.

Ever volatile fuel prices, security of supply, renewable energy cost reductions and environmental-climate concerns are dramatically accelerating the demand for greener alternatives.

It has become a global imperative that we break our addiction to fossil fuels. Providing for the ever increasing energy and transportation needs of the planet is going to take a wide range of alternative energy sources, cleaner fuels, the smart grid and advanced storage solutions.

These technologies are finally establishing themselves in the energy mix and becoming mainstream .....an emerging multi trillion dollar market rapidly becoming one of the most significant industrial sectors this century. The future is bright for renewable energy sources and a greener sustainable world.

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Road tour educates people about hydrogen vehicle technology

18 08 08 - 17:15 Road tour educates people about hydrogen vehicle technology




By Jackie Best





Washington - Hydrogen powered cars have finally moved from the drawing board to the road, and as tourists on a double-decker snapped photos, I got the chance to test drive two of them Thursday.

When I floored it on a nearly empty street at L'Enfant Plaza, the Nissan X-Trail sport utility vehicle, switched power sources - from the battery to the hydrogen fuel cell. The Nissan and the other car I drove, a BMW Hydrogen Series 7, are the future of automobiles, according to government officials and car manufacturers.

The departments of Energy and Transportation, along with nine auto manufacturers, sponsored at the Hydrogen Road Tour Event to show hydrogen vehicles to the public.

"The idea is to get people a little more comfortable with the technology," said Thomas Barrett, deputy transportation secretary.

Hydrogen vehicles run on hydrogen and oxygen and have zero emissions - the only byproduct is water vapor.

The Nissan X-Trail has a fuel cell that converts hydrogen into electricity and a lithium battery pack to help with acceleration and performance. It also turns off automatically when the car is idling at a stoplight.

The car was silent. I turned the key and was about to turn it again because the car didn't make the usual start-up clamor when Brian Johnston, senior project engineer for Nissan who was riding with me, pointed out it was already on. Accelerating and stopping were much smoother than any gasoline powered car.

The BMW Hydrogen Series 7 runs on hydrogen in an internal combustion engine, just like a gasoline car. It can also run on gasoline, so drivers who have trouble finding a hydrogen fueling station can switch to gasoline at any time.

This car was also silent, but instead of using a key to turn it on, it has an on/off button. It drove exactly like a gasoline car.

Dave Buchko, product communications manager for BMW, said the company chose a combustion engine rather than a fuel cell so people would feel like they were driving a regular car.

He said hydrogen is not only an important energy source because it produces zero emissions, but also because it can be produced domestically

The tour began Monday and goes to Aug. 23. It will visit 31 cities in 13 states, giving people a chance to see the cars, talk to experts and even drive them. The vehicles will travel a combined 24,000 miles on the trip.

Hydrogen is quickly emerging as a renewable alternative energy to foreign oil, Barrett said.

Hydrogen vehicles are already being driven by some people in demonstration programs, but by 2015 the vehicles are expected to be ready for practical use. By 2030, half of cars are expected to run on hydrogen, and by 2050, the majority of cars are expected to run on hydrogen, said Jeff Serfass, president of the National Hydrogen Association.

"There's no doubt about it - energy and the importation of oil are threatening our nation," Serfass said. "We can really reach oil independence by the middle of the century. We are much closer today than in 2004."

In 2004, President Bush created the hydrogen fuel cell initiative, which provided $1.2 billion over five years for research and development of hydrogen technology to help reduce dependence on foreign oil.

"We need national leadership, and we have had it from Bush," Serfass said.

His daughter, Julie Serfass, 25, test drove the Daimler Mercedes-Benz F-cell car and said the car was much quieter than a gasoline car. An educational researcher from Washington, she normally drives a Honda Civic.

"I would much rather have a hydrogen than anything gas powered," she said.

So far, several thousand people have driven the vehicles on the tour.

Hydrogen is a good fuel source for many reasons, Johnston said. Hydrogen can be manufactured from a variety of different products, including water; it has no emissions, which is important for improving urban air quality; it is safer than gasoline because it cannot catch fire, and it is predicted that eventually the cost per mile to operate a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and maintenance costs will be less than current vehicles.

Earl Lawson, vice president of commercial development for Linde North America, which produces hydrogen, said hydrogen has been produced and used for decades in technology such as space shuttles and material processing.

He said hydrogen is a renewable resource if it is taken from water. It can also be taken from natural gas and other chemicals. He said creating hydrogen-fueled vehicles is an important step toward energy independence and economic growth.

