Hydrogen fuel cell game changer?

[preslove]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/04/biofuel-breakthrough-turns-virtually-any-plant-into-hydrogen/

Researchers at Virginia Tech announced Thursday that their latest breakthrough in hydrogen extraction technology could lead to widespread adoption of the substance as a fuel due to its ease of availability in virtually all plant matter, a reservoir previously impossible to tap.

The new process, described by a study in the April issue of the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie, uses a cocktail of 13 enzymes to strip plant matter of xylose, a sugar that exists in plant cells. The resulting hydrogen is of an such a “high purity” that researchers said they were able to approach 100 percent extraction, opening up a potential market for a much cheaper source of hydrogen than anything available today.

“The potential for profit and environmental benefits are why so many automobile, oil, and energy companies are working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as the transportation of the future,” study author and Virginia Tech assistant professor Y.H. Percival Zhang said in an advisory. “Many people believe we will enter the hydrogen economy soon, with a market capacity of at least $1 trillion in the United States alone.”

The rise of such an alternative fuel could seriously disrupt the pollution-producing industries that run on oil and natural gas, and potentially spark a new industrial emphasis on growing plants with high levels of xylose in their cells. The environmental benefits of that potential future are twofold: the plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping in small part to address the climate crisis, and the resulting portable fuel only outputs water when burned.

Beyond hydrogen fuel cells in cars and industrial equipment, U.S. space agency NASA says that hydrogen in its super-cold liquid form makes an ideal fuel for space exploration due to its low molecular weight and extremely high energy output. If plants could be grown on a space station traveling to a distant solar system some day, it is possible future breakthroughs could lead to an onboard system that actually renders more fuel mid-flight.

Of course, there are potential downsides to Zhang’s enzyme cocktail, namely in the costs of production on a large scale, questions about disposal of the enzyme goo and remaining carbon, and the likelihood of endless legal battles over who owns patents on which enzymes or combinations thereof. Nevertheless, if the world is to move forward into a renewable energy future, this is still a pretty big step.

Now we just have to worry about the explosions...

 

[BUTCH1]

I guess there would be a need for a VERY secure storage tank for use in transportation but someone should be able to develop that..

 

[silverpig]

For me it's all about electric and batteries. We know how to make them, we have a global distribution network already set up, we have commercially available vehicles using it already, it's just a matter of improving the range.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

For me it's all about electric and batteries. We know how to make them, we have a global distribution network already set up, we have commercially available vehicles using it already, it's just a matter of improving the range.

And lifetime and recharge rates and cost. I'm not sold on any particular technology at this moment. When someone shows me a commercially viable proof of concept cost competitive with today's technology then I'll get all excited. Until then it's fossil fuels. I don't expect much really even if the technology is invented since companies with money will just buy the rights and kill it with IP.

 

[silverpig]

And lifetime and recharge rates and cost. I'm not sold on any particular technology at this moment. When someone shows me a commercially viable proof of concept cost competitive with today's technology then I'll get all excited. Until then it's fossil fuels. I don't expect much really even if the technology is invented since companies with money will just buy the rights and kill it with IP.

Depending on where you are, costs are quite reasonable, especially if you don't drive much. The others are good points, but a lot of progress has already been made and people are working on it. Can't say fuel cells have made as much progress.

 

[TwiceOver]

So what makes up this enzyme cocktail? I mean, this is cool and all but if you end up with a slurry of toxic shit leftover, what's the point.

 

[nehalem256]

For me it's all about electric and batteries. We know how to make them, we have a global distribution network already set up, we have commercially available vehicles using it already, it's just a matter of improving the range.

Given the amount of effort put into extending battery life, with relatively little success, I think you are vastly understating this issue.

 

[preslove]

For me it's all about electric and batteries. We know how to make them, we have a global distribution network already set up, we have commercially available vehicles using it already, it's just a matter of improving the range.

Range is a huge problem. Israel has been experimenting heavily electric cars and it isn't going well. If it can't succeed in a small, urban place like israel, then electric probably ain't going to work here.

 

[LTC8K6]

So what makes up this enzyme cocktail? I mean, this is cool and all but if you end up with a slurry of toxic shit leftover, what's the point.

Sorta' like when you make batteries and solar cells...

 

[Markbnj]

This is a very cool advance in hydrogen production, but even if it pans out commercially it doesn't elevate H out of the false hope category, where it languishes with its cellmates solar, wind, and tidal power.

We've been harvesting the concentrated energy of 4+ billion years of solar radiation, in the form of petroleum. We aren't going to replace it by turning plants into fuel. I'm a lot more excited by recent hints at exponential leaps in the storage of electric charges, because that at least hints at the possibility of a practical nuclear-electric solution to our portable power needs. We have to move up the energy density scale, not down.

 

[preslove]

An enzyme cocktail combined with lots of cellulose is going to always be less toxic than anything that uses fossil fuels or coal.

 

[dpodblood]

For me it's all about electric and batteries. We know how to make them, we have a global distribution network already set up, we have commercially available vehicles using it already, it's just a matter of improving the range.

The problem with that is at this point in time the mining of materials, transporting, and manufacturing of batteries is just as damaging to the environment and burns just as much fossil fuels as simply sticking with gas cars.

 

[preslove]

This is a very cool advance in hydrogen production, but even if it pans out commercially it doesn't elevate H out of the false hope category, where it languishes with its cellmates solar, wind, and tidal power.

We've been harvesting the concentrated energy of 4+ billion years of solar radiation, in the form of petroleum. We aren't going to replace it by turning plants into fuel. I'm a lot more excited by recent hints at exponential leaps in the storage of electric charges, because that at least hints at the possibility of a practical nuclear-electric solution to our portable power needs. We have to move up the energy density scale, not down.

Hydrogen is certainly good enough for cars, but not for the rest of our electricity needs. Hydrogen never made sense because it took so much electricity to produce the hydrogen. If a simple chemical solution, plus tons of grass crops from resting corn fields can create the hydrogen needed, then it suddenly becomes a better option than batteries, which will never be recharged fast enough to allow for significant enough range.

 

[Markbnj]

If a simple chemical solution, plus tons of grass crops from resting corn fields can create the hydrogen needed, then it suddenly becomes a better option than batteries, which will never be recharged fast enough to allow for significant enough range.

I'm not sure we can make, store, transport, and distribute enough of it to satisfy even just the world's motor transport needs. It has a really low energy density, and it tends to leak out of whatever system you try to contain it in. I'm more excited about the potential in advances like graphene supercapacitors. Imagine if we had a battery that charged in seconds or minutes, and held a charge for years. That would be a real game changer.

 

[DesiPower]

Old news...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell_bus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fuel_cell_vehicles

 

[silverpig]

Range is a huge problem. Israel has been experimenting heavily electric cars and it isn't going well. If it can't succeed in a small, urban place like israel, then electric probably ain't going to work here.

Sure, but you could do inductive charging pads at intersections to keep things topped up constantly. Teslas can get over 400km now. That's plenty of range for most applications.