Breakthrough in Hydrogen Fuel Production Could Revolutionize Alternative Energy Market

[Bill Angel]

"Apr. 3, 2013 A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world."

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130403104104.htm

Edited April 4, 2013 by Bill Angel

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

That is Utterly amazing. From here on in the world will change. The game change is on . AT LAST the first and most abundant element in the universe HYDROGEN can at last be released from plant matter, economically, cleanly and at reasonable temperatures with little or no pollution. ! Yippy the break from fossil fuel is here. The age of hydrogen Fuel cell powered cars are upon us. And More beyond ( see end caption ! )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As per Bill Angel Ref

http://www.scienceda...30403104104.htm

 

PAPER SCIENCE DAILY

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Apr. 3, 2013 — A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world.

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"Our new process could help end our dependence on fossil fuels," said Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering. "Hydrogen is one of the most important biofuels of the future." " This new environmentally friendly method of producing hydrogen utilizes renewable natural resources, releases almost no zero greenhouse gasses, and does not require costly or heavy metals. Previous methods to produce hydrogen are expensive and create greenhouse gases. "

 

MIKE SMITH

 

News will flash around the world today. Shares will rocket. Economies will recover. Industry and manufacture will flourish. Employment will grow in ailing economies. Universities will fill. Research will go on to personalized people devices. Start building today for the Future !

 

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. THE DAYS OF PEACE AND PLENTY WILL SOON BE UPON US !

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Edited April 4, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[John Cuthber]

We started exploiting oil and coal because we were running out of wood.

Turning wood into energy does not look like a perfect solution to me.

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

We started exploiting oil and coal because we were running out of wood.

Turning wood into energy does not look like a perfect solution to me.

 

 

 

Science Week says

 

Zhang's method can be performed using any source of biomass.

 

 

Surely we could grow and harvest any photosynthesis bio product. Anything that sees the sun . No?

Maybe we can't charge around like idiots all the time, but surely that's not a bad thing. Living within our means. The sun only gives so much energy per Square meter usable land area. We will just have to ration out use of this new clean energy, instead of squandering our restricted resources.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[John Cuthber]

The process converts xylose into hydrogen.

Unfortunately xylose is a relatively minor component of most plants.

Also, any land used for growing food can't be used for growing fuel (and vice versa).

For those people who can't get enough food (and there are lots) this is "solving the wrong problem".

It's potentially very useful, but it certainly isn't the solution to the world's energy problem

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

The process converts xylose into hydrogen.

Unfortunately xylose is a relatively minor component of most plants.

Also, any land used for growing food can't be used for growing fuel (and vice versa).

For those people who can't get enough food (and there are lots) this is "solving the wrong problem".

It's potentially very useful, but it certainly isn't the solution to the world's energy problem

 

That was the problem with the ethenol replacement for petrol . I wonder wether this perhaps could be developed more fairly for the human population ?

 

 

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. ####### Build a happy life # Under the Sun ########

Edited April 4, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[Phi for All]

The process converts xylose into hydrogen.

Unfortunately xylose is a relatively minor component of most plants.

Also, any land used for growing food can't be used for growing fuel (and vice versa).

For those people who can't get enough food (and there are lots) this is "solving the wrong problem".

It's potentially very useful, but it certainly isn't the solution to the world's energy problem

 

Iirc, hemp seeds contain a good percentage of xylose. I'm always looking for good reasons for my state to grow hemp now that it's legal for us to do so. It doesn't require land used for food, it grows like a weed, but I don't know what kind of yield you'd get for the purposes of hydrogen extraction.

 

Would this process leave anything else of a hemp plant for other uses, like the fibers for cloth?

[Mr Monkeybat]

Compared to hydrocarbons, hydrogen has low energy density and is extremely hard to to store and pipe. Tiny little single proton hydrogen atoms have a way of wiggling there way through any seal and even solid glass or steel.

 

The cost of farming and harvesting the plant material and bringing it to the processing plant must be include in the energy calculations. Using crop wastes like straw reduces the amount of compost returning to the soil.

[Elite Engineer]

@Mr. Monkeybat, however if you coat the inside of a chamber with carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, it creates an oxide coating, making a nearly perfectly sealed container for the hydrogen.

Edited April 5, 2013 by Elite Engineer

[Wilmot McCutchen]

Hydrogen embrittlement of metal tanks used to store hydrogen is another unsolved problem. As Mr. Monkeybat points out, hydrogen is hard to contain. If it leaks, it could ignite. If the metal in the containment gets brittle, it could crack (viz. the SF Bay Bridge bolts) with catastrophic failure. Joe Romm's book "The Hype about Hydrogen" is recommended reading to get a sense of the issues.

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

Hydrogen embrittlement of metal tanks used to store hydrogen is another unsolved problem. As Mr. Monkeybat points out, hydrogen is hard to contain. If it leaks, it could ignite. If the metal in the containment gets brittle, it could crack (viz. the SF Bay Bridge bolts) with catastrophic failure. Joe Romm's book "The Hype about Hydrogen" is recommended reading to get a sense of the issues.

 

Surely , this containment of hydrogen as a fuel , is not an unsolvable problem. For what could be at stake here , with hydrogen fuel gained from plant material. Fuel cells are so good at producing electricity to power electric cars. And Electric cars if produced in large numbers could be easy to produce , cheap, easy to use, no pollution, no noise, fun etc . Perhaps at this juncture we could slow the speed, redesign the look, redesign all sorts What a lovely thought !

 

 

 

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Edited April 7, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos