A company named HyperSolar, Incorporated has recently revealed a technological breakthrough in using solar plus water to produce hydrogen. And the kicker is that any kind of water, dirty to clean can be used in this process.

How does the breakthrough technology do this? The solar electrolysis of water starts at the nanoscale in order to gain efficiency and reduce costs.

According to HyperSolar’s CEO Tim Young, “Recently, we successfully developed an inexpensive coating for our water-splitting nanoparticles that protect the particles from photocorrosion and common water impurities. Additional laboratory tests and technical development reveal that this coating can also protect the nanoparticles when submerged directly in harsh water conditions such as lake water, wastewater, and seawater.

“The implications of our technology may be world changing. If we can successfully complete the development of a low cost, highly efficient solar powered water-splitting nanoparticle, we can use readily available seawater, runoff water, river water, or wastewater, to produce large quantities of hydrogen fuel to power the world. When the hydrogen fuel is used in fuel cells or combustion, clean water (pure H2O) returns back to the Earth. HyperSolar is making steady technical progress to enable this vision.”

So, there you have it. Not only will this new technology be useful in creating massive amounts of hydrogen in a renewable fashion, it will also be useful in purifying water that is not clean and sending the purified water back to planet Earth.

In addition, the location of these solar to hydrogen production stations can be very diverse from high population cities to the far reaches of developing 3rd world nations. The only limitation is the access to some kind of water, dirty, clean or anything in-between.

Filed under: Hydrogen Fuel Production | No Comments »

The Aberdeen, Scotland City Council is offering a Hyundai Tucson ix35 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to their car-sharing club members to test drive. This is believed to be the first time in the world that a car-sharing club has been given this opportunity.

ITM Power has offered their H-Fuel mobile hydrogen refueling station to refuel the vehicles with on-demand hydrogen. Refueling with compressed hydrogen gas takes about 4 minutes and gives the Hyundai a range of over 300 miles.

According to Chief Executive of the Aberdeen City Council Valerie Watts, “This is a major coup for Aberdeen and testament to the efforts of the enterprise, planning and infrastructure officers involved …

“…It is really encouraging that Hyundai recognises the city’s ambitious determination to develop expertise in this area and is working with us to promote it as a fuel of the future and fuel celled vehicles as the way forward in transport in the long term.”

I’ve talked many times about how Scotland is high on hydrogen and other forms of alternative and renewable energy such as wind turbine technology. Aberdeen is also planning to roll out a fleet of hydrogen buses in the near future. With this kind of commitment to hydrogen vehicles, Scotland is becoming another bright spot on the map of leading edge clean technology.

Filed under: Hydrogen Cars | No Comments »

I’ve talked about the artificial leaf many times before as a novel idea in which significant amounts of hydrogen could be produced. In fact, in March of 2011, I had talked about a researcher named Daniel Nocera, Ph.D. who had created such an artificial leaf and was putting the polishing touches on it.

Today, however that leaf is polished and ready for the spotlight. Nocera and his team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created an artificial leaf using cheap and common metals plus sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

According to ACS.org, “The key to this breakthrough is Nocera’s recent discovery of several powerful new, inexpensive catalysts, made of nickel and cobalt, that are capable of efficiently splitting water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen, under simple conditions. Right now, Nocera’s leaf is about 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural leaf. However, he is optimistic that he can boost the efficiency of the artificial leaf much higher in the future.”

Nocera’s idea was to use his artificial leaves in developing nations where homes are not tied to the national grid. Every home could be its own power plant. And while this is a good idea, another good idea is to use his artificial leaves in general to create hydrogen for cars, homes, fueling stations, home fueling stations and industry.

The sky’s the limit with Nocera’s artificial leaf. And when reaching for the sky, sometimes the sky reaches back.

Filed under: Hydrogen Fuel Production | No Comments »

Yesterday I had talked about how a senior chemist, Radoslav Adzic, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (run by the DOE) had won the 2012 Inventor of the Year Award for his work with reducing the amount of platinum needed in fuel cells.

Well, today the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has some more big news this time in regard to developing platinum-free hydrogen production (similar to a fuel cell run in reverse). Another lab chemist, Kotaro Sasaki and his team (pictured above) have developed a robust electrocatalyst that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and uses no platinum in the process.

Instead the electrocatalyst uses nickel, molybdenum and nitrogen to create a nanosheet structure with high surface area and high durability. According to BNL, “Water provides an ideal source of pure hydrogen – abundant and free of harmful greenhouse gas byproducts. The electrolysis of water, or splitting water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2), requires external electricity and an efficient catalyst to break chemical bonds while shifting around protons and electrons. To justify the effort, the amount of energy put into the reaction must be as small as possible while still exceeding the minimum required by thermodynamics, a figure associated with what is called overpotential …

“…the principal metals in the new compound developed by the Brookhaven team are both abundant and cheap: $20 per kilogram for nickel and $32 per kilogram for molybdenum. Combined, that’s 1000 times less expensive than platinum.”