Hydrogen cars are fueled at stations with pumps, in a process similar to filling a tank with gasoline. Only about 60 hydrogen stations exist in the U.S., Barrett said.

The vehicles going on tour are the BMW Hydrogen Series 7, the Daimler Mercedes-Benz F-Cell, the GM Chevy Equinox FCV, the Honda FCX Clarity, the Hyundai Tucson FCV, the Kia Sportage FCV, the Nissan X-Trail FCV, the Toyota Highlander FCHV, and the Volkswagen Touran and Tiguan HyMotion. The departments of Energy and Transportation, along with nine auto manufacturers, sponsored at the Hydrogen Road Tour Event to show hydrogen vehicles to the public.

"The idea is to get people a little more comfortable with the technology," said Thomas Barrett, deputy transportation secretary.

Hydrogen vehicles run on hydrogen and oxygen and have zero emissions - the only byproduct is water vapor.

The Nissan X-Trail has a fuel cell that converts hydrogen into electricity and a lithium battery pack to help with acceleration and performance. It also turns off automatically when the car is idling at a stoplight.

The car was silent. I turned the key and was about to turn it again because the car didn't make the usual start-up clamor when Brian Johnston, senior project engineer for Nissan who was riding with me, pointed out it was already on. Accelerating and stopping were much smoother than any gasoline powered car.

The BMW Hydrogen Series 7 runs on hydrogen in an internal combustion engine, just like a gasoline car. It can also run on gasoline, so drivers who have trouble finding a hydrogen fueling station can switch to gasoline at any time.

This car was also silent, but instead of using a key to turn it on, it has an on/off button. It drove exactly like a gasoline car.

Dave Buchko, product communications manager for BMW, said the company chose a combustion engine rather than a fuel cell so people would feel like they were driving a regular car.

He said hydrogen is not only an important energy source because it produces zero emissions, but also because it can be produced domestically

The tour began Monday and goes to Aug. 23. It will visit 31 cities in 13 states, giving people a chance to see the cars, talk to experts and even drive them. The vehicles will travel a combined 24,000 miles on the trip.

Hydrogen is quickly emerging as a renewable alternative energy to foreign oil, Barrett said.

Hydrogen vehicles are already being driven by some people in demonstration programs, but by 2015 the vehicles are expected to be ready for practical use. By 2030, half of cars are expected to run on hydrogen, and by 2050, the majority of cars are expected to run on hydrogen, said Jeff Serfass, president of the National Hydrogen Association.

"There's no doubt about it - energy and the importation of oil are threatening our nation," Serfass said. "We can really reach oil independence by the middle of the century. We are much closer today than in 2004."

In 2004, President Bush created the hydrogen fuel cell initiative, which provided $1.2 billion over five years for research and development of hydrogen technology to help reduce dependence on foreign oil.

"We need national leadership, and we have had it from Bush," Serfass said.

His daughter, Julie Serfass, 25, test drove the Daimler Mercedes-Benz F-cell car and said the car was much quieter than a gasoline car. An educational researcher from Washington, she normally drives a Honda Civic.

"I would much rather have a hydrogen than anything gas powered," she said.

So far, several thousand people have driven the vehicles on the tour.

Hydrogen is a good fuel source for many reasons, Johnston said. Hydrogen can be manufactured from a variety of different products, including water; it has no emissions, which is important for improving urban air quality; it is safer than gasoline because it cannot catch fire, and it is predicted that eventually the cost per mile to operate a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and maintenance costs will be less than current vehicles.

Earl Lawson, vice president of commercial development for Linde North America, which produces hydrogen, said hydrogen has been produced and used for decades in technology such as space shuttles and material processing.

He said hydrogen is a renewable resource if it is taken from water. It can also be taken from natural gas and other chemicals. He said creating hydrogen-fueled vehicles is an important step toward energy independence and economic growth.

Hydrogen cars are fueled at stations with pumps, in a process similar to filling a tank with gasoline. Only about 60 hydrogen stations exist in the U.S., Barrett said.

