Plants Used To Generate Hydrogen For Safe And Clean Energy

Plants Used To Generate Hydrogen For Safe And Clean EnergySo, we did read about how Denmark intends to glean up to 50% of their national energy needs from wind turbines alone in a few years’ time. This is definitely a commendable effort, and are there any other kinds of green and eco-friendly ideas that the world could benefit from? Well, it seems that researchers have managed to generate hydrogen from any kind of plant, hence resulting in a safe, renewable energy solution. This particular solution was due to delving into a previous theory, where xylose, an abundant kind of sugar found in plants, is used to generate hydrogen. Since plants can be considered as a kind of renewable resource, you can more or less say that this is one method which is relatively safe for the environment.

After all, it barely produces greenhouse gas, and of course, it does not have to make use of any expensive metals. Prior to this discovery, producing hydrogen from a form of biomass was not impossible, but it sure as heck was extremely expensive with very little yield. Good to know that this is no longer the case, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that there will be more and more nations or companies taking up this method to create clean energy.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Wind Turbine Works Sans Blades, Detroit Electric SP:01 Is One Mean Electric Sports Car,

Virginia Tech learns how to get hydrogen from any plant, might lower fuel cell costs

Virginia Tech can extract hydrogen from any plant, may lower fuel cell vehicle costs

Hydrogen fuel cell cars have any number of hurdles to overcome, whether it’s widespread adoption or the basic matter of locating a place to fill up. If a Virginia Tech discovery pans out, getting the fuel itself won’t be one of those challenges. The new combination of a polyphosphate with a special blend of enzymes lets researchers extract meaningful quantities of hydrogen from any biological element that includes xylose — in other words, the sugar that’s present in every plant to at least some degree. The process is potentially more eco-friendly than most, as well. While you’d expect it to be renewable given the main ingredients, it also reduces the need for metals and cuts back sharply on the volume of necessary greenhouse gases. Most importantly, the findings could reach the commercial world as soon as three years from now. If they do, they could lower the price of hydrogen fuel by making it more accessible, all the while avoiding much of the guilt trip that comes with using polluting technology to generate clean energy.

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Via: The Verge

Source: Virginia Tech, Wiley

Water-Powered RC Rover: Batteries Not Included (Or Required)

Fuel-cell-powered vehicles are still a long ways off. But fuel cell-powered toys? That’s an awesome reality that’s about to get even better with Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies new H-Rover, which includes a wireless camera streaming live video to your smartphone/remote. More »

Stanford self-healing plastic responds to touch, keeps prosthetics and touchscreens in one piece

Stanford selfhealing plastic responds to touch, keeps prosthetics and touchscreens in one piece

Self-healing surfaces are theoretically the perfect solutions to easily worn-out gadgets, but our dreams come crashing down as soon as deliberate contact is involved; as existing materials don’t conduct electricity, they can’t be used in capacitive touchscreens and other very logical places. If Stanford University’s research into a new plastic polymer bears fruit, though, our scratched-up phones and tablets are more likely to become distant memories. The material can heal within minutes of cuts through fast-forming hydrogen bonds, rivaling some of its peers, but also includes nanoscopic nickel particles that keep a current flowing and even respond to flexing or pressure. The material is uniquely built for the real world, too, with resilience against multiple wounds and normal temperatures. While the polymer’s most obvious use would be for mobile devices whose entire surface areas can survive the keys in our pockets, Stanford also imagines wires that fix themselves and prosthetic limbs whose skin detects when it’s bent out of shape. As long as we can accept that possible commercialization is years away, there’s hope that we eventually won’t have to handle our technology with kid gloves to keep it looking pretty.

