| Fast Times at Russ College of Engineering and Technology |
[Aug. 7th, 2007|08:16 am] |
cheap abundant hydrogen is about to become a reality
Frank Neukomm is a smart man. ok he's not Dean Kamen, but man o man would i love to be involved in the games this guy -CEO of American Security Resources Corporation-is playing. He seems like some Gordon Geko but for good worldchanging! Just a month ago he bought MagWind, one of the coolest VAWT companies there is (i guess Mr. Perot Jr. makes better deals than his dad :p ..but what he did this week blew me away! Blew-me-away.
Not content to wait for companies to develop the technologies we need, he went to the core, and just struck a deal with Ohio University to bring chemical and biomolecular engineering associate professor Gerardine Botte's brand new technology to market. And what does it do? It efficiently turns amonia into hydrogen! And he's a nice guy, OU also gets equity in the company --brand new ASRC subsidiary American Hydrogen Corp. See, ASRC was looking at hydrogen feeds to satisfy the hunger of (yet) another subsidiary; HydraFuel Cell Corp, they read Dr. Botte's research and pounced! Well it took a year to do the deal, but now they are ready to go! And why not? Ammonia is made everywhere... you can make it from fermenting waste, and when you look at the molecular structure, it's as easy to split as water. Maybe easier.
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I still like making H out of methane myself, as we end up dealing with mitigating a greenhouse gas as well... but heck, cheap hydrogen would be a way to get us using the stuff regularly, and building up the demand for the slightly more expensive approaches. Just one more small step for Frank Neukomm, one giant step for humankind!!
[important note: i have to put a caveat vaporptor on this story. I'd like to believe it's true, but MagWins while a cool idea, may not really be all that hot, and hasn't really produced anything. And that last pitch they has in TH a month ago with a GIANT sized magwind was so pie in the sky... so that, plus a Fuel Cell company, and we have to make sure that this guy isn't just doing one more vaporware stock push... you know like Zapworld does, or Hybrid Technologies, no real product just lots of green hype. we have to at least keep one eye open, ok cowboys?] |
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| Did you hear the one about the Sanibel Beach Inevntor? |
[Jul. 8th, 2007|07:27 am] |
Florida Islander Invents Salt Water Fuel(?)
This article is a little high on claims and kinda light on details, but interesting none the less... it seems that a man in Florida was tinkering with some machines... from what i can tell he was playing around with some sort of Rife/Prioré/Clark frequency generators for cancer treatment (While that part may sound odd to you, check out those three links up there, it's really no different than an opera singer hitting the resonant frequency of crystal and shattering that -just a lot smaller...)
"Observing a bright blue flame, John Kanzius claims that it is salt water and salt water alone that is burning inside a test tube ....During his garage experiments Kanzius says he ignited plain old salt water with the same radio wave generator he was using in his cancer treatment." Wow. If this is true, the implications are huge!! read more: "Kanzius gave technicians at a Pennsylvania machine manufacturer a demonstration of his discovery. 'We saw it go up to 1500 degrees centigrade. That temperature, that's incredible,' exclaims a lab technician." And back shed or not-- this guy is not some backwoods invent, he's been using the flaming salt water to power a stirling engine, so obviously he knows a thing or two.... way to go Mr. Kanzius! This shows promise, and I hope to read about your name tree times for every one time i come across those stupid Steorn people :DD |
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| won't nobody drive the million dollar HFC?? |
[Aug. 3rd, 2006|11:01 pm] |
Strange times in Chula Vista CA as no city employees want to drive the Honda FCX fuel cell cause it's just too daunting....
So here's the story: Honda gave the City of Chula Vista a sweetheart deal, they got to lease a FCX vehicle for $500 a month. This is a pretty great price considering at this point the cars still cost around $1 million. So, what's hapened is that everyone is afraid of driving the car. Seriously no one wants to be known as the guy who crashed the million dollar car. So even though they have a local electrolizer to refill the fuel cell, and even though the car emits nothing but watter, no one wants it. They offered it to Steve Padilla, Chula Vista mayor, he said thanks but no thanks. Everybody's chicken. Even though any employee can take the car out, even for a quickie spin. No one want to be the guy who crashes it. Except for one bold young employee, yeah, you guessed it; an intern. At least the intern's got style...
