/ News and Common Sense Solutions en-gb Hemp4Fuel.com is copyright 2002-2010 J.R. Irvin and http://www.GnosticMedia.com Hemp4Fuel - contact@nospam.com contact@nospam.com Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:50:13 -0700 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:50:13 -0700 http://backend.userland.com/rss e107 (http://e107.org) 60 Search Hemp4Fuel.com query http://www.hemp4fuel.com/search.php http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.175.9
Staff Writer Science Daily

President Barack Obama's pursuit of energy independence promises to accelerate research and development for alternative energy sources -- solar, wind and geothermal power, biofuels, hydrogen and biomass, to name a few.


For the hydrogen economy, one of the roadblocks to success is the hydrogen itself. Hydrogen needs to be purified before it can be used as fuel for fuel cells, but current methods are not very clean or efficient.

Northwestern University chemist Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, together with postdoctoral research associate Gerasimos S. Armatas, has developed a class of new porous materials, structured like honeycomb, that is very effective at separating hydrogen from complex gas mixtures. The materials exhibit the best selectivity in separating hydrogen from carbon dioxide and methane, to the best of the researchers' knowledge.

The results, which offer a new way to separate gases not available before, will be published online Feb. 15 by the journal Nature Materials. The materials are a new family of germanium-rich chalcogenides.

"A more selective process means fewer cycles to produce pure hydrogen, increasing efficiency," said Kanatzidis, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the paper's senior author. "Our materials could be used very effectively as membranes for gas separation. We have demonstrated their superior performance."

Current methods of producing hydrogen first yield hydrogen combined with carbon dioxide or hydrogen combined with carbon dioxide and methane. The technology currently used for the next step -- removing the hydrogen from such mixtures -- separates the gas molecules based on their size, which is difficult to do.

Kanatzidis and Armatas offer a better solution. Their new materials do not rely on size for separation but instead on polarization -- the interaction of the gas molecules with the walls of the material as the molecules move through the membrane. This is the basis of the new separation method.

Tests of one form of the family of materials -- this one composed of the heavy elements germanium, lead and tellurium -- showed it to be approximately four times more selective at separating hydrogen from carbon dioxide than conventional methods, which are made of lighter elements, such as silicon, oxygen and carbon.

"We are taking advantage of what we call 'soft' atoms, which form the membrane's walls," said Kanatzidis. "These soft-wall atoms like to interact with other soft molecules passing by, slowing them down as they pass through the membrane. Hydrogen, the smallest element, is a 'hard' molecule. It zips right through while softer molecules, like carbon dioxide and methane take more time."

Kanatzidis and Armatas tested their membrane on a complex mixture of four gases. Hydrogen passed through first, followed in order by carbon monoxide, methane and carbon dioxide. As the smallest and hardest molecule, hydrogen interacted the least with the membrane, and carbon dioxide, as the softest molecule of the four, interacted the most.

Another advantage is that the process takes place at what Kanatzidis calls a "convenient temperature range" -- between zero degrees Celsius and room temperature.

Small-molecule diffusion through porous materials is a nanoscopic phenomenon, say the researchers. All the pores in the hexagonal honeycomb structure are ordered and parallel, with each hole approximately two to three nanometers wide. The gas molecules are all at least half a nanometer wide.


[[b]Submitted by hempistry[/b]]]]> hempistry<ajingrao@nospam.com> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:28:10 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.175.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.182.9
A team of scientists from Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Georgia says it has successfully generated hydrogen gas. Normally these kinds of fuels are derived from starch. Jonathan Mielenz, who is the leader of the Bioconversion Science and Technology Group at ORNL, says, “It is exciting because using cellulose instead of starch expands the renewable resource for producing hydrogen to include biomass.”

This hydrogen gas is clean enough to power a fuel cell by combining 14 enzymes, one coenzyme, cellulosic materials from non-eatable sources, and water heated to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 C). The researchers utilized cellulosic materials which is isolated from wood chips. But researches also claim that crop waste or switchgrass could also be used for this purpose. These research outcomes are being published in ChemSusChem. The research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research; Zhang’s DuPont Young Professor Award, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Percival Zhang who is assistant professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, states, “In addition to converting the chemical energy from the sugar, the process also converts the low-temperature thermal energy into high-quality hydrogen energy – like Prometheus stealing fire.” This group declares the benefits of their “one pot” process. The first advantage is they are using a unique combination of enzymes. The second advantage is that hydrogen generation rate is as fast as natural hydrogen fermentation. The third advantage is the chemical energy output is greater than the chemical energy stored in sugars. The maximum hydrogen yield is produced from the cellulosic materials.

