Forums

Posted: 23-05-2009 17:23 Post subject:

From little acorns...

Car race on 'hydrogen highway'

Norway has marked the opening of a 560 kilometre "hydrogen highway", with a car race between several dozen hydrogen-powered cars.

Oil and gas producer, StatoilHydro, has built several hydrogen filling stations along the route which runs between Oslo and Stavanger, to cater for cars with fuel cells.

Ulf Hafseld from StatoilHydro says they believe hydrogen engines are an effective alternative to carbon dioxide emitting petrol engines.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8060113.stm

Posted: 25-05-2009 13:16 Post subject:

Posted: 16-06-2009 20:18 Post subject:

Hydrogen car to be 'open source'
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News

The manufacturer of a hydrogen car unveiled in London on Tuesday will make its designs available online so the cars can be built and improved locally.

The Riversimple car can go 80km/hr (50mph) and travels 322km (200mi) per re-fuelling, with an efficiency equivalent to 300 miles to the gallon.

The cars will be leased with fuel and repair costs included, at an estimated £200 ($315) per month.

The company hopes to have the vehicles in production by 2013.

Next year, it aims to release 10 prototypes in a UK city which yas yet to be confirmed.

Riversimple has partnered with gas supply company BOC to install hydrogen stations for the cars in the city where the prototypes are launched.

The car itself is an amalgam of high-efficiency approaches in automotive design.

Its four motors are powered by a fuel cell rated at just six kilowatts, in contrast to current designs that are all in excess of 85 kilowatts - required because the acceleration from a standing start requires a great deal of power.

Riversimple's solution is to power the car also from so-called "ultracapacitors", which store large amounts of electric charge and, crucially, can release that charge nearly instantly to provide the power needed to accelerate from rest.

The ultracapacitors are charged as the vehicle brakes to a halt, converting the energy of the moving car into stored energy.

Without a combustion engine, gearbox, or transmission, and with a shell made of carbon fibre composites, it weighs 350kg.

The company claims that it is closer to market than any of its start-up competitors, but what sets them apart is an unusual business model.
"Riversimple has effectively rethought the whole of what in the business school world we call the 'value chain' of the auto industry," said John Constable, chair of the Riversimple project.

The company asserts that in the leasing model, the vested interest for the manufacturer is in producing long-lasting, fuel-efficient, high-quality products, since it bears the cost of both hydrogen and repairs.

Its partnership with BOC is designed to resolve the chicken-and-egg question of who would build the infrastructure required to refuel hydrogen cars when there are none on the road. Meanwhile, would-be hydrogen car buyers are concerned about the dearth of re-fuelling stations.

"You can incrementally put in a template package of one re-fuellling point and 50 cars in different cities, and each city one by one can build an urban hydrogen infrastructure, and that incrementally builds a nationwide infrastructure," said Hugo Spowers, the former race car designer who conceived the Riversimple idea in 1999.

The company will distribute the engineering designs to the 40 Fires foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that will make the designs "open source".

The idea, they say, is to allow local manufacturing in small plants. This stands in contrast to the "economies of scale" that drive current plants to huge sizes and workforces.

In addition, designs can be adjusted for local markets, using locally sourced parts or materials.

The agreement will be such that if the designs are improved by a local manufacturer, those improvements will be sent back, so that what the company refers to as its "network of manufacturers" can contribute to the overall development of the product line.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8103106.stm

Posted: 16-06-2009 21:02 Post subject:

I may buy shares in BOC. Cool

Posted: 17-06-2009 16:35 Post subject:

Posted: 17-06-2009 16:59 Post subject:

Posted: 26-06-2009 10:19 Post subject:

Carbon dioxide is produced in almost every process which creates hydrogen, except electrolysis.

So to be carbon neutral a hydrogen economy would have to use electrolysis coupled with a power generation process which doesn't itself release carbon; ideally nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal. It could be done, but we are a long way from the ideal case.

Posted: 26-03-2010 12:17 Post subject:

Police and firefighters to help test hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles
Ben Webster, Environment Editor

Police and firefighters will help to test Britain’s first fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, which is to be introduced in time for the 2012 Olympics.