[swear i'm not making this up] |
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| SHEClabs free-form private-placement memorandum |
[May. 27th, 2006|05:06 am] |
...remember that part in Forest Gump when his shrimp partner told him he invested their money into 'some fruit company'? this LJ post might be one of those...
I've mentioned SHEClabs, the Saskatchewan solar hydrogen energy corporation a few times before, and since then, dozens or even hundreds of websites have talked about it. even a nice treehugger piece by good 'ol jacob gordon in lalaland..
WHY? Because SHEC-Labs Hydrogen Generator uses a 'proprietary catalyst', new solar collection technologies, solar tracking and process software developed in-house to produce hydrogen from methane gas ((actually from landfill gas)), or by disassociation of water at temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius. The SHEClabs technology allows for pollution free manufacturing of hydrogen. And yes it's been marginally covered that the City of Regina unanimously passes ordinations not only allowing them to build the their commercial plant (a commercial hydrogen makin' fillin' station), not only that but that they signed up to be the first clients, planning to run as many city vehicles on hydrogen as SHEClabs can fill.. ((ok, seriously the name... Guys, an 'R' would be great! (Renewable? solar hydrogen renewable energy corporation? come on! it rolls off the tongue).. I mean who wouldn't want to fill up with Hydrogen at their corner Shrec?)). Anyway, the news don't stop in Saskatchewan! They also recently got Pierre Rivard, Hydrogenics CEO to take a seat on their board! They kick ass!
But now here's something that hasn't been widely publicized: and you ought to be among the first to know.. even though the news has been around for over 20 days... They are raising funds to build this, the worlds first solar/hydrogen gas-station. And you too can get in on it. Just request an Official Offer of memorandum and have the right to invest through this Private Placement. So, for as little as $2,500 you can get in on the ground floor of the world's first solar hydrogen fillin' station! When there's 5500 SHrEC Station dotting the globe, and you're ensconced and early-retired, don't forget where you heard it from. |
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| Las Vegas to get second hydrogen station for fuel cell vehicles |
[May. 22nd, 2006|09:36 am] |
A second hydrogen fuel station is being planned to open in October in Las Vegas, a boost to local plans to introduce fuel cell vehicles. The station will open at the Las Vegas Valley Water District's main campus and is a joint venture with the UNLV Research Foundation. The Water District will have two small hydrogen-powered trucks that will use the station. The hydrogen for the new station also will be produced via solar-generated electricity. |
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| I WANT ONE!!!!!! (new toy hydrogen car!) |
[May. 22nd, 2006|08:57 am] |
The H-Racer from Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies is a palm-sized toy hydrogen car with its own fuel cell refueling station that creates hydrogen fuel by combining solar power and water. OK it's not the first one but to compare it to either the Thames lucide less-is-less model or that inaccessible metal one fomr Japan, this one kicks ass! Thanks gizmodo! |
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| it's official! Bill H.R. 5143 passes 416 to 6 |
[May. 11th, 2006|06:34 pm] |
from private Xprize to public HPrize
Fun times in the House! They just passed a bill funding a Hydrogen Fuel Cell prize. A grand prize of $10 million, and smaller prizes reaching millions of dollars is offered to anyone who can make one of these things viable... it's pretty muchin teh same vein as that Ansari X-Prize. The Energy Department announced earlier this year that it would provide $119 million in funding for research into hydrogen fuel cells, including $100 million over the next four years to projects to improve components of fuel cell systems.I guess the extra couple of million is incentive for the engineers and scientists to quit stalling or something...
[thanks anonymous tipster!] |
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| Browns Gas, easy and abundant energy! now on Fox News (?) |
[May. 11th, 2006|04:29 am] |
if even FOX News believes in Browns Gas (finally).....
Yul Brown (1922-1998) invented a gas some call HHO (as opposed to H2O) but most call Browns Gas it comes from a process that makes more hydrogen than regular electrolyzers. It also can be used to weld through metal (but interestingly enough, if it's not cutting through metal, you can touch the flame and not get burnt).
Now, there are just as many people who will tell you its all bunk as who will tell you it works fo shizzle. SO u be the judge. But one thing i can say is that now even Fox News has covered it, and tested it and seem to believe in it. Watch the video news report!