Percival Zhang said that if we can utilize a small fraction (two or three percent) of annual biomass production (at global level) for sugar-to-hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, it can lead us to transformational fuel independence. For U.S.A. the figure varies a bit. If U.S. wants to get rid of fossil fuels from transport they actually need to convert about 10 percent of biomass – which would be 1.3 billion tons of usable biomass.

[link=hyperlink url]http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/hydrogen-fuel-from-non-food-sources/[/link]


[[b]Submitted by kabukisensei[/b]]]]> hempistry<ajingrao@nospam.com> Sat, 21 Feb 2009 10:58:44 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.182.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.176.9
Staff Writer Science Daily

Tomorrow's fuel-cell vehicles may be powered by enzymes that consume cellulose from woodchips or grass and exhale hydrogen.

Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the University of Georgia have produced hydrogen gas pure enough to power a fuel cell by mixing 14 enzymes, one coenzyme, cellulosic materials from nonfood sources, and water heated to about 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius).

The group announced three advances from their "one pot" process: 1) a novel combination of enzymes, 2) an increased hydrogen generation rate -- to as fast as natural hydrogen fermentation, and 3) a chemical energy output greater than the chemical energy stored in sugars – the highest hydrogen yield reported from cellulosic materials. "In addition to converting the chemical energy from the sugar, the process also converts the low-temperature thermal energy into high-quality hydrogen energy – like Prometheus stealing fire," said Percival Zhang, assistant professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech.

"It is exciting because using cellulose instead of starch expands the renewable resource for producing hydrogen to include biomass," said Jonathan Mielenz, leader of the Bioconversion Science and Technology Group at ORNL.

The researchers used cellulosic materials isolated from wood chips, but crop waste or switchgrass could also be used. "If a small fraction – 2 or 3 percent – of yearly biomass production were used for sugar-to-hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, we could reach transportation fuel independence," Zhang said. (He added that the 3 percent figure is for global transportation needs. The U.S. would actually need to convert about 10 percent of biomass – which would be 1.3 billion tons of usable biomass).

The research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research; Zhang's DuPont Young Professor Award, and the U.S. Department of Energy.


[[b]Submitted by hempistry[/b]]]]> hempistry<ajingrao@nospam.com> Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:30:14 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.176.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.171.9 used for sugar-to-hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, we could
reach transportation fuel independence...."



http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~014~ACCT~1400000101~ISSUE~0902~RELTYPE~MS~PR\
ODCODE~00000000~PRODLETT~FS.html

Cellulose-sourced hydrogen good enough for fuel cells

Feb. 12, 2009

Tomorrow's fuel-cell vehicles may be powered by enzymes that consume
cellulose from woodchips or grass and exhale hydrogen.

Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL),
and the Univ. of Georgia have produced hydrogen gas pure enough to
power a fuel cell by mixing 14 enzymes, one coenzyme, cellulosic
materials from nonfood sources, and water heated to about 90°F (32°C).

The group announced three advances from their "one pot" process: 1) a
novel combination of enzymes, 2) an increased hydrogen generation
rate—to as fast as natural hydrogen fermentation, and 3) a chemical
energy output greater than the chemical energy stored in sugars—the
highest hydrogen yield reported from cellulosic materials. "In
addition to converting the chemical energy from the sugar, the process
also converts the low-temperature thermal energy into high-quality
hydrogen energy—like Prometheus stealing fire," said Percival Zhang,
assistant professor of biological systems engineering in the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech.

"It is exciting because using cellulose instead of starch expands the
renewable resource for producing hydrogen to include biomass," said
Jonathan Mielenz, leader of the Bioconversion Science and Technology
Group at ORNL.

The researchers used cellulosic materials isolated from wood chips,
but crop waste or switchgrass could also be used. "If a small
fraction—2 or 3 percent—of yearly biomass production were used for
sugar-to-hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, we could reach
transportation fuel independence," Zhang said. (He added that the 3%
figure is for global transportation needs. The U.S. would actually
need to convert about 10% of biomass—which would be 1.3 billion tons
of usable biomass).