The researchers say that the new nanosheet performs almost as good as platinum in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen plus it is durable and scalable as well. This means that commercialization of this electrocatalyst is viable and we can expect to see it making its way out of the lab sometime in the near future.

Filed under: Hydrogen Fuel Production | 4 Comments »

The New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA) has named a senior chemist, Radoslav Adzic, who works for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) with its prestigious 2012 Inventor of the Year award. It’s Adzic’s work with nanocatalysts that use small, durable amounts of platinum to create reactions in hydrogen PEM fuel cells that caught the eye of the NYIPLA.

According to the BNL, “This electrocatalyst presents a novel, scientific remedy to a commercial roadblock – how to make platinum electrocatalysts more durable and affordable. Though platinum is an extremely effective electrocatalyst in the fuel cells of electric vehicles, its cost and its lack of durability and chemical stability make it a difficult sell as a commercially viable green energy solution.

“To preserve the benefits of platinum while mitigating its negatives, Adzic and his lab devised a new electrocatalyst by coating a hearty palladium alloy nanoparticle with a platinum monolayer, or single atom-thick, shell. Hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells that include the catalyst use hydrogen as a fuel and produce electricity, with water as a byproduct.”

Earlier this same year, this technology was licensed to a Japanese corporation, N.E. Chemcat, which is a precious metal producer. N. E. Chemcat will “create and offer large quantities of the catalyst to the interested laboratories and industries.”

So, there you have it, another reason why Federal funding for hydrogen research and development should not be cut and instead expanded. Research from the DOE makes money by licensing technology to other companies. These companies in turn, hire employees and put products into the marketplace which again can generate jobs and revenue. Congrats to Radoslav Adzic for helping to lower the barriers for the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cells and for making them a solution we can use now.

Filed under: Fuel Cells | No Comments »

In the Springtime of the past several years the Oval Office has wanted to cut funding for hydrogen research and development. And just as in years past, the U. S. Senate has come to the rescue to restore at least some of that funding.

This year is no different thanks to U. S. Senator Charles E. Shumer who had the foresight to step in and help one of the Senate committees restore funding for fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure.

According to Shumer, “Earlier this year, the Administration proposed eliminating the Department of Energy’s Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) funding within the DOE Fossil Energy program, which helps fund the development of fuel cell technology and supports approximately 60 jobs in Henrietta and cuts $24 million for fuel cell R&D in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).”

He goes onto say about rescuing the funding, “This legislation also restored $24 million for a total of $104 million for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) for fuel cell development. Moreover, the legislation directs a significant portion of this funding to be used specifically for developing hydrogen refueling infrastructure systems which are vital to making sure hydrogen-fueled vehicles, like those under development at GM’s Honeoye Falls facility, can be commercialized. The more roadside filling stations that can provide hydrogen fuel expands the market for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The legislation also provides capacity for technology validation and market transformation activities to grow fuel cell development.”

With tight Federal budgets and a desire to shrink the deficit, hydrogen research has been on the chopping block for the past 3 years. Thank goodness there are still a few advocates in powerful government positions to fight for a hydrogen future for all of us.

Filed under: Political Issues | 1 Comment »

A company called Hygen Industries, which develops hydrogen fueling stations based upon renewable resources and on-demand electrolysis, is claiming that member companies in the California Fuel Cell Partnership are rigging the system in order to avoid competition.

According to Courthousenews.com, “Major automakers conspired to eliminate competition in hydrogen refueling stations, which California has demanded under a clean energy program, a renewable energy company claims in a state antitrust complaint.

“HyGen Industries sued divisions of Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Kia, and the California Fuel Cell Partnership and the California Energy Commission, in Santa Clara County Court.

“HyGen claims it has a cleaner fuel system than the defendants, and that as a result of the conspiracy, ‘competition in the field of hydrogen fueling infrastructure has been restrained, suppressed and eliminated.’

“HyGen ‘is engaged in the business of developing and implementing renewable energy programs and implementing society’s transition to a clean, sustainable/renewable hydrogen economy,’ according to the complaint.

“HyGen claims that the says that the California Energy Commission moved up its awarding of the grants for hydrogen technology development by three weeks ‘solely to prevent plaintiff from having a court determine the rights and obligations of the parties as they relate to this lawsuit.’”

So, there you have it. Just when you thought hydrogen cars and infrastructure were flying under the radar and no one was noticing, this lawsuit pops up regarding the California Hydrogen Highway. No matter what the outcome is, this debate is a good one to have in regard to pushing the agenda of building up the hydrogen fueling infrastructure forward at a faster pace.

Filed under: Hydrogen Highways | No Comments »

Oslo to Monte Carlo

Well I had to put this link through Google Translate in order to figure out what was going on. And I’m glad I did because I want to share some very big news about a group of people who drove hydrogen cars from Oslo, Norway to Monte Carlo, Monaco using only the existing hydrogen refueling infrastructure that is already in place.

