Comments on: DMFCs Offer RVers Reliable Independence from the Grid

By: Richard Horwitz

Richard Horwitz — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:05:23 +0000

A good while ago I was fortunate enough to be invited aboard a Diesel Electric locomotive that had just been repaired. The diesel engine part is usually the thing that needs fixing. This huge engine has nothing to do with directly running things. It only runs the electric generator that makes the electricity for the traction motors. This would be a perfect job for the fuel cell Bloom Box and throw away the polluting Diesel forever.

By: Richard Horwitz

Richard Horwitz — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:33:17 +0000

If you didn’t watch 60 Minutes last Sunday (2/21/10) then you must revisit it on line. Leslie Stahl interviewed the head scientist at Bloom Energy who developed the “Bloom Box” A solid oxide fuel cell stack made for the production of electricity. (what else?) He explains everything - look for it. It was a most exciting show as far as I was concerned. Fuel cells don’t usually get this kind of gee whiz publicity on TV !!!

By: Richard Horwitz

Richard Horwitz — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:35:33 +0000

If you have been keeping score as I have, here it is as follows:Ovonics Corp. produces no platinum Fuel CellsAlumiFuel Co. can produce H2 using their portable generator. Infrastructure not needed.LaunchPoint Co. has invented a new and very powerful electric motor.Mascoma Corp. is successfully and economically making Cellulosic Ethanol.Carbon Fiber production has been available for years.I could go on but my point is what’s keeping the FC electric transportation from existance? It’s fine that they propel “Lift Trucks” But that’s not the family car!

By: Richard Horwitz

Richard Horwitz — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:50:51 +0000

Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009: While listening to NPR’s Weekend Edition there was this: “Japan Betting On Climate Change Profits” —- It is available (sound - no print) The report explains why Japan is seriously pursuing Green technology. All of their fossil fuels are imported. Much more, and they mentioned Fuel Cells a number of times described an FC production line making them available for the home. The item is available by date.

By: Richard Horwitz

Richard Horwitz — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:53:10 +0000

New hydrogen production method createdAugust 25, 2008 U.S. chemists at Ohio State University say they have developed a catalyst that can very efficiently convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen.Ohio State Professor Umit Ozkan said the new catalyst makes hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature and using inexpensive ingredients since it doesn’t contain precious metals, such as platinum or rhodium.Rhodium is used most often for this kind of catalyst and it costs around $9,000 an ounce, Ozkan said. Our catalyst costs around $9 a kilogram.She said the newly developed catalyst could help make the use of hydrogen-powered cars more practical in the future.Our research lends itself to what’s called a ‘distributed production’ strategy. Instead of making hydrogen from biofuel at a centralized facility and transporting it to gas stations, we could use our catalyst inside reactors that are actually located at the gas stations, said Ozkan. So we wouldn’t have to transport or store the hydrogen — we could store the biofuel, and make hydrogen on the spot.Ozkan and doctoral students Hua Song and Lingzhi Zhang presented the research last week in Philadelphia during a meeting of the American Chemical Society.Copyright 2008 by United Press InternationalUPI-1-20080825-14080000-bc-us-catalyst.xml If this is true, then the “Hydrogen Infrastructure” is superficial. The report that I saw on the NPR NEWSHOUR was very startling. The reactor gadget was quite small, not much larger than a coffee can filled with powdered aluminum. Pull up to the gas station in your Honda Clarity and fill up on hydrogen and that’s it. Can you believe it?

By: Richard Horwitz

Richard Horwitz — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:15:32 +0000

The following is importrant even though it’s not about American products:17-Sep-2009ACAL Energy Named as Innovation TrailblazerCommercial potential and technology recognisedby Global Cleantech 100 listingACAL Energy, the leading developer of innovative fuel cell technology, has been named in the ‘Global Cleantech 100’, published by Guardian News and Media and the Cleantech Group. This first ever Global Cleantech listing unveils the most promising clean technology companies on the planet: those which offer the potential for superior performance at lower costs while reducing negative ecological impact. One of only thirteen UK companies listed, ACAL Energy also headed the Guardian’s lead paragraph on UK innovation.The panel chose companies that are currently regarded as having the potential and likelihood to achieve high growth and high market impact. Their thoughts were then combined with insights from the Cleantech Network™, the de facto industry association of international clean technology investors, entrepreneurs, large corporations and other industry insiders. Some 3,500 companies were considered for inclusion in the list.“The first ever Global Cleantech 100 shines a spotlight on which companies and which technology areas the global innovation community is currently most excited about, from a commercial standpoint”, said Richard Youngman, Managing Partner at Cleantech Group.“We are delighted and honored to be recognised as one of the most significant cleantech companies globally”, said Dr S B Cha, CEO of Acal Energy. “Our commercial potential has clearly been recognised as well as our ground-breaking Flowcath® technology.”

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By: Richard Horwitz

Richard Horwitz — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:19:43 +0000

Have you noticed, none of the candidates mentions FC’s when they talk about new energy sources. There was a copper catalyst for Franklin Fuel Cells, but I believe they were bought by an oil company, and probably will never be heard from again.

By: Philip A. Block

Philip A. Block — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:59:11 +0000

I read the article and it hit the piston on the head. During WWII the oil companies did a tremendous job of supplying oil and new pipelines for the war effort, allowing us to supply our allies and circumvent the use of tankers that were being torpedoed in the Gulf and along the Atlantic coast. The industry and people of this country accomplished things during the war that amazed the world. The atomic bomb was developed at a huge cost, when many of the people working on it weren’t sure it would work. It took some twenty years from the first car till Ford produced one that the average person could afford. It took about the same time till the first gas station was built. Billions have been spent on the space program. Some 90 billion-yes 90 billion has been spent on a nuclear waste disposal area, Yucca Mountain in Nevada, and more on other nuclear waste storage facilities around the country. Proposals are being pushed to resurrect the nuclear power program at a cost of billions, and the hidden costs of more billions for the transmission lines, substations, and associated thousands of acres of land. An obsolete 20th century technology. As quoted from the Times article, 200 billion, to get an infrastructure going seems a small price to pay in comparison. This country has amazed the world with our accomplishments for over 200 years to the point that much of the world hates us for it. Now is the time to realize that we are in a war again for our survival. Government, industry, business, and the people of this country need to pull together and get the job done today, not tomorrow.