The vehicles going on tour are the BMW Hydrogen Series 7, the Daimler Mercedes-Benz F-Cell, the GM Chevy Equinox FCV, the Honda FCX Clarity, the Hyundai Tucson FCV, the Kia Sportage FCV, the Nissan X-Trail FCV, the Toyota Highlander FCHV, and the Volkswagen Touran and Tiguan HyMotion. Used tags: , , , , , ,

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Alternative energy and related video search+watch+upload+share

Monday 28 January 2019 at 03:31 am Just in case anyone hasn't seen this yet, it is a great resource for everyone who is interested in alternative energy, green tech, diy and related how-to.
Search-watch 1000's of videos - Upload your own -Start your own channel and share-discuss your projects. Sign up now.


http://gp.alternate-energy.net/ more

Raging wildfires: Climate changes to blame for record season?

Saturday 16 July 2011 at 06:07 am Raging wildfires: Climate changes to blame for record season?


By Pete Spotts


The images are stark: soot-grimed firefighters steering bulldozers or wielding shovels to clear underbrush; curtains of orange flame tracing the contours of summits; aircraft dumping chemicals to slow a fire's progress.

Between Jan. 1 and early July of 2011, slightly more than 38,000 wildfires charred the landscape in the United States at a record pace. So far this year, wildfires have consumed just under 4.9 million acres of forest and grassland, a cumulative expanse the size of New Jersey.

That's 1 million more acres than fires consumed during the same period in 2006, which saw a record 9.9 million acres burned for the entire year.

Beyond the numbers, this year's fires may provide the first large-scale tests of the effectiveness of projects undertaken over the past decade to help forests survive wildfires, several specialists say.

The West's forests are adapted to deal with certain types of wildfires, researchers note. But since the mid-1980s, they add, some of these forests have experienced an increasing number of fires to which they are not well adapted.

Many researchers trace this shift in part to climate change. more

Hybrid Moves Into Housing

Sunday 22 May 2011 at 01:14 am Hybrid Moves Into Housing


By Brenda Krueger Huffman

(Chicago) – Recycling - Check. Conserving energy - Check. Hybrid car - Next car, check. Hybrid home system - What? Yes, it’s here. Hybrid has seamlessly, successfully moved into housing.

Safety Power, Inc. was initially started to provide homes with back up power. The company quickly grew to include renewable energy options and advising commercial and industrial clients with electrical conservation. Recently the company has come full circle and began marketing a new more capable type of renewable energy system for homes.

The award winning firm was voted one of the “Top 5 Sustainable Product Companies in Illinois” and continues to grow its residential client base in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Safety Power also serves larger firms on the national level.

Robert Brazzale, President of Safety Power, a master electrician turned entrepreneur, began Safety Power in 2007. An avid member of Local First Chicago, Rob believes in assisting sustaining local economies with green collar jobs and belongs to many green orientated groups in Chicago and around the country. more

Are electric car makers missing the trick?

Tuesday 29 March 2011 at 11:12 am Are electric car makers missing the trick?


by Martin Ott

I believe that electric car makers may be driving us all down the road that may result in the same sort of technology failures that we have seen in the past.
I'm not referring to the Sinclair scooter here but cast your mind back to the débâcle of Betamax v VHS home recording systems. The eventual winner was the technically inferior VHS but the battle was not resolved until innumerable consumers had paid out for worthless Betamax systems. Back in the 70's a similar conflict occurred over audio systems when America fell in love with the 8 track tape system that moved magnetic tape in a loop over the player head at a high speed resulting in a better sound. The world market finally dictated that the audio cassette was the way to go but not until millions of consumers had been lumbered with home and in-car systems that went down the technological cul de sac. more

Wind Turbine Manufacturer Acknowledges SGS´s Contribution towards Successful Project Completion

Tuesday 29 March 2011 at 10:57 am by Suresh Varma

The Theni Wind Farm project was developed by CLP India Pvt. Ltd., one of the major wind farm project developers in India. Located in the south western part of Tamilnadu, a southern state of the country, the facility consists of 60 Vestas V82 geared wind turbines. As recognition of its contribution towards the successful execution of this wind power project SGS received Vestas award.

Each turbine at the wind farm has a capacity of 1.65 MW IEC Class IIB machine with a blade diameter of 82 m. After a six-month long completion period, the Theni Wind Farm was officially opened in May, 2010.

Acting as contract engineer during project execution, SGS was responsible for ensuring that all activities were carried out at the site by the contractor in line with the final agreement. In doing so, SGS supervised the quality of construction works, the fulfillment of the technical parameters and kept the project within the scheduled time and contracted price. more

E.ON uses PPC's Broadband Powerline technology in smart grid project

Tuesday 29 March 2011 at 10:37 am E.ON uses PPC's Broadband Powerline technology in smart grid project

by Power Plus Communications

Mannheim - Power Plus Communications AG (PPC), the leading provider of Broadband Powerline Communication systems (BPL) for smart grids has taken on a key role within an E.ON smart grid project to facilitate an extension of Cisco's Connected Grid Solution.