According to Google Maps this journey is around 2,260 km and takes about 23 hours if one is driving straight through. This is the first time ever that hydrogen cars have been driven such a distance without the use of a mobile hydrogen fueling support unit.

There have been a few hydrogen road trips in the past including a longer one at 2735 km from Southern California to Vancouver, BC, Canada. But that trip involved portable hydrogen fueling stations plus some of the existing infrastructure. Europe has outpaced the U. S. for several years now in regard to building hydrogen fueling infrastructure. This is no pipe dream several years away.

According to Zero.no, “But already now it is possible to run a hydrogen car from filling stations, the wholesaler and Gaustad in Oslo, via Denmark, Hamburg, Cologne, Karlsruhe and Freiburg in Germany and Sassenage in France, before the trip ended after 2260 km and five days, in Europe motor sport capital of Monte Carlo. To the attention of guests at the casino and the equally famous Hotel de Paris to champagne bottle pops a couple of hours after midnight on 21 april.

“This has never been done before, and why we do it – to show that it is possible to drive emission free from Oslo and throughout Europe, says Marius Bornstein, technical adviser on hydrogen at ZERO. He was one of the drivers who drove the two Hyundai Ix35 FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) hydrogen cars throughout Europe.”

The Hyundai Ix35 FCEV was chosen for this journey because of its tank capacity and driving range. Of course they could also have chosen the Toyota FCHV-adv which has as much if not more tank capacity and driving range as the Hyundai, but the point is now moot.

This exercise shows how far ahead the Europeans are in regard to commitment and taking action in regard to hydrogen cars and fueling stations. They believe zero emission hydrogen cars are the future and have been willing to put their money where their mouths are in regard to building up the European Hydrogen Highway. And the proof is in this most recent success with many other successes to follow.

Filed under: Hydrogen Highways | 2 Comments »

Both Linde and TOTAL have taken a step in reducing the world’s carbon footprint by supplying green hydrogen to fuel cell vehicles in Germany this past week. Both companies are producing hydrogen from clean and renewable resources.

According to Linde, “The hydrogen generated from biodiesel by-products at the company’s pilot plant in Leuna, Germany, was certified by TÜV SÜD, one of the world’s leading test, inspection and certification organisations, in time for the HANNOVER MESSE 2012 trade show … The pilot facility has shown that the pyroreforming process developed by Linde on the basis of raw glycerine has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 50 percent compared with conventional hydrogen production processes using natural gas. Advancing the pilot facility to a commercial-scale, fully mature production plant would increase potential greenhouse gas savings to up to 80 percent.”

But, wait, there’s more. General Motors talks about an even cleaner method to produce h2, which is wind to hydrogen as pioneered by TOTAL and ENERTRAG, “For the first time, the longstanding Opel partners TOTAL and ENERTRAG have started to supply a Berlin gas station with hydrogen fuel produced from wind power. Both companies have been testing fuel cell vehicles for everyday use. The hybrid power station run by ENERTRAG in the Berlin district of Prenzlau is now supplying ‘green’ hydrogen fuel to gas stations owned by TOTAL. This means that vehicles taking part in the hydrogen fuel CEP (Clean Energy Partnership) supported by the German government will now be powered by environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel sourced from wind power. The Opel HydroGen4 run by TOTAL was the first vehicle to be fuelled in Berlin with the new ‘green’ hydrogen.”

The Opel HydroGen4 in the United States is known as the GM HydroGen4. So, there you have it. This is exactly why Germany is leading the world in hydrogen cars and hydrogen infrastructure development. The Germans have committed to the idea that hydrogen cars will run our future and have put this idea into action by quickly developing infrastructure to support the vehicles.

Filed under: Hydrogen Fuel Production | 3 Comments »

University of Connecticut (UConn) professor Radenka Maric has developed a low cost method of creating fuel cell membranes. The new technique will reduce the high cost of platinum in fuel cells by 10 times.

According to UConn, “…one of the primary drawbacks to the widespread use of the cells is that they are expensive to manufacture because platinum, a rare and expensive metal used as catalyst material to create energy, is one of the cell’s main components.

“At UConn’s clean energy engineering facility, Maric has developed a prototype manufacturing process for the fuel cells that uses 10 times less catalyst material with little waste. The low-temperature process allows for important industrial controls and flexibility, and can be easily scaled up for mass production …

“In response to industry demand for lower manufacturing costs, increased durability, and increased efficiency for fuel cells, Maric created a novel production process known as reactive spray deposition technology, or RSDT. In the process, small particles of catalyst material, such as platinum, are shot out of a nozzle in the form of a gas flame, where they are instantly cooled into atom-sized solids and sprayed onto the fuel cell membrane in a carefully calibrated fine layer.”

So, there you have it. This is one more example of scientists and researchers working on ways to significantly reduce costs in fuel cells and gearing them towards commercialization within the next few years. Hydrogen deniers cannot stop the collective wisdom and ingenuity that are pushing fuel cells rapidly into the mainstream.

Filed under: Fuel Cells | No Comments »