The most recent research is published in the Wiley journal ChemSusChem
(Chemistry and Sustainability), in the article "Spontaneous High-Yield
Production of Hydrogen from Cellulosic Materials and Water Catalyzed
by Enzyme Cocktails," by Virginia Tech student Xinhao Ye and post
doctoral associate Yiran Wang, both in biological systems engineering;
Robert C. Hopkins and Michael W. W. Adams of the Department of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Univ. of Georgia; Barbara R.
Evans and Mielenz of the ORNL Chemical Sciences and Biosciences
Divisions, respectively; and Zhang.
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cssc.200900017)

The research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific
Research; Zhang's DuPont Young Professor Award, and the U.S.
Department of Energy.

Learn more about Zhang's work at
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/ypzhang/research.htm and about the ORNL
work at http://www.ornl.gov/sci/bst/.

SOURCE: Virginia Tech

[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:39:02 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.171.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.140.9 hempistry<ajingrao@nospam.com> Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:57:53 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.140.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.132.9

Contact: Dr. Robin Gremaud
gremaudr@nat.vu.nl
31-204-447-459
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Hydrogen tank lighter than battery
Top hydrogen-absorbing metal alloy 60 percent lighter than battery

Dutch-sponsored researcher Robin Gremaud has shown that an alloy of the metals magnesium, titanium and nickel is excellent at absorbing hydrogen. This light alloy brings us a step closer to the everyday use of hydrogen as a source of fuel for powering vehicles. A hydrogen 'tank' using this alloy would have a relative weight that is sixty percent less than a battery pack. In order to find the best alloy Gremaud developed a method which enabled simultaneous testing of thousands of samples of different metals for their capacity to absorb hydrogen. The British company Ilika in Southampton has shown considerable interest.

Hydrogen is considered to be a clean and therefore important fuel of the future. This gas can be used directly in cars in an internal combustion engine, like in BMW's hydrogen vehicle, or it can be converted into electrical energy in so-called fuel cells, like in the Citaro buses in service in Amsterdam.

The major problem of using hydrogen in transport is the secure storage of this highly explosive gas. This can be realised by using metals that absorb the gas. However, a drawback of this approach is that it makes the hydrogen 'tanks' somewhat cumbersome.

The battery, the competing form of storage for electrical energy, comes off even worse. Driving four hundred kilometres with an electric car, such as the Toyota Prius, would require the car to carry 317 kilos of modern lithium batteries for its journey. With Gremaud's light metal alloy this same distance would require a hydrogen tank of 'only' two hundred kilos. Although this new metal alloy is important for the development of hydrogen as a fuel, the discovery of the holy grail of hydrogen storage is still some way off.

Hydrogenography

In his research Gremaud made use of a technique for measuring the absorbance of hydrogen by metals, based on the phenomenon of 'switchable mirrors' discovered at the VU University Amsterdam. About ten years ago researchers at the VU discovered that certain materials lose their reflection by absorbing hydrogen. This technique became known as hydrogenography, or 'writing with hydrogen'. Using this technique, Gremaud was able to simultaneously analyse the efficacy of thousands of different combinations of the metals magnesium, titanium and nickel. Traditional methods require separate testing for each alloy.

The analysis requires each of the three metals to be eroded from an individual source and deposited onto a transparent film in a thin layer of 100 nanometres using so-called sputtering deposition. This ensures that the three metals are deposited onto the film in many different ratios. When the film is exposed to different amounts of hydrogen, it is clearly visible, even to the naked eye, which composition of metals is best at absorbing hydrogen.

Gremaud is the first to use this method for measuring hydrogen absorption. The British company Ilika in Southampton wants to build a hydrogen analyser using this technique.

###

Gremaud's research was funded by NWO Chemical Sciences as part of the National Programme 'Sustainable Hydrogen'.]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:45:33 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.132.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.98.9
By KEN THOMAS , Associated Press

October 17, 2008

WASHINGTON - For years, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been the far-off technological bets of the auto industry — the car that holds the promise of gasoline-free driving.

Honda Motor Co. is starting to give a small number of drivers a glimpse into the future.