A network of hydrogen filling stations will be built across London to refuel about 150 vehicles — including 50 taxis, eight buses, and 50 cars and vans that will be used by public bodies such as the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade. The vehicles will emit only water instead of exhaust fumes, and represent the first steps towards a long-term aim to switch all motorists from petrol and diesel to renewable fuels.

Unlike battery-powered electric cars, which take up to eight hours to charge, fuel-cell vehicles can have their high-pressure tanks filled with hydrogen gas in only three to four minutes.

The Greater London Authority is borrowing the concept of a “hydrogen highway” developed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California. This aims to encourage manufacturers to supply fuel-cell vehicles by providing a cluster of refuelling stations. Previous attempts to introduce fuel-cell vehicles in Britain have failed because they depended on a single fuelling point — with drivers forced to return to base every time they needed to fill up.

In an interview with The Times, Kit Malthouse, London’s deputy mayor and chairman of the London Hydrogen Partnership, said: “We are in a chicken-and-egg situation: if we are going to bring in the vehicles, we need the fuel stations. We are putting them in on the basis that if you build it, they will come.”

Mr Malthouse said that car manufacturers and the Government were focusing too much on battery-powered cars, which have only a limited range and are unsuitable for most families.

“We are going to need instant refuelling. A battery is only going to get you so far and, over time, batteries lose their rechargeability.”

The partnership is also planning to install fuel cells in dozens of office buildings to generate electricity and heat.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7076513.ece

Posted: 10-06-2010 08:35 Post subject:

Hydrogen fuel car to be tested on British roads
Hydrogen fuel-cell cars are to be tested on British roads by the public for the first time.
Published: 8:00AM BST 10 Jun 2010

Thirty of the vehicles, which have a top speed of 50mph and can go 200 miles on one tank of hydrogen, will be leased to motorists in Leicester from spring 2012.

The two-seater car has been developed by Riversimple, a small British manufacturer based in Ludlow, Shropshire. The prototype was built at Silverstone, Northamptonshire.

If the trials are successful, the company will consider building a factory in Leicester which would employ 250 people and manufacture 5,000 of the cars each year.

The cars would not be sold but instead leased out to drivers for about £200 a month plus mileage.

So far the company has spent around £3 million developing the technology and the car, which goes from 0-30mph in 5.5 seconds and does the petrol-equivalent of 300 miles per gallon.

It has now signed a deal with Leicester City Council for a 12-month pilot which will see 30 of the cars rented out to private customers, businesses, car-share schemes and local government officials in the city.

Part of the project involves identifying suitable places for hydrogen pumps where drivers can refuel.

Hugo Spowers, the founder of Riversimple, said: ''The age of fossil-fuelled cars may not be over yet but it is surely dying.

''Contrary to what we usually hear, sustainable, near pollution-free transport is possible, here and now, using existing technology.''

The company has received Government backing. Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said: ''We need to harness cutting edge technology to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels if we are to tackle climate change.

''Nowhere is this more important than with passenger cars, which are responsible for almost 60% of domestic transport emissions.

''A radical transformation of our transport network is needed in the next 40 years and this is another great example of British innovation developing low carbon solutions to bring that about.''

The car, which weighs only 350kg, can recapture its own motion energy when braking, providing 80% of the power needed for acceleration.

The only waste produced by the car is a few drops of water.

As part of its plans to create a sustainable vehicle for use in cities, Riversimple will lease the cars rather than sell them. Drivers will pay approximately £200 a month and then 15p a mile as part of a business model similar to a mobile phone contract.

The project is being backed by relatives of Ernst Piech, whose family founded Porche. The company is now looking for new investors to help finance this next phase.

Riversimple hopes that by 2015 it will have manufactured a four-seater version of the car which can be used safely on motorways and for long journeys. By 2020, it plans to have tens of thousands of cars on British roads.

Councillor Abdul Osman, in charge of regeneration and transport at Leicester City Council, said: ''This hydrogen fuel-cell car is another example of revolutionary technology being used to meet future transport needs.

''This is yet another step in making Leicester a better place to live, and proposals to build the cars locally if the scheme proves successful could also mean a major jobs boost for the city.''

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7816413/Hydrogen-fuel-car-to-be-tested-on-British-roads.html

Posted: 10-06-2010 17:01 Post subject:

My friend wants to build a methane powered car.