E.ON Westfalen Weser AG is currently trialing smart grid technology within its network of 1.3 million inhabitants and PPC's proven medium voltage BPL solution has connected substations in the project using the existing power grid.

Using BPL technology, standard compliant and IP-based data transfer rates of 5-30 Mbit/s can easily be achieved via the medium voltage cable itself. Within E.ON’s smart grid project, PPC's medium voltage technology facilitated the extension of Cisco's Connected Grid Solution. The Cisco smart grid Router and Switches used in the project are highly compatible with BPL networks, providing a real cost advantage over fiber optic networks – which can be much more expensive where cables are not pre-existing.

By combining their technology at Westfalen Weser, PPC and Cisco have ensured the evolution of fast and efficient smart grids which are controlled on an IP basis. This increases the reliability of the power grid, fulfills regulations and drives down costs. At the same time this modern smart grids communications technology makes it possible to effectively integrate renewable energy into the grid. more

MIT Infrastructure "Life Cycle" Study is Progress Both Left & Right Can Embrace - Part 2, Fiscal Responsibility

Saturday 19 February 2011 at 09:02 am By Brenda Krueger Huffman


Chicago – Perhaps moving to the center is where we all need to be politically on the environment and effective spending compatibility. Not all green technology is crazy, and not all business profit or government expenditure is evil.

Even if you do not believe in man caused climate change, we can all agree leaving a cleaner planet and a more fiscally responsible government for the next generation is preferable to not doing so.

Perhaps green technology can be cost effective, and government fiscal responsibility may realistically include affordable green initiatives. Honest “life cycle analysis” and “life cycle cost analysis” study considerations should be a political compromise starting point both the left and the right can embrace. more

Global warming: Impact of receding snow and ice surprises scientists

Thursday 27 January 2011 at 11:05 am Global warming: Impact of receding snow and ice surprises scientists

By Pete Spotts


Washington - A long-term retreat in snow and ice cover in the Northern Hemisphere is weakening the ability of these seasonal cloaks of white to reflect sunlight back into space and cool global climate, according to a study published this week.

Indeed, over the past 30 years, the cooling effect from this so-called cryosphere – essentially areas covered by snow and ice at least part of the year – appears to have weakened at more than twice the pace projected by global climate models, the research team conducting the work estimates.

The study, which appeared online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience, represents a first cut at trying to calculate from direct measurements the impact of climate change on the Northern Hemisphere's cryosphere. The study was conducted by a team of federal and university scientists who examined data gathered between 1979 and 2008. more

EPA presents plan on greenhouse gases

Wednesday 05 January 2011 at 10:38 pm By Mark Clayton


Washington - Setting the stage for a New Year battle royal between Congress and the White House over greenhouse gas emissions, the US Environmental Protection Agency Thursday laid out a timetable for the nation's largest carbon emitters – power plants and refineries – to begin curbing those pollutants.

Republicans have said all year that they plan to pull out all the stops to keep the EPA from phasing in greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations beginning in 2011, saying they would damage the energy industry, raise prices, and cost jobs.

Rep. Fred Upton (R) of Michigan, the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has said he opposes the regulations on greenhouse gases and indicated he would lead efforts to revoke EPA regulations in the next Congress. The new regulations, he says, will likely lead to the shut down of coal-fired power plants.

"To protect jobs and fortify our energy security, we should be working to bring more power online, not shutting plants down," Mr. Upton said in a statement. "We are woefully unprepared to meet our nation's growing energy demands, yet this administration's 'none of the above' energy policy will do nothing but cost jobs, make energy more expensive, and increase our dependence on foreign sources of energy."

Environmentalists lauded the EPA's move. more

Supreme Court takes global warming case that targets power companies

Monday 13 December 2010 at 03:21 am By Warren Richey,


Washington - The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a major environmental lawsuit that seeks to force six electric power companies to cap and reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions to fight global warming.

The lawsuit - filed in 2004 by eight states, the City of New York, and three land trusts - targets what it claims are the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the United States and among the largest in the world.

It seeks a judicial order declaring that the fossil-fueled power plants are a "public nuisance." It also seeks a judicial order capping the plants' greenhouse gas emissions and requiring the plants to adopt a schedule of reduced emissions in future years. more