The Honda FCX Clarity debuted in July, and the automaker is leasing about 200 of the cars to customers in Southern California during the next three years. Tens of thousands of car enthusiasts have applied to be among the first to lease — and for good reason.

Stylish and smooth, the Clarity opens a window into the possible: the combination of environmental responsibility and zero emissions with a fun, hip ride. If only refueling was a matter of pulling into the nearest filling station.

The Clarity is emerging at a difficult stretch for the auto industry, a year in which sales have been choked by a battered economy and a major credit crunch. So it might be easy to shrug it off as another advanced vehicle relegated to auto shows and the garages of the super rich.

As with any hydrogen car, there are caveats galore. Finding a hydrogen fueling station can be like getting a car loan with lousy credit these days. And most hydrogen is extracted from natural gas, releasing carbon dioxide and undercutting the emissions-free argument.

Honda's marketing of the car may also draw some skepticism. The company is offering three-year leases to a select few for $600 a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband, filmmaker Christopher Guest, have one. Other Clarity pioneers include Actress Laura Harris and "Little Miss Sunshine" producer Ron Yerxa, making it easy to dismiss the car as a Hollywood publicity stunt.

But on its merits, the Clarity delivers. It offers quiet, steady acceleration, high torque and a 280-mile range, allowing the driver to enjoy the ride instead of worrying about finding the next refill.

Previous generations of Honda's fuel cell vehicles have resembled futuristic econoboxes — small, workmanlike and unpractical. The latest version is more refined, helped by a smaller and lighter fuel cell stack that is more easily packaged into a sedan. (The Clarity is about 4 inches shorter than a Honda Accord.)

In the fuel cell, hydrogen is combined with oxygen to generate electricity that powers the vehicle's motor. The water vapor that's produced exits through the tailpipe. The Clarity has a backup 288-volt lithium-ion battery pack, recharged by the car's deceleration, to provide more power when needed.

The cockpit is fun and innovative. The start button next to the center console starts the fuel cell stack. The display in the dashboard includes a dot that changes color and size as your hydrogen consumption grows, making it easy to monitor mileage.

A meter display on the dashboard charts battery levels and motor output. The speedometer was wisely placed above the cockpit display, in your sight line, to keep your eyes on the road. The interior is covered with plant-based fabrics.

The compressor that supplies oxygen to the fuel cell makes a whining sound. While the whirls and lack of engine vibrations at stoplights may require some getting used to, the 134-horsepower electric motor, with 189 pounds per foot of torque, offered smooth acceleration in city driving. On the highway, the Clarity easily surpassed 70 miles per hour without feeling compromised.

The Clarity's tank holds 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds) of compressed hydrogen, and the car gets about 77 miles per kilogram in the city, 67 miles per kilogram on the highway and 72 miles per kilogram in combined driving. Honda says that equates to 79 miles per gallon of gasoline around town, 68 mpg on the highway and about 74 mpg overall.

Honda is leasing the Clarity to customers in the Los Angeles area because of the proximity to three 24-hours-a-day public hydrogen stations.

If I could lease a Clarity here in Washington, D.C., I would have to rely on one Shell Station, but the vehicle would offer savings compared with similar vehicles.

In Washington, hydrogen was selling for $8.18 per kilogram, meaning a driver would spend that much to travel 72 miles in the Clarity. A 4-cylinder Honda Accord with an automatic transmission gets 24 mpg combined, so a driver would use three gallons of gasoline — spending about $3.30 a gallon, or almost $10 — to travel the same distance.

The lack of fueling stations will limit the reach of these vehicles for many years, but Honda is working on a home-fill unit that would connect to a residential natural gas line, generating hydrogen for your vehicle and heat and electricity for your home. The automaker, like others in the industry, note that hydrogen could be produced abundantly from renewable sources like wind energy.

Beyond the refueling problems, the car has some quirks. Instead of a traditional gear selector, the car has a small electronic shifter near the steering wheel that was awkward to use. The rear window seemed to limit visibility.

As with any advanced vehicle, the car created a stir around town. Fellow drivers craned their necks to check out the car, and plenty of pedestrians furrowed their eyebrows, as if to say, "What is that?" When I turned around at a gas station in northern Virginia, where gas was selling for $3.89 a gallon at the time, a man in a Redskins jersey turned to his friends and pointed at the car, his mouth agape.

