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
GM begins public fuel cell propulsion in Korea
November 17th, 2005 by Hydrogen PowerGM’s HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicle was used to shuttle global leaders attending the APEC summit in Busan, Korea.
Press release follows:
Starting immediately, Korea joins the growing number of countries taking advantage of GM’s well proven fuel cell expertise and technology in everyday transportation. Yesterday, the HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicle, based on the last generation Opel/Vauxhall Zafira compact van, was first used to shuttle global political and business leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting currently held in Busan , Korea. Therefore, HydroGen3 is the first fuel-cell vehicle used publicly in Korea. GM also announced that with the proper policy and infrastructure environment, this could lead to a demonstration fleet of fuel-cell vehicles for the Korean market in the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Honda introduces Home Energy Station III
November 15th, 2005 by Hydrogen Power
Honda introduced the third generation of its hydrogen home energy station using natural gas as the hydrogen source. The station provides enough hydrogen for a fuel cell car in daily use plus heat and electricity for the entire house.
Press release follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Water vapor, not CO2 causing global warming?
November 13th, 2005 by Hydrogen PowerA new study, if accurate, could set off an interesting struggle between proponents of hydrogen power and other power generation technologies. The new study suggests it is water vapor that is responsible for global warming to a far greater degree than CO2. If that’s true, the hydrogen cars that would all run around emitting only water vapor would in fact be increasing the greenhouse effect instead of decreasing it.
Water vapour rather than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the main reason why Europe’s climate is warming, according to a new study.
The scientists say that rising temperatures caused by greenhouse gases are increasing humidity, which in turn amplifies the temperature rise.
On top of the slow progress and huge investment necessary to move to a hydrogen economy, it could all be moving in the wrong direction. Interesting.
Nuclear power and wind produce cheap hydrogen
November 11th, 2005 by Hydrogen PowerIt’s no secret we believe nuclear power is a great way to produce the electricity for generating hydrogen, now two scientists have come up with a plan to combine nuclear and wind power for generating hydrogen through electrolysis.
Wind on its own is too variable, Miller says, leaving electrolysis equipment frequently idle and driving up costs. “The economics just don’t work,” he says. “It produces very expensive hydrogen.”
Pairing it with nuclear would keep the equipment operating closer to full capacity and bring the cost down, he says. A bonus is that when the wind is strong and electricity demand is high, excess power can be sold at a profit to the grid. This means that, unlike traditional electricity-based hydrogen production, Miller’s system actually makes hydrogen cheaper as the cost of electricity goes up.
More people keep getting on board with the idea of using nuclear power for hydrogen generation, it’s a great combination, two technologies that could reduce all types of emissions dramatically.
Source: Wired
