Alternative fuel news

[miznotebook]

There was recently news about a Miami entrepreneur who plans to build a string of fueling stations for hydrogen vehicles. The fuel is going to be produced at the stations using water and solar power. It's really interesting. Here is the link:

http://fuelcellsworks.com/news/2010/06/01/miami-entrepreneur-living-hydrogen-fueling-station-dream

 

[Beauty hunter]

There was recently news about a Miami entrepreneur who plans to build a string of fueling stations for hydrogen vehicles. The fuel is going to be produced at the stations using water and solar power. It's really interesting. Here is the link:

http://fuelcellsworks.com/news/2010/06/01/miami-entrepreneur-living-hydrogen-fueling-station-dream

That's incredible news. Thanks Ms. gotitgoinon!!! O.K. car manufacturers- get a move on. Move it or lose it. Hydrogen Jeeps- YES!!!

 

[miznotebook]

That's incredible news. Thanks Ms. gotitgoinon!!! O.K. car manufacturers- get a move on. Move it or lose it. Hydrogen Jeeps- YES!!!

Thanks Beauty, it kind of made my day too. And apparently hydrogen cars will be coming out soon. I surfed around on the Web and saw something about Honda coming out with some soon. Maybe Jeep will too. Apparently they are doing a lot with hydrogen vehicles in England, I saw something about hydrogen buses there.

 

[Lynnie]

This is great news!! And, I think it will take private associations (non-government) to get the momentum going for alternative energy sources.

I was in a meeting with an 'expert' who discussed oil futures and here are some points that were made:

- Dependence is driven more by the 12 member countries of OPEC than by the US as an individual consumer. In other words, OPEC drives supply and demand; however, our government isn't well-versed in working with OPEC.
- When a country is industrialized, oil consumption increases 15 fold by historical data. The two countries presently fitting this definition is China and India at 37% of all oil consumption in the world.
-Most of the wells we discuss today were discovered in the 1960's and 70's. Oil wells typically have a production span of 40 years, so we are moving into a 'depletion' status and we deplete at a rate of about 5%/year. This is why there has been such a push for deep water drilling, new rigs, opening new waters, etc. (On another thread, the oil situation is being compared to the 'race to the moon.' I think this comparison is now spot on - if we don't discover oil on our own land, we will forever be dependent.)
-Some predict the price per barrel will push through the high of $150.

I think a consortium effort of educating consumers in newly industrialized countries would be a much needed step in the right direction to supplement a global discovery of alternative energy.

Does anyone remember the electric car and why it died? Who Killed the Electric Car? NOW | PBS

There are many more articles regarding the electric car that can be found on the internet. Bottom line for oil is: greed - even the US Gov't.

 

[miznotebook]

Recent L.A. Times article on home fueling stations powered by just tap water and solar.

"An at-home system for refueling a car that doesn't pollute? It's not just a pipe dream.
By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times
June 25 2010
Imagine a world where all it took to power a car was sunshine and tap water. That isn't a pipe dream but, rather, the reality of emerging technology that someday could turn your house into a personal, zero-emission gas station."
The complete article can be viewed at:
Refueling your car at home - latimes.com

 

[Andy A]

I have signed up to be kept informed on the new Nissan Leaf electric car. So far it seems it will only travel about 100 miles before it needs recharging. This makes it practical only for local use as far as I'm concerned.
Hydrogen fueled cars seem to be the way to go. We have yet to figure out how we do many things without the use of oil. It certainly won't happen in my lifetime and probably not in yours. Flying is a great example of what I speak. No one that I am aware of has built an aircraft that is powered by anything except oil product.
There are many, many obstacles to overcome so oil dependency is still going to be with us for some time.

 

[scooterbug44]

Andy - the US military is actively testing out biofuels.

The Navy is using a 50/50 mixture of biofuel (camelina oil, which is a flowering plant not used for human or livestock food) and regular aviation fuel on the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

The USAF is testing using 100% biofuel in its A-10 Thunderbolt. They have future plans to also try it on F-15 and F-22 fighters and the C-17 transport.

The Navy is also trying algae based biofuels for their ships.

They are making sure that the biofuels are not derived from a food source and there is also talk of having farmers in Afghanistan grow biofuels with the same profit margin as opium poppies.

"The Navy hopes to put the biofuels in active planes and ships in 2010 and 2011, respectively, according to Billy Ray Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. "The three goals are fuel security, something that is renewable, and that we can produce and provide for ourselves to reduce our reliance on foreign sources of oil. It [also] has to be cost-effective. Then, obviously, the environmental benefits that could potentially derive from that."

Navy Green: Military Investigates Biofuels to Power Its Ships and Planes: Scientific American

 

[Em]

The real news story is found in that BP has been experimenting with this self generating fueling station concept for a while. I saw a documentary on it many years ago, maybe 10-15 years ago. They had some scattered about in Canada, and they used solar cells on top of the small stations, and they used the electricity to separate the water into H and O. Why did they abandon those stations? Could it be that they would make money from only the convenience factor? I'm not sure. While this sounds great at first, we do need to stop and think about what this could mean. It could mean that humans are competing with autos for water! That my friends, is a very scary thought.

 

[Andy A]

The real news story is found in that BP has been experimenting with this self generating fueling station concept for a while. I saw a documentary on it many years ago, maybe 10-15 years ago. They had some scattered about in Canada, and they used solar cells on top of the small stations, and they used the electricity to separate the water into H and O. Why did they abandon those stations? Could it be that they would make money from only the convenience factor? I'm not sure. While this sounds great at first, we do need to stop and think about what this could mean. It could mean that humans are competing with autos for water! That my friends, is a very scary thought.

Good point, Murray. There is a lot to think about and problems to solve. Everybody get out your rain barrel. Betty already has hers. And, Scooter, the key word is still "test". I hope they are successful but there is a lot to still be proven.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

I'm very interested in watching some of the lawsuits against the feds by states that want to grow hemp for fuel. Two, I believe have oil stores, but believe that hemp, since Ford designed one of his engines to run on it, would be better all around for their farmers and enviroment. If Florida could grow hemp for biomass fuels and use solar power, pretty much the entire state would be off the grid and our farmers would be growing fuel instead of getting paid to not farm.