Honda has not released the cost, but the price is out of reach for typical car shoppers. With production limited to just hundreds, some analysts have estimated it would cost $200,000. (Imagine how Tom Cruise's character in "Risky Business" would have felt if his dad's hydrogen fuel cell sunk into Lake Michigan.)

The Clarity, and any hydrogen fuel cell for that matter, has plenty of question marks and hurdles. But it gives us a sense of what lies ahead.

In an age of sluggish sales and tough times for the auto industry, the art of the possible may not mean much now. But the Clarity offers evidence that the futuristic advanced vehicles of tomorrow may be closer than we think.

© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:38:49 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.98.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.73.9
Toshiba hints at pre-Christmas fuel-cell debut
By James Sherwood
Published Thursday 16th October 2008 13:10 GMT

Toshiba has hinted that it may introduce fuel cell-based products on a commercial scale within the next few months.

In an interview with Register Hardware, Thomas Teckentrup, Toshiba's European General Manager for Computer Systems Marketing and Business Development, said that, although the company still has some issues to iron out, he expected it to only be “a few more months before everything comes together”.

“It’s very complicated and there are still problems to sort out,” Teckentrup said. For example, government regulation and fuel distribution methods are still causing Toshiba some problems, he admitted.

But the possibility of fuel cell-based and commercially available gadgets, such as laptops, arriving this side of Christmas is nonetheless exciting.

It would also mean that the firm’s ahead of its own self-imposed deadline – re-iterated earlier this month (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/08/toshiba_restates_fuel_cell_goal/) – to introduce fuel cells for portable devices commercially by the end of March 2009.

Teckentrup kept mum about which products Toshiba might introduce fuel cell power for first, but the firm’s already shown off a UMPC fitted with a fuel cell (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/11/ces_toshiba_fuel_cell_umpc/) power source.

[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:00:06 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.73.9 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.72.9
New public-private joint venture aiming to deliver mass market fuel cell products within 12 years
James Murray, BusinessGreen 16 Oct 2008

The EU has set itself the ambitious target of delivering the mass-market roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell technologies before 2020, as part of a major €1bn (£780m) six year research programme designed to bring together public and private sector research teams from across Europe.

Launched this week, the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking brings together the European Commission, research bodies and private firms in a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) designed to co-ordinate hydrogen and fuel cell research across the bloc.

Backed by €1bn in research funding, the new group brings together 60 firms and a similar number of universities and is aiming to shorten the time it takes to get fuel cell technologies to market by between two and five years.

EU Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik, welcomed the new body as evidence of the EU's commitment to tackling climate change. "By investing in such a results-oriented scientific project, we are putting our money where our mouth is," he said. "The development of new energy technologies is crucial if we are to meet EU objectives to address climate change and energy challenges."

The first wave of project funding, worth up to €28.1m, is now available and the JTI is inviting proposals from research projects focused on transportation and refuelling infrastructures and the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen.

Jan van Dokkum, president of UTC Power, the fuel cell division of engineering conglomerate UTC and one of the firms involved in the JTI said that the move represented a major leap forward for fuel cell research in Europe.

"A lot of the research in Europe is not co-ordinated compared to the US where the Department of Energy has been very pro-active," he said. "This should help deliver that level of co-ordination in Europe."

He added that the target of delivering mass market roll out of fuel cell systems within the next 12 years was achievable.

"There is still significant research to be done on fuel cell vehicles to make them more affordable and robust, but in terms of stationary fuel cells for buildings we already have a commercially viable product," he said, adding that in areas of the US UTC Power's 400Kw fuel cell was more cost effective than grid power.

"Our latest fuel cells are going to be installed in the Freedom Tower [in New York] and that has prompted a lot of interest in the technology," Van Dokkum said. "When used as a combined heat and power system these fuel cells are between two and three times more energy efficient than grid power, deliver cuts in carbon emissions and can generate power cheaper than the grid."

He added that the with the US government now offering tax credits for stationary fuel cells the company was expecting to produce 50 more units in the next couple of months and had orders or commitments to buy for all of them.

"We have enough capacity to meet demand for a year to 18 months and then we'll have to expand," he said, adding that Europe or Asia where the most likely locations for a new manufacturing facility.
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[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:59:47 -0700 http://www.hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.72.9