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With the alarming problem of increased water consumption, this trend is a growing concern as we wonder if our planet, mother Earth, will be able to replenish the freshwater supplies before they run out.

Well, in case this worst case scenario ever comes to reality, MIT has the solution. An invention discovered and developed in one of their labs might be the answer to freshwater problems. When in contact with direct sunlight, the “artificial leaf”, as they call it, splits water molecules in hydrogen and oxygen gases which can later be stored in fuel cells. What this means is that it produces pure water, which is quite useful especially in the context of high pollution areas around the globe.

While the leaf (a semiconducting silicon coated with a special cobalt catalyst on one side and nickel-molybdenum-zinc alloy on the other) is still under research, there is hope that their idea will be usable at large scales in the years to come.

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If you build it, they will come. That sentiment seems to sum up German car manufacturer Daimler’s thinking, as they are pairing with technology company The Linde Group to add 20 hydrogen filling stations in Germany. There are currently about 30 hydrogen refueling points in Germany, but only seven of them are integrated into a public filling station facility.

The new stations will be located in Stuttgart, Berlin and Hamburg as well as along two routes, one that runs north-south and one that crosses Germany in the east-west direction. Construction of the fueling stations will begin in 2012. Daimler hopes to use existing sites belonging to different petroleum companies that are strategically located in the traffic network. They want to make it possible to drive anywhere in Germany with a fuel-cell-powered vehicle.

An infrastructure for hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles is crucial to entice consumers to switch over to emission-free vehicles. As of April 2010, there were approximately 68 hydrogen fueling stations in the United States and nine in Canada. That number continues to grow in the US, as Toyota opened the first pipeline-fed hydrogen refueling station in California in May 2011. Toyota has promised a hydrogen vehicle by 2015. Considering Germany is about the size of California, car manufacturers have a lot of catching up to do if they hope to push their own hydrogen vehicles.

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With the recent news of Toyota opening a hydrogen fuel gas pipeline-fed fueling station for recharging fuel cell hybrid vehicles by 2015, it appears that hydrogen fuel may soon be a viable alternative. However, the technology to produce it must overcome a few barriers first. While hydrogen is lightweight, energy dense and only releases water upon combustion, hydrogen produced from natural gas results in huge CO2 emissions. Not to mention that the steam reforming process is highly energy intensive, and operates at temperatures of 850 C. Now, Researcher Mohamed Halabi at the University of Technology in the Netherlands has found a way to produce high purity hydrogen from natural gas at much lower temperatures, and without releasing C02 into the atmosphere. The method is called sorption enhanced catalytic reforming of methane, and uses novel catalyst/sorbent materials. With the new method, hydrogen is produced at much lower temperatures of 400 to 500 C.

The process is performed in a packed bed reactor using a Rhodium-based catalyst and a Hydrotalcite-based sorbent as a new system of materials. Hydrogen is produced on the active catalyst and the cogenerated C02 is effectively adsorbed on the sorbent, therefore preventing any emissions being released into the atmosphere. Additionally, the direct production of high purity hydrogen is achieved at lower pressures, and with a lower level of carbon oxides impurities at less than 100 ppm.

The reduction of the reactor size, material loading, catalyst/sorbent ratio, and energy requirements are key for the success of viable hydrogen fuel. Using this method, hydrogen could be produced using smaller hydrogen generation plants for residential or industrial application, eliminating the need for large and expensive refineries. The method is still experimental at this point, but it shows promise for a future hydrogen fuel market.

Photo: Eindhoven University researcher Mohamed Halabi at his research set-up. (Credit: Bart van Overbeeke)

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Researchers from the United States and Denmark have found an inexpensive alternative to platinum, the pricey catalyst traditionally used in hydrogen fuel production. The researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University and the Technical University of Denmark developed a molybdenum sulfide catalyst that shows a potentially viable solution for making cheap hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water.

Compared to gasoline, hydrogen is lightweight, energy dense and clean, only releasing water upon combustion. However, some methods for producing hydrogen have negative environmental impacts. Today, most hydrogen is produced from natural gas which results in large CO₂ emissions, which is quite the opposite intent of harnessing hydrogen fuel.

The best alternative for making hydrogen fuel without harmful by-products comes from using sunlight and water, which is a process known as photo-electrochemical, or PEC water splitting. When sun hits the PEC cell, the solar energy is absorbed and used to directly split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The problem with PEC water splitting is that there is a lack of cheap catalysts that can speed up the generation of hydrogen and oxygen.

The Denmark researchers created a device to harvest the energy from the sun and used it to power the conversion of single hydrogen ions into hydrogen gas. The process requires a catalyst to facilitate the reaction, which is where platinum comes in. Platinum is currently used as an efficient catalyst in the process, but platinum is rare and expensive, making it difficult to utilize for widespread use. So the collaborators investigated hydrogen producing enzymes, ie. natural catalysts, from certain organisms, using a theoretical approach the Danish researchers were developing to describe catalyst behavior. The studies led them to related compounds, which eventually took them to molybdenum sulfide, a very inexpensive solution for catalyzing hydrogen production.

