What do ya'll think of these nano structured hydrogen efforts :
Titania Nanotube Arrays Harness Solar Energy
http://www.physorg.com/news10244.html
Direct Solar to Hydrogen:
Rupert Leach, Director, Newspath Ltd, from the UK posted me about his talking to the Chairman of Hydrogen Solar, Julian Keable
http://www.hydrogensolar.com/index.html, saying that they will be well over 10% efficiency in the near future with their Tandem Cell™, technology, and that they had initial issues with scale-up, but these seem to have been overcome and they were sounding rather optimistic a few weeks ago.
OR: BIO Hydrogen:
Craig Venter is back from his ocean cruse with the bugs he hopes will make all our fuel:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...022600932.html
And this company:
http://www.nanologix.net/index.php
"NanoLogix is a nanobiotechnology company that engages in the research, development, and commercialization of technologies for the production of bacteria, disease testing kits, alternative sources of fuel"
The NanoLogix breakthrough came about when the Company’s researchers were tinkering with its proprietary biological-based diagnostic and remediation technologies, noting that one of its patented bacterial culturing methods could produce byproduct gas surprisingly rich in hydrogen.
The implications are staggering - the world’s sustainability must increasingly rely upon biomass-based technologies because these processes use renewable resources. Unfortunately, biomass-based systems increase production of organic-matter wastewater. If treated by conventional waste treatment plants, this organic waste represents a costly economic and environmental liability.
“However, this same wastewater can also be viewed as an important potential resource for next-generation energy production,” says NanoLogix’s McClelland.
“The NanoLogix methodology for hydrogen generation is being developed for the limitless production of hydrogen from organic waste and wastewaters. Once fully proven, this has the potentiality for solving the world energy crisis through the limitless production of hydrogen from any waste organic byproduct, including sewage, and agricultural and food manufacturing waste.”
The bioreactor approach is scaling up.
Last year NanoLogix announced the results of a study that confirmed laboratory proof that its bioreactor system generates hydrogen in high yields via the use and adaptation of its intellectual property. In this study, the bioreactor produced biogas consisting of 50% hydrogen by volume, “without any trace of methane.”
“Part of the breakthrough was the absence of methane, which eliminates an additional costly step. If methane were present it would have required additional separation and hydrogen harvestation,” says McClelland.
McClelland believes that NanoLogix has discovered the most likely method for low cost production of massive quantities of hydrogen.
After last year’s study results were revealed the Company signed a feasibility study with the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of Gannon University in Erie, PA to develop a bioreactor that utilizes NanoLogix's intellectual assets. The project team compromises a distinguished cohort of scientists and university professors who share a common vision.
In July of last year NanoLogix signed an agreement to generate hydrogen from a ‘scale-up’ bioreactor system installed at Mobilia Fruit Farms in rural Pennsylvania utilizing waste organic matter from the farm’s Arrowhead Wines unit.
An even bigger scale-up agreement, to install a hydrogen generation system using Welch Food's waste organic matter, followed shortly. Welch, of course, is the world's leading producer of grape and other fruit-based food products, giving NanoLogix virtually unlimited scale-up access to the waste-organics that McClelland believes will ultimately become the unlimited energy source of tomorrow.
McClelland is hopeful that these first scale-up installations will provide valuable data for engineering future systems. "We are clearly excited with the opportunity to demonstrate conclusively that the microbial production of hydrogen is efficient, inexpensive and can meet the increasing demand of both the industrial and commercial marketplaces," states McClelland. "
Efficiency is also good:
The Energy Blog: Sleek Aptera Hybrid Designed for 330 mpg
http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/e...rated_com.html
UpDates:
The point is right now I could pay $20 K for a 12% efficient PV array to end my electric bill, in effect prepaying my electric bill for twenty years. If the nano developments in PV's, or direct thermal/electric or photoelectrochemical direct conversion to H2, can double the current efficiency while cutting the price in half, then we are talking $5,000 to be bill free.
Hydrogen Solar sent me their current Tandum Cell numbers @ 10.2% efficiency: $1.50/LB for H2
And they say that a theoretical efficiency of 35% is possible, and a 22% efficiency is realistically achievable, i.e.,... $0.75/LB of H2 which equals $0.049/KWhr equivalent. From what I understand of the direct solar to hydrogen fabrication technology, it is a much greener process, and cheaper that silicon based PVs.
I also found some tech-specs for the suncone, They claim a 50 MW array will produce at $. 046/KWhr !! This is the lowest costs I've seen for solar technology near commercial release.
Sustainable Resources, Inc. - The Suncone Solar Power Generator
http://www.sriglobal.org/suncone_intro.html
And the nano-dot approach to PVs also promises full spectrum conversion efficiencies along with clean production processes. ( UB News Services-solar nano-dots
http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-ex...rticle=75000009
Another big plus is decentralization. Distributed power networks are inherently more stable than MW based systems. The flywheel technology that Beacon Power has installed for New York and California
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/NewsAr...mktNews&rpc=44 Also contributes to the advantages of both distributed and centralized power sources. All the while adjusting to near perfectly conditioned power, and protecting from threats like this:
According to NASA and the National Science Foundation, the next 11-year sunspot cycle could be up to 50 percent stronger than the present one. That cycle will begin in late-2007/early-2008 and peak around 2012. The phenomenon is a big deal because it can disrupt satellites and knock out power grids. The details are in a story by the Los Angeles Times.
Welch's is buying the H2 Bug Farts:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060313/20060313005750.html?.v=1
SHARON, Pa., Mar 13, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NanoLogix, Inc. (Pink Sheets:NNLX) announced today that the Company has completed the construction of its first commercial hydrogen bioreactor facility at a Welch's Food plant in North East, Pennsylvania. The company also announced that the facility will begin hydrogen generation from Welch's waste organic matter on or about the first of April 2006.