Posted: 11-06-2010 04:22 Post subject:

There now is a Diet Coke and Mentos powered car - though I don't really see this as the future alternative to fossil fuel. Wink

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/06/02/viral-video-celebs-build-mentos-and-coke-powered-car/

Posted: 08-09-2010 10:48 Post subject:

Royal Mail goes green in Hebrides
Post vans try out hydrogen-fuelled deliveries in Isle of Lewis trial
• Royal Mail signs up to 10:10 campaign
Severin Carrell Scotland correspondent guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 September 2010 19.56 BST

The nation's posties have used the greenest kinds of transport for generations, relying on their feet and their distinctive fleet of red bicycles to make their rounds.

Now their delivery vehicles, too, could go green. For the last few months, it has emerged, the Royal Mail has been secretly testing new zero-carbon vehicles on one of the remotest delivery rounds in Britain, in the Outer Hebrides.

Instead of diesel-belching vans, postal staff on the Isle of Lewis have been driving hydrogen-powered Ford Transits, converted at a total cost of £100,000. They fill up in Stornoway, at one of the UK's few hydrogen refuelling stations.

If the trial is a success the vehicles could be rolled out across the UK, helping to replace some of Royal Mail's fleet of 35,000 conventionally powered vans and lorries.

Other commercial van operators are understood to be interested in the trial, though the vehicle's range is, at present, just 85 to 135 miles – well under the normal capability of 300 miles.

Although hydrogen fuelling stations are scarce, on the Outer Hebrides diesel and petrol prices are usually among the highest in the UK, and hydrogen is seen as an answer to the fuel issue. The gas is created by the vehicle's electrolyser using electricity that could eventually be provided entirely from the wind and wave power the Hebrides has in abundance. Unlike petrol or diesel, hydrogen when burnt releases only water vapour.

The test vehicle was lent to Royal Mail by Cenex, a national low-carbon and fuel-cell research centre with bases in Loughborough and Coventry.

Stephen Pegrum, principal design engineer at Revolve Technologies, which converted the vehicle, said: "A lot of people, especially large fleet operators, are all watching this trial because of its huge implications. We have spent a year on its development, but it has big potential. I think it has the potential to ultimately revolutionise the transport market – but it is not in itself a silver bullet. There will be a mix of technologies involved in the future of transport, and hydrogen will be one of them."

Royal Mail was severely criticised after it scrapped all its sorting trains in 2004 as a cost-cutting measure and in favour of domestic flights and long-distance lorries. That decision was partially reversed later that year, and some "travelling post offices" were reinstated using privatised freight train companies.

A spokeswoman said Royal Mail was now "considering the findings from the trial".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/07/royal-mail-green-hebrides-hydrogen

Posted: 08-09-2010 16:36 Post subject:

But I dont know the price of fuel on Lewis...I took a couple of jerrycans full

Posted: 10-12-2010 10:32 Post subject:

Hydrogen bus launched on London tourist route
UK's first permanent hydrogen bus described as 'stepping stone' to rolling out the clean technology across the country
Shanta Barley The Guardian, Friday 10 December 2010

The UK's first permanent hydrogen bus will be launched on a popular tourist route in London today. Seven more hydrogen buses will be added to the RV1 route – which takes in Covent Garden, the Tower of London and the South Bank – by mid-2011.

The initiative, which follows a trial of three hydrogen buses in the capital between 2003 and 2007, has been described as a "stepping stone" to rolling out the technology across the country. The launch will also coincide with the opening of the UK's largest hydrogen refuelling station in Leyton, east London.

The new bus, which was designed specially for London, will begin carrying passengers tomorrow. It produces water vapour from its tailpipe and can operate for more than 18 hours without needing to refuel.

"These are the next generation of hydrogen fuel cell hybrid buses that were designed and developed based on the findings of our trial," said David Edwards, a spokesperson for Transport for London. "We will be closely assessing the performance of these buses and the new technology they use. Should the buses prove reliable and suitable for the needs of London we could consider extending the fleet."