[BrownsGas: believer, non-believer] |
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| Xcel + Wind + NREL + Hydrogen + DOE =? |
[May. 11th, 2006|04:05 am] |
The U.S. Department of Energy, NREL, and Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) recently signed an agreement for a "wind to hydrogen" research, development and demonstration project. Pretty cool. As the focus is electrolizing water into Hydrogen with air power :DDD
The new wind-electrolysis system will be at NREL's National Wind Technology Center, where hydrogen will be produced, compressed and stored to be used as a vehicle fuel or to generate electricity. The project will compare electrolyzer technologies and researchers will examine issues related to system efficiency, integration, compression, storage, cost and the use of a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. "One unique feature of this system is the direct connection between the wind turbine and the electrolyzer, which will make the system more efficient," (yeah.... fairly unique... in Toronto on the lakeshore there's one of those that's been making H from wind for almost 2 years now). Still a good bigger-than-a-baby step!
[fuelcell works] |
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| daily plug... |
[Apr. 28th, 2006|06:28 am] |
OK It's an article about Troy New York and their new Tech Valley. But who are the two examples of the turnaround and rebirth?? None other than DayStar and Plug Power! ...and if you've been reading this for anytime now, you know just how much i love these two companies!! So you can imagine how happy I was to read an article in the Troy Record, talking about both of these companies! Hmmm will there be a daystar solar powered electolyzer on the horizon? That would just be too kewl. |
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| fuck fuel cells.... |
[Apr. 15th, 2006|12:46 pm] |
Seriously, why wait forever for a fuel cell, when there are
Hydrogen I.C.E. vehicles running fine, working fine and rocking it out??
 
ok that's a MiniCooper Internal Hydrogen Combustion Vehicle, and that's a
straight Hydrogen filling station. Notice no mushroom clouds?
OK, check out this article from Canadian Driver, from 18 months ago(!!) where they talk about BMW's Hydrogen-ICE cars (been running for half a decade, no hindenburgs), now that hot MiniCooper, and even about how they have been filling up at the Munich Airport for years no (again, with no hindenbergs). In fact they say; " Any gasoline engine can theoretically be adapted to use hydrogen fuel and provide the various benefits offered by the gas in the type of vehicles we're already driving." And it's true. It's about as easy to convert your car to run on hydrogen as it is to turn a diesel into a biodiesel (which is WAY easy). So what are we waiting for? There are solar powered electroliyzers EVERYWHERE! And it's just that easy. We could all be driving on a brew we make in our basements, who's exhaust is water. So maybe instead of swapping one hundred year old system (ICE Engines) for another hundred year old system (fuel cells, i mean you didn't think they were new, did you?) instead of that overhaul, why not just upgrade??. Fuel Cell Vehicles and their drive trains will take a lot longer to implement than converting all of our vehicles (yes even those stupid SUVs --which wouldn't be that bad if they burnt water...) So seriously, what do we have to do to get people to wake up and smell the hydrogen? |
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| more cheap hydrogen!! |
[Apr. 2nd, 2006|11:49 am] |
Virent Energy makes H from Korn
UWisc Madison is awesome. Long known as the only place for hippies in the Midwest, they have been tearing it up lately on the eco sphere! First there was the "UWMadison Process" a way to make ethanol much more efficiently (they got it from 1:1.1 all the way to 1:2.2). But now here comes another UW spin-off, Virent Energy with yet one more way to make cheap hydrogen. This time from Korn.
Virent's aqueous-phase reformation (APR) uses a precious-metal-based catalyst to convert the sugars from the corn, to a mixture of Hydrogen, methane, ethane, propane, CO2 and steam. The H2O is removed by condensation, then Hydrogen of 99.999% purity is recovered through a palladium membrane filter or by something called pressure-swing absorption. Eric Apfelbach, Virent's CEO points out that APR is simpler than the conventional alternatives, such as producing, then reforming ethanol, or gassifying biomass and recovering Hydrogen from the "syngas". A test system is producing enough Hydrogen to power a 5-7-kW fuel cell. All from corn! neat (now, some people say we eat corn, but actually most-- almost 70% of our corn-- is used to feed cattle and pigs. So, I'm not suggesting that everyone go vegan (well ...wouldn't be so bad unless you're a pig farmer), but if we were all able to eat meat lets say, 15% less, then we will have all the corn based hydrogen we could possible need! |
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