Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 4, Hydrogen
Filed Under: Green Technology on December 23, 2009
H2. Fuel Cell Tea. Hydrogen, that is. In the last part of this series, we talked about wind power. Now, we’re going to talk about hydrogen (H2). It’s the most abundant element in the universe and the basis for a lot of scientific breakthroughs from bombs to balloons to electric cars. It’s 2 of the three parts that make up water, it’s flammable, it’s one of the lightest elements known, and it’s got a lot to offer our green future.
There’s a lot going on with technology surrounding hydrogen. Nearly every major car maker has a hydrogen prototype of one kind or another. Most are fuel cell vehicles, though Mazda has models that burn hydrogen. Besides that, though, there are a lot of other things going on with H2 research as well. Like motorcycles! :)
The Islands of Tonga (Kingdom of Tonga) are going to be producing hydrogen from deep water windmills. That’s pretty cool since it solves the power storage problem wind usually presents. They aren’t alone in thinking H2 is a great storage medium for renewable energy.
Greenland is doing the same, with a hydrogen storage system for their renewables underway. Another power plant using hydrogen is being built in New Mexico as well.
Another company (UTRC) is working on a hydrogen fuel cell powered helicopter that’s remote-controlled and capable of a lot of cool stuff. They’re not the only ones, as another company has a hydrogen fuel-cell airplane they’ve been toying with too. Oh, and don’t forget the Navy.
Another company is working on a nickel-hydrogen (rather than hydride) battery setup. This has a lot of promise in the electric automotive industry. Pretty darn cool there.
Speaking of automotives, there are a couple of hydrogen fuel cell big rigs being worked on, besides the usual electrics. Most notably the Vision Industries trucks in Los Angeles. How about tractors? Yep, NDSU is working on hdyrogen tractors and New Holland has a hydrogen fuel-cell tractor prototype too!
How about a micro fuel-cell for charging the batteries on your gadgets? Yep, Toshiba’s on that.
Finally, last but not least, we have the most innovative H2 using product of the year… the prototype hydrogen fuel-cell car that runs on pee!
Yep, hell of a year for hydrogen!
That wraps it up for my series of breakthroughs this year. What’d you think?
Related posts:
- Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 2, Solar (again)
- Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 3, Wind
- Breakthroughs in Green Energy Tech 2009 – Part 1, Solar
