Priming the pump for hydrogen fuel

A correction was made to this story. Read below for details.

A start-up touting technology developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory plans to announce a breakthrough on Tuesday that could make hydrogen fuel a stronger contender in the alternative-energy race.

Ecotality plans to produce a prototype of an apparatus called the Hydratus that generates hydrogen fuel, from a reaction between magnesium and water, as it's needed by a vehicle's fuel cell.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, run for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, has developed a new version of the Hydratus that offers double the mileage of the old version, but at the same weight and volume. Ecotality, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., plans to unveil its prototype by the end of 2007, which will give the company time to put refinements into the newer version of Hydratus, according to Ecotality's CEO, Jonathan Read.

"Hydrogen on-demand is going to be what catapults hydrogen from being a great concept to a great reality," said Read.

The Department of Energy has been encouraging research in alternative-energy technologies such as that used in hydrogen fuel-cell cars, whose only byproduct is water. But large-scale implementation of hydrogen fuel faces obstacles that many critics say could be almost insurmountable.

Among the issues: It takes a lot of electricity to produce hydrogen for fuel; hydrogen fuel-cell cars can't go far before needing a refill; the U.S. has no hydrogen fuel infrastructure; and transporting hydrogen safely and efficiently could be tricky. Also, producing hydrogen via conventional means generates a lot of carbon dioxide, one of the primary causes of global warming.

The problem with compressed hydrogen
But Read points out that the product of conventional production and storage techniques--compressed hydrogen--is unlikely to find a viable market anyway. "Compressed hydrogen is the least likely to be the prevailing system when the shakeout is done and over with. It's expensive to produce, transport and store, and it's inefficient in form to produce and store," said Read.

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with a Hydratus on board would eliminate the need for producing hydrogen fuel, compressing it for transport and then safely storing it at filling stations, he said.

The details of Hydratus' on-demand fuel production system are proprietary to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but Read said that the magnesium/water reaction occurs somewhere between 400 and 600 degrees Celsius. The Hydratus has a cooling system based on the controlled flow of the magnesium, which is also used to continue the reaction.

The device is similar in concept to on-demand electricity producer from start-up Signa Chemistry, which uses a controlled chemical reaction to harvest hydrogen from sodium with silica gel or crystalline silicon powder.

Besides water, a byproduct from the reaction in Hydratus is a powder form of magnesium oxide, which stays in the device until it is pumped out. Filling stations for Hydratus-equipped vehicles would use a three-pronged pump that pumps in new magnesium pellets and water and pumps out the spent magnesium oxide. The pump is safe enough to be used by any consumer, said Read, and takes about 3 to 5 minutes to fill a Hydratus to capacity.

The spent magnesium oxide powder is 99.8 percent recyclable and can be made into usable magnesium pellets at the filling station itself. Though the process for converting the spent magnesium into usable pellets does require electricity, it is far less than the electricity required to produce hydrogen fuel, according to Read. This makes the magnesium a renewable resource.

"Magnesium is the fourth most-common mineral in the world and could be extracted from the sea. It's common and available in almost all countries. The magnesium, once it's put into the system, is a contained system. So there is no need to continue mining," said Read.

Ecotality's Hydratus-equipped buses will offer a range of about 155 miles (250 kilometers), or about 15 hours of operation. The cost for fuel is about $4.80 per liter (about $17.50 per gallon), or $2.80 per liter if the filling station recycles its own spent magnesium.

Because of the limitations on driving range, Ecotality sees municipalities trying to meet clean-energy requirements, and companies with truck fleets such as FedEx, as the most likely early adopters of its technology. The company is already in negotiations with interested municipalities around the world.

Buses equipped with power systems from hydrogen technology company Hydrogenics would, when outfitted with the Hydratus, cost about $500,000 each, whereas a bus with a conventional engine costs about $300,000, according to Read.

The company is also developing other versions of the Hydratus that could be used with fuel cells producing back-up power for houses, cell phone towers and computer systems.

 

Correction: This story originally misspelled the name of Ecotality's CEO. His name is Jonathan Read.

[enscorp]

Primary causes of global warming ?

I LOVE how CNET just jumps on the envirowhaco bandwagon and states that CO2 is a PRIMARY CAUSE of global warming, as if:

1. Global warming is a FACT - which it is NOT. The evidence does NOT support warming caused by man. the overwhelming evidence points directly at our local furnace (i.e. STAR) called the SUN.
2. That somehow man hasd caused a buildup of CO2, when this can be easily refuted with some relativel simple science measuring the comparative release of "greenhouse gasses" from volcanic eruptions. (a single LARGE eruption of an average volcano - releases more CO2 than man could muster over decades) The FACTS dont't support the "man did it" camp. Our influence contributes, but it's a TINY portion of the overall equation, amounting to less than 1/10th of 1%.

