell dragster, the Hyundia Greenspeed Gator.
What happens when drag racing moves beyond internal combustion and nitrous oxide? The Hyundai Greenspeed Gator, which pushes the boundaries of design and fuel cell performance. Inspired by the top fuel racers of the ‘60s, this alien shape is rooted in pure function. The overall design consists of a main fuselage with integrated roll protection and “seat sling” that hangs underneath, tied together by a center spine chassis with integral fuel cells. The giant hood blisters house the hydrogen storage tanks, and the rear wheels house gargantuan electric motors.
2006 LA Auto Show
via Popular Mechanics
GM says cooperation in hydrogen makes sense
November 25th, 2005 by Hydrogen PowerGM says it has made a lot of progress in reducing fuel cell costs, dropping them by half in the last 12 months, and continues to push forward in this area. Larry Burns, GM’s vice president for r&d and strategic planning, in an interview with Automobilwoche, believes fuel cells will be on the market in numbers in the coming decade. His estimate of the system is to have “a range of 300 miles, exhibit an impressive acceleration and last at least 150,000 miles.”
He made a number of other interesting comments, suggesting 12,000 hydrogen stations would make it possible for customers in the 100 largest cities to find hydrogen within 1.25 miles. He also suggested that companies working together instead of everyone working on their own to develop a fuel cell system would make more sense and speed progress.
via Autoweek
India planning on huge hydrogen push
November 22nd, 2005 by Hydrogen PowerIndia is planning to have one million hydrogen powered cars on the road by 2020. That’s an enormous number of cars for a technology still working to find the right solution to challenges of reliability and affordability. They are also looking at 1000MW of power from hydrogen generation by the same date. If they succeed they will be placing their country at the forefront of the move to hydrogen power.
“The roadmap has proposed two major initiatives - the green initiative for future transport (GIFT) and green initiative for power generation (GIP).”
The green initiative for transport aims to develop and demonstrate a hydrogen-powered engine and fuel cell-based cars ranging from small two- and three- wheeled cars and taxis to buses and vans.
Emphasising that the roadmap would put India in the forefront of the new global hydrogen energy economy and provide sustainable energy security in future, Muttemwar said its implementation would help put one million hydrogen-driven vehicles on Indian roads by 2020.
via HindustanTimes