However, expensive catalysts are not the only things that are preventing hydrogen fuel from becoming a viable fuel alternative, some of which include storage, price of production and the fact that hydrogen-air mixtures can ignite with very low energy input, though there are researchers working to find solutions to the problems associated with hydrogen fuel.

In addition, electric vehicles are becoming cheaper and there is increasing access to more convenient ways of recharging EVs.

The post Cheaper Catalyst Could Accelerate Hydrogen Fuel Development appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

This schematic shows high-capacity magnesium nanocrystals encapsulated in a gas-barrier polymer matrix to create a new and revolutionary hydrogen storage composite material. Credit: Image from Jeff Urban

Compared to gasoline, hydrogen is lightweight, has a higher energy density and has a variety of potential sources, like biomass. It sounds great, but there are a few drawbacks. Hydrogen-air mixtures can ignite with very low energy input. If air and hydrogen were to mix in an enclosed space, like a parking lot, a hydrogen leak could easily lead to an explosion if a flame was sparked. Due to hydrogen’s low energy ignition, hydrogen must be safely and densely stored.

In the past, researchers have managed to lock hydrogen into solids, packing larger quantities into smaller volumes with low reactivity. The problem was that most of the solids could only absorb a small amount of hydrogen and required a lot of heating or cooling to boost their energy efficiency.

But now, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy Berkeley Lab have managed to design a new composite material for storing hydrogen that’s made of nanoparticles of magnesium metal. The nanoparticles are sprinkled through a matrix of polymethyl methacrylate, which is a polymer related to Plexiglas. The material can absorb and release hydrogen without oxidizing the metal, which was a problem in the past. It is also able to do this at more modest temperatures, allowing for greater energy efficiency, which could lead to a major breakthrough for hydrogen storage, batteries and fuel cells.

The research is reported in a paper appearing in the journal Nature Materials.

[Nature Materials via PhysOrg]

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Suzuki is bringing Fuel-Cell vehicles one step closer to global adoption. The Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter packs a hydrogen tank which reacts with oxygen to produce electricity with water being the byproduct. It has been accepted by the European Union by obtaining Whole Vehicle Type Approval. This means the Burgman will not have to be inspected on an individual basis and any individual or company importing them can do so just as they would with any other approved vehicle without any hindrance in respects to vehicle admissibility. Prior to this, each Fuel Cell Scooter would have to be reviewed and inspected by a case by case basis. This news is a big step towards common acceptance as they are deemed safe. In the USA the D.O.T. uses a more lax self-governing approach by assuming importers abide by the importation laws and regulations set forth. In Canada it is much stricter and expensive as it would need individual testing and certification. With this news it will surely lead the way for other governments to accept the vehicle as safe and road worthy.

No pricing information has been released yet for the Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter, with this news Suzuki distributors should start bringing them in as soon as they are ready to roll off the line.

The Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter uses a single polymer-electrolyte type fuel cell made by Intelligent Energy. The fuel storage system is a high-pressure hydrogen tank (70MPa). Inside is a secondary battery made of Lithium-ion providing a total range of 350km per tank.

[Bikez, Suzuki GB]

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“We found a way to generate the cheapest hydrogen fuel yet, at 0.50 USD per kilogram (energy content one gallon of gasoline) and may be produced as needed without difficulty anywhere in the world, including your home with no need for storage or transportation,” says company spokesman Karel Pesel.

The press release, and even the company’s website don’t hand out many details about their “next-generation electrolyzer,” or the way it all works, but they definitely have big goals for whatever it is.  Though they don’t let on many specifics about the inner workings of their system, their website has pages upon pages of efficiency comparisons, lofty plans for application and what I can only describe as hydrogen philosophy.

I’m intrigued, but Energy Technologies CZ isn’t showing much of a backbone.

[Energy Technologies]

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The new fuel cell power kit for model scale radio controlled racing cars is being announced this week at the International Toy & Hobby Fair in Nuremberg. Horizon has developed an H-Cell 2.0 battery adapter kit that sits above the battery on the chassis of the car.  Quite different then the H-racer we saw a long time back.

This new kit includes a device called HYDROFILL, which is a model scale refueling station that is using solar power or wind power to turn water into hydrogen; creating 100% renewable fuel for your RC.  It then sends the hydrogen to the two HYDROSTIK’s.  These are used to retain 12Wh of energy in each; which is approx. 10L of hydrogen.  These fuel cells are used for the cruising power; the small lithium battery is used for any acceleration power.  By dividing the power, the H-Cell 2.0 provides more run times (“factor of 3 of 4”) which lessens the amount of power from the battery that is required to run it.

Pricing has not yet been announced but the expected shipping date of March 15^th is coming fast so we should get word of it pretty soon.  Although the performance will not compare to a nitro car, it does compare well with other electrical cars.

H-Cell 2.0 Hydrogen Fuel System for RC Cars Image Gallery

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