Cambridge, MIT Chasing Room-Temperature Hydrogen

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

News from Cambridge University shows some promise for inexpensive production of hydrogen, an elusive process considering the lightest element in creation is also the most common, said to make up 90 percent of the visible universe.  On earth, it readily combines with oxygen to form water, a handy thing to have around for the benefit of our species. Getting hydrogen out of the water so that we can burn it in our cars and airplanes is a frustrating process, though, often requiring more energy for the extraction than can be obtained from its combustion. According the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “To make [hydrogen] usable in fuel cells or otherwise provide energy, we must expend energy or modify another energy source to extract it from the fossil fuel, biomass, water, or other compound in which it is found. Nearly all hydrogen production in the United States today is by steam reformation of natural gas. This, however, releases carbon dioxide in the …

Solar Power Cheaper than Diesel Generators – in India

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 3 Comments

Care2.com, a catch-all web site that distributes free e-greeting cards and a blend of new age health care, pet care, and environmental news, caught this editor’s attention with the news that solar power is now cheaper than Diesel-generated electricity in India – without subsidies – and by the manner in which private industry and government agencies are adapting to this. Two giants on the industrial side have thrown their substantial resources behind solar.  BHARTI, the largest mobile phone company, is using the sun to power rural cell towers.  Jaine Irrigation, the world’s biggest mango puree producer, is building an 8.5 megawatt solar power plant, according to Care2. On the governmental side, Sustainable Business.com explains the reverse auction approach that helps India get cheaper power than other countries manage. “In India, those that bid the lowest in a reverse auction win the right to build solar plants up to 20 megawatts (MW) and sell the electricity under a 25 year contract. “Winners are …