Another on-demand hydrogen system being developed by high-end companies
The idea of generating hydrogen for on-demand use is certainly not a new one, as you would know if you have watched our front page the last few weeks. The benefit here is that there would not be a need to store large amounts of hydrogen on-board under high pressures. As comments on this site attest, many worry about hydrogen storage in vehicles.
A company known as Ecotality, Inc. is developing one such system, and has signed on Airboss Aerospace, NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs and the California Institute of Technology as partners. The system is known as the Hydratus.
Airboss is excited to be working on the project according to Dave Fawcett, President of Airboss Aerospace, who also said, "The ramifications of this program transcend the vehicle industry, to many other industries including aerospace. The Ecotality hydrogen program is well designed, and with the combined efforts of in-house Ecotality personnel, Jet Propulsion Laboratories, and AirBoss, I am absolutely confident that the industry could soon realize a revolutionary and efficient, as well as economical, power source."
Those are powerful statements, and it sounds like they expect great things from this collaboration of talent. Time will tell if his expectations are met.
Related:
[Source: Ecotality via Fuel Cell Works]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike Z 3:19PM (1/09/2007)
OTC BB company name dropping to get some credibility. This is textbook pump-and-dump.
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CM 7:56PM (1/09/2007)
"Hydratus" uses magnesium and steam to produce hydrogen and magnesium hydroxide. Folks, nothing new here, this method has been known for a very long time.
It is not an "energy source", it takes a lot of electrical energy to refine magnesium and convert magnesium hydroxide back into magnesium, overall efficiency is poor. The only advantage over hydrogen is magnesium is far more compact and easy to store.
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Tim 10:44AM (1/10/2007)
On-ON with the PHEV/BEV and stop with the storing electricity in Aluminum/magnesium/steam alchemy scheme garbage. I can't produce aluminum or magnesium from my roof top PV, Wind etc AT HOME. This highly inefficient energy storage method will never-EVER allow any personal energy independence!
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