Chris A Watkins is an engineer with many years experience in vehicle fleet management. In recent years he has been more active in IT and writing and has a keen interest in environmental issues. www.ffox.biz http:\cawatkins.blogspot.com
Archive for the ‘feulcell energy’ Category
The End of Fossil Fuels: Back to the Pack Horse, or is There Another Way?
One alternative, hydrogen (see authors article Hydrogen – Fuel of the Future, or Just a Spark in the Dark?) , has gained some stock reasons for its failure to gain support and acceptance.
1. No distribution network.
2. Fear of explosion.
When the automotive industry was active in testing this fuel, tests were similarly carried out with liquid petroleum gas (LPG). This fuel also had no bulk distribution network and was also more volatile than petrol. For safe handling both hydrogen and LPG require a robust fuel tank. In Europe LPG gained acceptance and promotion and is now widely available, hydrogen didn?t.
Interestingly, LPG is produced by the same companies that produce petrol and diesel as it is a by-product of that process. More interestingly LPG is produced from the same raw product as petrol. This comes from the same oil fields as petrol. Hydrogen does not come from oil fields.
More recently bio-diesel was extensively prototyped and tested. Again it failed to lift off in a marketing sense.
Bio-fuel is produced from green mass, grown in farm fields and not pumped from oil fields.
Alternative fuels are inherently more expensive than fossil derived fuels. Apparent price parity with petrol/diesel only comes about because the cost of fossil derived fuel is maintained at a high value through supply control of the raw material and taxation on derivative sales. This could be seen as a global attempt at triple bottom line accounting as while oil and gas are relatively cheap to mine, the oil field to petrol pump costs take no account of the millions of years it took the earth to lay down the deposits.
Yet even in countries where petrol and diesel prices are the highest, consumption continues to rise. An indicator, perhaps, that more expensive alternative fuels will not find themselves priced beyond the market.
Marketing and market timing are the key factors here. If and when the world does run out of fossil fuels there will be many alternatives to choose from. The current stalemate is that the producers of raw fossil fuels (countries not companies) cannot withstand the effect that a mass movement away from this resource would create.
This is a very general summary of a very complex world situation, also it does not take account of the environmental issue that surround it, but you can rest assured that, given a gradual process of development, the world?s wheels will not stop turning for want of petrol.
It would seem then that the dichotomy is that though millions will be adversely affected by global warming, if the world were to make the major step of ditching the use of fossil fuel consumption in favour of an alternative, that switch would also adversely affect millions.
Catch 22.
? Copyright 2007
Save Our Planet With Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Have you heard about water fuel? Well, it is properly called hydrogen fuel cell technology and it is here to save the planet. Oil and gas prices are soaring higher and higher and there will come a time when people realize that they should consider an alternative fuel energy source.
Admit it, everyday your car emissions are contributing to pollution. If you want to reduce pollution and at the same time save money, you need to make use of hydrogen fuel cell technology; find out more by reading this article.
Hydrogen fuel cell technology is not new. It started more or less eighty years ago but since it is quite expensive, scientists and researchers don’t find it a good alternative fuel source. Aside from the hydrogen technology, other technologies have surfaced years ago such as the use of vegetable oil and sugar cane to run a car. However, these technologies did not achieve great success because of the hefty price, climate restrictions, and other issues regarding safety on the road. In short, these technologies were unstable.
Hydrogen fuel cell technology is different. In fact, there are now converted hydrogen cars roaming the streets of US, Europe, and Canada. This improved technology is now more stable. Have you tried surfing the internet? The hydrogen fuel cell kits are widely available online and anyone can get it as long as they want to take advantage of the hydrogen technology.
Experts did not find vegetable oil and sugar cane as viable options. Can hydrogen technology offer something different? If you want proof, the technology is proof in itself since it is science reality. With hydrogen technology, you will still need gasoline aside from the HHO generator and conversion tool.
The conversion tool will need electricity from the car battery and this will be used to conduct the process of electrolysis. Through the process, hydrogen will be extracted from water and in turn provide the car with added power. Obviously, at this point in time, hydrogen technology can’t replace the use of diesel or gasoline. Well, who knows what might happen in the future.
By using this hydrogen fuel cell technology, you can reduce your fuel consumption to a great extent and save lots of money. Now, why did scientists and researchers find this technology viable? The reason is that hydrogen technology is much more affordable now. In fact, car companies will soon offer the public with affordable hydrogen powered vehicles.
Conversion projects are easy to build and are quite affordable. If you’re interested with the hydrogen technology, surf the net now. Check out the available resources that are in store for you. You will surely get tremendous savings by simply investing on the fuel cell kits online.
Even if you buy the built fuel cells, the cost is still nothing compared to the savings that you will get in return. Well, if you want changes, you definitely have to spend some money. This is a very good investment because you’re not only helping yourself but you’re also helping the world.
