Student design contest on hydrogen applications for airports now open
Hydrogen Applications for Airports is the theme of this year's Hydrogen Student Design Contest. The Hydrogen Education Foundation arranges the contest for university-level students from multiple disciplines to come up with hydrogen solutions for South Carolina's Columbia Airport.
The top runners up will present their concepts to 1,500 energy industry professionals on March 29th through April 2nd, 2008 at the NHA's 19th Annual Hydrogen Conference in Sacramento, California. They will be eligible to have travel expenses paid, and the opportunity to have their plans implemented. While being in the same vein as the Automotive X Prize, this contest is perhaps more practical, as the last two contest winners didn't just receive a load of cash, but have been granted funding for the construction and implementation of their designs.
Rules for the contest include a budget of $3 million if the plan were to be put into effect, and the design must be related to water and air purity, safety, security, energy efficiency and noise pollution, and be potentially applicable to other airports around the world. Also, keeping innovations leaning closer to practicality, designs must operate on technologies and materials that will be available and possible to implement by 2009. Registration and more information for the contest are available here.
[Source: HydrogenContest.org via Fuel Cell Works]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris M 2:21AM (6/13/2007)
According to the rules, teams get points for "Techical accuracy, Realism (ability to be installed by January 2009), Practicality/usefulness, Value per dollar spent, Overall impact on airport operations and surrounding community, Originality, Educational value, Ability to transition from incumbent system to new design, and Clarity of writing". If any team dared to give an accurate account of "Realism, Practicality, and Value per dollar spent", they'd have to conclude that it was a Very Bad Idea. That, of course, would not go over well with the judges who are looking to promote the hydrogen boondoggle as a way to get more government funds to their companies.
Whoever wins, we can be sure that, just like all the previous contest ideas, it will be hyped then forgotten. The 2004 contest was to design a H2 fueling station, the 2005 contest was to design a "hydrogen power park".
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PatrickS 10:03AM (6/14/2007)
Wow, who took the jam out of ChrisM's donut? Pessimistic much? I think it's close-minded people like him who are hindering the development of emerging technologies.
I've done a lot of reading on hydrogen and talking with experts in the field and I've learned that there are plenty of solutions using hydrogen that would be practical, help to reduce emissions at airport, reduce fuel use and cut down on noise. Planes often run their engines, especially in warm SC to keep the AC going. Wouldn't it be better if they could run on clean power hooked up to the gate instead? How about the plane tugs and other ground support equipment? You could switch those over to hydrogen using today's technologies and a central fueling dispenser or two, and reduce more noise and emissions right there. I see a countless array of options for addressing the main challenges at airports today, according to the Contest rules: "air and water quality, noise pollution, energy efficiency, and safety and security."
Not convinced that there are realistic solutions for hydrogen with products available today?
Check out the new NHA's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Product Catalog: http://www.hydrogenassociation.org/general/productsSearch.asp
Or the US Fuel Cell Council's Product list:
http://www.usfcc.com/resources/outreachproducts.html
I think a contest like this to spark new ingenuity is just what we need right now to find new solutions to our fuel import and climate change issues. I applaud any students entering this competition and look forward to seeing the design solutions they come up with!
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