The buses contain batteries that can store electricity generated by the hydrogen fuel cell – a device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce power and water as a by-product – in addition to energy generated during the braking process. As a result, they can travel much farther than the ones trialled in London as part of the EU-sponsored Cute – Cleaner Urban Transport for Europe – project in 2003. The new buses were designed by the consortium of businesses that furnished Vancouver with a fleet of 39 buses in 2009. "The main difference is that those buses were designed to withstand temperatures below -20C," said David Hart, a hydrogen fuel expert based at Imperial College who was involved in Cute.

More than 4,300 deaths are caused in London by poor air quality every year, costing around £2bn a year. The new buses will go some way towards tackling this dire problem, says Hart. "All that comes out of these buses is water vapour, so you don't get all of the nasty nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and particulate matter that diesel buses pump out into the air." The buses may also reduce carbon emissions – but only if the hydrogen they run on is generated using renewable electricity rather than electricity produced by burning coal, he said.

One key hurdle to rolling out the buses across the UK is cost – but Edwards is optimistic that the situation will improve soon. "This technology is currently very new, with these buses being designed to suit the London operating environment. As such, with development costs, these buses are typically more expensive than their traditional hybrid diesel counterpart. But as the technology is proven along with the environment benefits they bring, the commercial market for these buses should open up and we expect the costs to drop dramatically," he said.

London is one of a handful of cities around the world to adopt hydrogen buses. In May 2003, Madrid became the first city in the world to run a regular hydrogen bus service. Hamburg, Perth and Reykjavik quickly followed suit. Berlin's Clean Energy Partnership project, which began in 2006, aims to put 14 hydrogen buses and 40 hydrogen cars on the road by 2016. The largest hydrogen project in the world – the Hydrogen Highway – is based in California and has so far built 30 refuelling stations. In December 2009, Amsterdam also launched Nemo H2, a tour boat powered by hydrogen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/dec/10/hydrogen-bus-london

Posted: 29-01-2011 13:56 Post subject:

British scientists 'invent artificial petrol' that could cost just 90p per GALLON (and there's no carbon)
By Fiona Macrae and Rob Cooper
Last updated at 12:34 AM on 29th January 2011

Artificial petrol that costs 19p per litre could be on forecourts in as little as three years.
British scientists are refining the recipe for a hydrogen-based fuel that will run in existing cars and engines at the fraction of the cost of conventional petrol.
With hydrogen at its heart rather than carbon, it will not produce any harmful emissions when burnt, making it better for the environment, as well as easier on the wallet.

The first road tests are due next year and, if all goes well, the cut-price ‘petrol’ could be on sale in three to five years.

Professor Stephen Bennington, the project’s lead scientist, said: ‘In some senses, hydrogen is the perfect fuel. It has three times more energy than petrol per unit of weight, and when it burns, it produces nothing but water.
‘Our new hydrogen storage materials offer real potential for running cars, planes and other vehicles that currently use hydrocarbons.’

The fuel is expected to cost around $1.50 a gallon, or 19p a litre. Even with fuel taxes, the forecourt price is likely to be around 60p a litre – less than half the current cost.

That would bring the price of filling a 70-litre Ford Mondeo down to around £42.
Energy from hydrogen can be harnessed by burning the gas or combining it with oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity.

But current methods of storing hydrogen are expensive and not very safe.
To get round this, scientists from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Oxford, University College London and Oxford University have found a way of densely packing hydrogen into tiny beads that can be poured or pumped like a liquid.

Stephen Volker, of Cellar Energy, which is developing the technology, told Gizmag: ‘We have developed micro-beads that can be used in an existing gasoline or petrol vehicle to replace oil-based fuels.
'Early indications are that the micro-beads can be used in existing vehicles without engine modification. The materials are hydrogen-based, and so when used produce no carbon emissions at the point of use, in a similar way to electric vehicles.’

A tankful of the artificial petrol, which has yet to be given a brand name, is expected to last 300 to 400 miles, in line with conventional fuel.

But AA president Edmund King warned: ‘The fact the hydrogen is cheaper now doesn’t mean it always will be because the Government would soon get its hands on it and increase the tax.’ Sad

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1351341/Relief-pumps-Revolutionary-hydrogen-fuel-cost-just-90p-GALLON-run-existing-cars.html#ixzz1CQcR9BoZ