Globetrotters, trendsetters and even champions for a cause. Sometimes, we can’t help but be enthralled by celebrities, and recently many of them have been making changes we should all pay close attention to.
Famous names accross the board have picked up on the benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells, and are using the technology in their cars and in their homes. Check out Ecorazzi.com for all green celebrity info, but here are a few of note:
- Actor George Clooney has signed on as an executive board member, and the public face, of a new Swiss energy company that will develop fuel cells for vehicles. The company is being formed by the CEO of watchmaker company, Swatch Group.
- Will Ferrell, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Jay Leno and others all have had their stint with the BMW Hydrogen 7-series.
-
Singer-songwriter and environmentalist Tracy Lyons’ autumn concert tour featured an off-grid powered stage that used biodiesel and a hydrogen fuel cell. Lyons’ vision for the tour was to draw attention to global warming, alternative and clean energy solutions and the negative health effects of pollution.
-
The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a project of former President Bill Clinton, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with fuel cell developer UTC Power, and fuel cell storage system developer Dynatek Industries, as official suppliers in the group’s effort to help commercialize fuel cell buses.� CCI is forming a purchasing consortium for volume sales that will help cities buy energy efficient technologies at lower prices.
-
Jamie Lee Curtis and filmmaker husband Christopher Guest, actress Laura Harris, film producer Ron Yerxa, as well as businessmen Jon Spallino and Jim Salomon were all among the first customers of Honda’s FCX Clarity.
And most recently, Johnny Depp has decided to power his 35-acre Carribbean Island home with a grid-independent solar fuel cell system developed by Mike Strizki. As Ecorazzi reports, “the cost is expected to run between $250,000-$500,000.”
For a lot of celebrities (especially those with their own island), $500,000 is just a drop in a bucket, so perhaps seeing Depp and his new island digs will start a new trend we can all benefit from. Fuel cells could become the new green status symbol. Thanks Johnny!
For more information on residential fuel cell systems, check out a few of these great links:
In Japan, Home Sweet Fuel Cell Home - Earthtoys
Fuel Cells for Power Generation - US Fuel Cell Council
Residential Fuel Cells Demonstration Handbook - NREL
|Back|
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
July 24, 2008 @ 11:17 am
Jennifer says...
Another reason to love Johnny Depp.
July 24, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
John Trocciola says...
And Conde Nast, publisher of many great and famous magazines (see below), is in a building on 42st in NYC which as two UTCPower 200 Kw fuel cells on the 4th floor. The units provide a portion of the building power and supplement the building’s heating system. The building is owned by the Durst Family also has some photovoltaic cells installed as part of its “skin”.
Vogue
W
style.com
Glamour
Allure
Self
Teen Vogue
GQ
Details
Men’s Vogue
men.style.com
Architectural Digest
Brides
Modern Bride
Elegant Bride
Brides.com
Lucky
Domino
Cookie
Golf Digest
Golf World
Golf for Women
Vanity Fair
Gourmet
Bon Appétit
epicurious.com
Condé Nast Traveler
concierge.com
Wired
Wired.com
Condé Nast Portfolio
Portfolio.com
The New Yorker
July 30, 2008 @ 5:51 pm
Richard P. Horwitz says...
Franklin Fuel Cells last news report was June 20, 2005. I wondered why they stopped reporting when they sounded so hot.
I just read a promo by ExxonMobil and here’s quote from that: “We are excited to be working on a breakthrough technology that could advance the use of hydrogen fuel cells. This new technology, which will be applied first to industrial vehicles such as forklifts, converts traditional hydrocarbon fuels (such as gasoline or diesel) into hydrogen directly on board a vehicle, eliminatingthe need for separate for producing and distributing hydrogen.”
So there goes Franklin Fuel Cells. Will they ever get to mrket now?
July 6, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Mark O'Hara says...
I’ve learned that Franklin Fuel Cells was purchased by American Refining and Biochemical, a division of American Refining Group which is headed up by Mr. Harry Halloran. I have been trying to get a response from the cheif engineer of Franklin, who now is employed by ARB but after his first email he has not responded. Franklin had tested for, I believe, 1000 hrs., their cell design burning several forms of hydrocarbon such as gasloine,diesel, methane, propane, natural gas,etc. with complete success at 56% direct electrical efficiency if the reject heat was not utilized, and of course more if it was. The finest steam turbine generating plants acheive approximately 35% on a good day ( a really good car engine might reach 27%, There is an absolute maximum for any Carnot cycle heat engine of 50%). The Franklin cell was not even affected by the sulphur content in diesels and natural gas. Then they were bought and have seemingly disappeared. The sad thing is that the oil companies should have embraced this cell and advanced it because it can use hydrocarbons directly without reforming and they could have had at least 50% of their existing market and been heroes. This would allow us to use our existing fuel infrastructure along with many green sources of fuel such as methane and ethanol. I wish I could buy one today.
July 13, 2009 @ 4:57 pm
Kristi Mayo says...
I probably shouldn’t bother to write in, but Franklin Fuel Cells is still in business in Pottstown PA. They owe me money from work I did for them in their interium period. Eddie Paz is still the Director. If you Google Franklin Fuel Cells, their web site comes up and Eddie’s new email address is there. Good Luck.