GO ahead folks, follow like the nice, docile sheeple that you are and allow this facade to lead us all towards the great Socialist police state you really want. This is all about control and power. If you can't figure it out then you deserve what's coming to you.

I'm all for preservation of resources, good stewardship of our environment, higher efficiency in energy use etc.. But let's get real. We CANNOT and will NOT ever be able to effect Earth's Global climate on a large scale unless you want to unleaseh several thousand megatons of surface nuclear detonations to create a "nuclear winter".. Beyond this, all the talk of carbon sequestration, blah, blah, blah..is just more smoke and mirrors so the average doofus can't see the power plays being made to control us. (Save the children, save Mother Earth 'Gaia'-- Hilarious)

God already foresaw this time in history.

CNET - You are hilarious. I LOVE reading this drivel as it's very entertaining. Another publication kowtowing to the New World Order freaks.

Keep up the 'good' work.

ROTFL

[apptec]

Hypower Fuel already has a working Hydrogen generator

Hypower Fuel already has a working Hydrogen generator, they are working on a webcast to showcase this technology. You can read the article at http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070322/20070322005196.html?.v=1 or go to there website at
http://www.hypowerfuel.com/home.html

It should be an amazing future

[densbtly]

600 degrees(c)?

I'm sure the geniuses have figured out how to heat the magneseum / water to 1000 degrees(f)... but it would be nice to know roughy how the blast furnace/laser contraption is powered/started up?

[rtaite]

18 a gallon!

Holy Mother of God! Ethanol is much much cheaper and ANYONE can make it. Why would we focus on magnesium aided hydrogen as an energy carrier which much cheaper and better ones exist RIGHT NOW? I mean I don't think ethanol is a cureall, but for once maybe Bush is right it is a good hedge against $4.00 a gallon gas. And it is a renewable resource as well.

Ralph

[lievenv]

too cumbersome

Take a look at this beauty : http://www.theaircar.com

All you need is a solar panel to produce clean electricity for the compressor needed to fill up this beauty's tank with compressed air, cos that's what this car runs on, compressed air.
And all that comes out of the tailpipe is breathable air.

Here's a nice report on the thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmqpGZv0YT4

I'm getting one!

[apptec]

Check out Hypower fuels

Take a look at
http://www.hypowerfuel.com/home.html

[NoVista]

Serendipity

Has anyone noticed the real estate loan data for 1948-2005 closely parallels the IPCC hockeystick curve?

And consensus is not science. Einstein said something like "It only takes ONE person to prove me wrong."

[Doug Snodgrass]

Something We Can All Agree On

The issue of global warming stirs up some strong feelings on all sides, but it would be prudent to look beyond that and realize that practically everybody has a legitimate stake in making alternative fuel technologies viable. Whether a person believes in the existence of global warming or not, all agree that we need to take care of the environment and that reducing or eliminating our dependence on foreign oil directly impacts our national security.

The Ecotality Blog discusses and argues these issues in great detail, with basically all views represented.

http://ecotalityblog.com

[Janis Mara]

Let a million alt fuels flow!

Just wanted to respond to a comment by a reader who suggested that ethanol is "much better and cheaper." Sounds like we are in agreement that it's a good idea to use alternative fuels and lessen our dependency on foreign oil, but in disagreement as to how to go about it. I'm in favor of ethanol and alternative fuels generally, but none are perfect; for example, some - including a former economist for President Clinton - fear that ethanol might cause worldwide food prices to spike (http://www.khqa.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=30855).

But if it's approached correctly, and other alternatives are used, the variety of different approaches could help solve the problem.

So, let a million (or at least a dozen or so) alternative fuels flow - including hydrogen.

Janis Mara - www.ecotality.com

[Cpl_Punishment]

Rule One: Avoid logical errors

Allow me to quote from the article...

"producing hydrogen via conventional means generates a lot of carbon dioxide, one of the primary causes of global warming"

Please explain how there can be more than one primary cause of anything?

[Steve Caratzas]

It's Always Good To Have Alternatives

It's clear that fossil fuels have harmed the planet in numerous ways, and that the time has come for a change.

Hydrogen has long been at the forefront of alternative fuel discussion, and it's rewarding to see it get such a positive write-up.

Let's hope this alternative fuel source is given its due.

[bejota]

Did I get lost?

Hey, I thought I was going to be reading interesting posts on Alternative energy? All I see here is a bunch of ***-for-tat discussions on Global warming and who right about the causes. who care about that...lets get to the alternative energy stuff so we can get the *ell out of Iraq and leave the Middle East region alone to sort out thier own messes for once