Find guides online to help you go through with your conversion project. Perhaps you have a friend or a relative who converted their car already. Ask help from them so that the task is immediately finished. If everyone in the world consider the use of hydrogen fuel cell technology, life will improve.
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Can Water be Used for Fuel in Your Car
Water fuel – does it exist and can it work? Using water as fuel for cars is not a new concept but one that has begun receiving extra attention of late due to extremely high fuel prices. People are looking for alternative, cheaper ways to run their cars and water fuel could be the way to go about it.
How does it work?
Using water as fuel is not as simple as pouring water into your fuel tank; that is the fast way to break your car and should never be attempted. This technology works by using water and hydrogen. The result is hydrogen oxide which burns well and efficiently. If you have seen the instructions online to make your own kits, they involve using gasoline with water as a mixture. Whilst you are still using gas, you are significantly cutting down how much you use and thus, how much you spend.
What are the benefits to using water as fuel?
There are several benefits to a water fuel mix including increased mileage. Some experts have stated you can reach up to 50% increase in mileage which can equal a saving of hundreds of dollars every week if you are a person who travels everyday to work or elsewhere. Another great benefit is that this fuel is less harmful to engines. By increasing the life expectancy of your car engine you reduce then need to fix and replace your car so often.
One more great benefit of water fuel is that it makes cars run quieter and smoother and performance has said to increase. Last but not least is the greatest benefit of all – the fact that emissions are so much cleaner with water fuel rather than straight gasoline. Keeping down CO2 emissions is a major goal for all countries and cars make up the largest contributor to global warming. Water fuel emits mostly water vapor which is completely harmless to the ozone compared with greenhouse emissions.
Water fuel is the way of the future, there is no doubt about that. Whilst car manufacturers are yet to adopt this technology, it wont be long until we start seeing alternative fuels like this being used on a mass scale. This will reduce our dependence on oil and of course reduce the amount of deadly and dangerous greenhouse emissions that currently spew out of cars on a massive scale each and every day.
If you liked this article and want more information on how to use water as fuel in your car, why not visit http://www.watercarreviewsite.com/ and get FREE 7 parts ecourse on water fuel.
A Basic Description of Fuel Cells
Fuel cells are electrochemical devices which combine hydrogen with oxygen in order to produce electricity.
During the power generation cycle, water and heat are produced as a by-products. This is a far more ideal byproduct than the unclean emissions which are created by other methods of generating electricity.
They will operate and generate power so long as fuel is supplied. Since the conversion of the fuel to energy takes place via an electrochemical process, and not by combustion, the process is clean, quiet, and highly efficient – two to three times more efficient than regular combustion, such as that done by gasoline in a generator.
Fuel cell technology is unique as a power technology – no other energy generation technology offers the combination of benefits that these devices do. In addition to producing extremely low or zero emissions (depending on the type used), some of their main benefits include:
High efficiency and reliability Multi-fuel capability Durability Scalability Ease of maintenance
Since they generate power through a chemical process, they operate silently. Thus, they reduce noise pollution, as well as air pollution. Heat generated by the cells, in the process of generating electricity can be captured and used to provide hot water or space heating for a home or office, in larger applications.
Another key aspect of this technology is that the cells can be scaled to any size required, without difficulty. Small cells can be produced which will power mobile phones for up to thirty days, or operate laptops for twenty hours or more. Larger versions can be produced to operate as power plants, in order to provide electricity for small cities. And of course, there are many sizes in between.
The most notable use of fuel cells currently being developed is as a replacement for the combustion engine. It is very likely that cars and other vehicles will be powered by fuel cells in the not too distant future.
In light of the above, the U.S. Department of Energy (COE) is running a program in order to research and develop this technology further. The DOE considers this to be an important enabling technology for the hydrogen economy. It states that they have the potential to revolutionize the way we power our nation, by offering cleaner and more highly efficient alternatives to the combustion of gasoline and other hazardous fossil fuels.
The DOE also considers that these devices have the potential to replace internal-combustion engines in vehicles, and to provide power in stationary and portable power applications because they are energy-efficient, clean, and fuel-flexible.
Currently the DOE is working closely with its national laboratories, universities, and industry partners across the United States, in order to overcome critical technical barriers to the commercialization of fuel cell technology. It is currently focused on the development of reliable, low-cost, high-performance fuel cell system components, for transportation and buildings applications.
The first fuel-cell operated cars are currently being piloted. The first commercially available cars of this make are predicted to reach the consumer market by the year 2012.
There are many forms of alternative energy being researched, developed, and utilized around the world. There is solar power, wind power, hydro-kinetic power, biomass, ocean wave power, tidal power, and the list goes on and on. A key factor to reducing our uses of unhealthy fossil fuels will be to determine which clean alternative energy resources work best under which circumstances and in which locations. A full understanding of all clean alternative energy sources is necessary.
Fuels cells play a big role in helping clean up our environment.
Please see The Uses of Fuel Cells for information on the various ways in which fuel cells can be utilized.