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Stanford self-healing plastic responds to touch, keeps prosthetics and touchscreens in one piece originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 01:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Urine-powered generator produces six hours of electricity per bathroom break

DNP Nigerian teenagers urinepowered generator produces up to six hours of electricity

We’ve all heard the expression “haste makes waste,” but how about waste making energy? At the fourth annual Maker Faire Africa in Lagos, Nigeria, a quartet of teenage girls ages 14 through 15 have created a urine-powered generator. This eco-friendly energy source cranks out six hours of electricity for every liter of human bodily fluid by separating the excretion’s hydrogen with an electrolytic cell. While this method of human waste disposal seems promising, the device has the potential to be a pee-powered biobomb and will need more than its limited safety measures before you’re able to pick one up at your local hardware store. However, if this can help us save a few bucks on our energy bill, then we need to introduce these girls to these guys posthaste.

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Urine-powered generator produces six hours of electricity per bathroom break originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hydrogen fueling stations produce electricity, heat, and hydrogen fuel

Several automakers have produced vehicles that can run on hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel cells are able to provide vehicles with plenty of driving range and produce no harmful emissions that contribute to pollution. One of the biggest downsides to fuel cell powered vehicles is that the hydrogen-refueling infrastructure is basically nonexistent.

Two companies have announced a memorandum of understanding for marketing tri-generation stationary fuel cell power plants. The two companies include Air Products and FuelCell Energy. The two companies are working on market development to provide stationery Direct FuelCell power plants that are able to produce hydrogen, clean electricity, and usable heat.

The companies want to market these tri-generation stationary fuel cell power plants not only to industrial hydrogen users but for vehicle refueling applications. One significant feature of the system is that it produces not only hydrogen, but it also produces electricity and heat. The heat and electricity can be used to reduce the need for purchased electricity in the industrial setting.

In the vehicle fueling setting the electricity generated can be used by the fueling station and the heat could be used for climate control. These two companies are working together on a three-year-production project in California began in 2011. This particular project is providing renewable hydrogen for vehicle fueling along with clean electricity by converting biogas generated from waste water treatment process into renewable hydrogen.


Hydrogen fueling stations produce electricity, heat, and hydrogen fuel is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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GreenGT H2 eyes-on: the first fuel cell-powered racer to tackle Le Mans

The 24 hour race at Le Mans held every year is among the most punishing automotive tests on the planet: race-bred machines running top-speed (or close) for a full day. Recently, gasoline-powered cars have had their dominance usurped by diesels, who themselves are now losing to hybrids. The next step? It could be EVs. The GreenGT H2 will take the grid of next year’s 24 hour race as an experimental entry, driving the full race distance pushing only water vapor out its tailpipe. Hydrogen is stored in the two large tanks running down the sides, while the massive fuel cell stack itself is situated behind the driver. Power output is somewhere north of 500 horsepower, which is quite healthy for a car that the company hopes will be down under 1000Kg (2,200 pounds) by the time it hits the track in anger. Enough to win Le Mans? Almost certainly not, but it’ll be fun to watch it try.

Steve Dent contributed to this report.

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GreenGT H2 eyes-on: the first fuel cell-powered racer to tackle Le Mans originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan Terra concept takes you and your fuel cell off the beaten path

Your average fuel cell powered car is something like the Mercedes B Class F-Cell: tiny, light and hugely efficient. Nissan is trying to break that rather restrictive preconception with its latest concept, the Terra. Like its cross-prefixed predecessor, the Xterra, and similarly quirky Juke, the Terra is designed to take the rougher road while cosseting its occupants in a particularly trick interior featuring both a dashboard that’s actually a removable tablet. The idea is you can take it inside and keep tabs on your car, but we wonder what happens when you leave it sitting by the bed as you groggily stagger out to your vehicle in the morning.

Impractical concept car interior design decisions aside, the machine is powered by a trio of electric motors (yes, three) driving all four wheels and receiving their power from Nissan’s latest hydrogen-powered fuel cell. Nissan says this unit costs just one sixth that of its predecessor, but presumably such a system has a long way to go before it can be placed in a reasonably priced machine. No word on what this might cost — if indeed it ever goes into production. This one, we think, isn’t too likely.

Gallery: Nissan Terra

Nissan Terra

Steve Dent contributed to this post.

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Nissan Terra concept takes you and your fuel cell off the beaten path originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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