Perpetual Innovation

Category: fuel cell

  • Sustainability and the Future of Self-Driving Cars and EVs

    IntellZine
    just wrote an article on how to     Invest in the Future of Self-Driving Cars
    and EVs (    https://www.intellzine.com/2020/12/invest-in-future-of-self-driving-cars.html).


    What’s not really covered is the
    Sustainability of EVs, self-driving cars etc. Internal combustion engines predominantly
    use fossil fuels but they can use renewable ethanol or biodiesel. Electric cars
    have the most promise because it is much easier to produce electricity from
    renewable sources like hydro, wind and solar. Plus, wind and solar have become
    the best and cheapest source of stationary electricity, even considering the impact
    of batteries.

    But one mobile power method that is
    not considered as much is hydrogen. In terms of stationary electricity, fuel
    cells can be used for emergency backup power (nearly instant on) and/or for
    continuous power. Although there are lots of ways to make hydrogen, all you
    really need is energy and water. (How to get hydrogen from Energy.Gov.)
    Currently, the most common method, by far is from NatGas or Ammonia.

    Fuel cell has interesting solutions
    to the battery problems, especially for range extension. Plus, hydrogen filling
    stations are being added along major routes, but nothing like electric charging and NatGas (see chart here). As the IntellZine article
    discussed, some of the fuel cell companies have gone up wildly over the last 6
    months, especially Plug. Plug (PLUG) built its business on fuel cell forklifts;
    a super clean and very efficient approach. Investors might be looking at the
    future markets for fuel cell and pricing for it. Or, they might simply be
    wrong.

  • Fuel cell cars from Toyota, Honda, Hyundai set to debut at auto shows – latimes.com

    Fuel cell cars from Toyota, Honda, Hyundai set to debut at auto shows – latimes.com:

    We’ve been waiting for decades (50 years?) for a fuel cell car.

    It looks like Toyota will come out fist with a Fuel Cell car next year.

    The fuel cell being announced this next week are coming from Honda and Hyundai.

    Unfortunately, it seems, these will be hydrogen fuel based.

    Other versions of Fuel Cell generators use liquid fuels, not straight hydrogen. Without fueling stations for hydrogen the technology is stuck where LP  and LNG was 10 years ago before Clean Energy (and others) started putting up liquid natgas stations along the trucking corridors.

    Let’s see what the announcement(s) bring.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Bill Gates Helps Reinvent the Toilet – Earth911.com – Poo Power

    Bill Gates Helps Reinvent the Toilet – Earth911.com:

    I know what you’re thinking, when you contemplate the power of poo. You’re thinking about Winnie the Pooh. Right.  “You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” Winnie famously said… Talking about going out and making a difference.

    Apparently the same can be said for poo. We need to take new and better toilets to the masses of people, 2.5B or so, that do not have clean sanitation. And you use that same poop and pee-power toilet to generate  poop and pee-power. Something you would want to call Poop-Pee Power, I’m sure.

    Processing it and storing the “fuel” (methane?) can then be used for power. Fuel cell for on demand, when needed,no moving parts, power seems logical. A requirement is that the final outputs must be power and hydrogen. Bill Gates says in the press release related to the challenge/competition:

    “Imagine what’s possible if we continue to collaborate, stimulate new investment in this sector, and apply our ingenuity in the years ahead, . . . Many of these innovations will not only revolutionize sanitation in the developing world, but also help transform our dependence on traditional flush toilets in wealthy nations.”

    Innovation such as this will bring sanitation, health and power to poor and unclean masses.

    No crappy jokes here. (Well, maybe a few.)

    This is a great idea, that’s a HEAD of its time — or maybe a little BEHIND the times.

    We all really should have done something like this a LONG time ago.
    And that’s the stinking true of it.

    “Innovative solutions change people’s lives for the better,” said foundation Co-chair Bill Gates. “If we apply creative thinking to everyday challenges, such as dealing with human waste, we can fix some of the world’s toughest problems.”

    By the world’s toughest problems, do you think that Bill thinks we can apply some of such solutions to politics? It seems that PolitiPoo should be especially high-octane and extremely combustible. !:-)

    The trick seems to be keeping it out of the fan long enough to harness PolitiPoo power.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Bloombox… Fuel Cell in every household.

    Give a look at the cool Fuel Cell technology that was announced tonight on CBS. They have 20 companies, including Google, FedEx and Wal-Mart testing units. BloomEnergy will have to get its mass production in place. The cool thing about fuel cell technology is that it can use a multitude of fuels and it can function as a power generator as well as an uninterruptible power supply (but without the issues associated with batteries).

    Also see some discussion on this issue at Earth2Tech.

    Pretty cool. Let’s see how reviews sound now that the technology has been unveiled.