Richard D. Masters,
ICHC

Royal Mail Joins Forces to Accelerate Development
of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Postal Vans
Fleet Directory (UK)     April 14, 2009

Former Bonneville Power Administration CEO Sees "Hydrogen Hub" for Columbia Hydropower Using Ammonia for Storage
Steve Law     Sustainable Life     April 9, 2009

• Solid State Ammonia Synthesis     October 15, 2007
  Jason C. Ganley, John H. Holbrook, Doug E. McKinley
• Ammonia Fuel -- The Other Hydrogen Future?
  Larry Bruce, Joe McClintock and John Holbrook 
  Alexander's Oil & Gas Journal    September 29, 2008
• Interview: John Holbrook of Ammonia Fuel Network
  Daily KOS     Februay 4, 2008
• Wind to Ammonia: An Update   Michael Reese   October 15, 2007
• Agriculture without Fossil Fuels    November 17, 2008
   
• THERE IS NO ENERGY CRISIS.
  WE HAVE BEEN HELD IN THE GRIP OF A POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL EMERGENCY THAT PREVENTED RATIONAL ENERGY CHOICES.
  HERE, IN ITS ENTIRETY, WE REPRINT JACK ROBERTSON'S SUPERB 2003 SOLUTION TO EXCESSIVE  NORTHWEST OIL CONSUMPTION IN HOPES THAT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT BLITHELY DISREGARD IT THE WAY THE GRAND OIL PARTY DID.  --RDM
  Columbia's Power: The River Contains the
  Secret to Drive a National Energy Revolution   
  Jack Robertson    Register-Guard    January 16, 2003
      The mighty Columbia River's nighttime flow holds a remarkable secret. This secret can put the Northwest at the center of a global energy revolution, create thousands of new jobs and help end forever our dependence on Middle East oil.
      While you sleep, the power of the Columbia River can create a revolutionary new energy source - lighter than air, completely renewable, and yet with the highest energy content of any fuel. In the Northwest we can produce this new fuel faster, cleaner and cheaper than anywhere in the world. What's its source?
      Water. That's right. The power of the Columbia River can unlock hydrogen from water. It can turn the Northwest into the Saudi Arabia of hydrogen - the revolutionary fuel at the center of President Bush's bold, $1.2 billion proposal to build hydrogen-powered cars and a national hydrogen infrastructure.
      For centuries, people have dreamed of a limitless, clean source of energy. For decades, scientists have known that hydrogen - the most common element in the universe - holds the answer to a global energy revolution.
      Critics insist hydrogen-powered cars are at best a decade away, that a national hydrogen infrastructure is impractical, that hydrogen costs too much, and that consumers will consider it unsafe.
      But now the world faces grave economic, environmental and foreign policy dangers - all linked to energy. We need a fundamental breakthrough, the energy equivalent of the computing revolution of the last 20 years, to solve these problems. Hydrogen holds the key to a radical break from the past. It's time the critics were answered.
      We can start right here. Hydrogen produced at night and stored in fuel tanks throughout the Northwest can revolutionize energy consumption in the 21st century. The end of the age of oil can begin here.
      Most importantly, you don't have to wait a decade or more to drive a hydrogen-powered car - it can power the minivan or SUV sitting in your garage. Hydrogen is 50 percent more powerful than gasoline. It can increase the horsepower of your existing car, take you hundreds of miles on a single tank, and never require a tune-up.
      With existing technology, your car can be retrofitted to run on both gasoline and hydrogen. It will require basically three things; a new fuel tank, new spark plugs and a few hours in a local car shop. Today, a retrofit will probably cost a few thousand dollars - until dual-fuel hydro cars become popular. The price should drop, and you should be able to order a dual-fuel car from the factory.
      With our natural, hydrogen-producing resource, the Columbia River, we can put thousands of these cars on Northwest roads within a handful of years. Our economy will strengthen even as our skies clear.
      The secret to our success will be found in a simple equation. We can produce hydrogen from water as cheaply as big oil companies can produce gasoline from oil.
      How? Through water power.
      At night and during the spring runoff, the Columbia River produces huge amounts of very low-cost electricity that can be sent to municipal fueling yards and gas stations region-wide. The electric current runs through water in an electrolyzing machine about the size of a refrigerator. There, electricity splits water into its two fundamental components - hydrogen and oxygen gas.
      Oxygen is put in tanks and sold to hospitals. The hydrogen gas is safely stored on site in a large propane-like tank. Right now, hydrogen test stations are already fueling cars in California, Las Vegas and Phoenix. In the future you will pull up to the hydrogen fueling station, attach the nozzle to your tank, and swipe your credit card. Hydrogen gas will be automatically pumped into your upgraded car. Two minutes later the computer shuts off the valve, and your tank is full.
      You pull away and - presto - you are transformed from a gas-guzzling commuter into a powerful force for change. You're now driving a hydro car - a car that runs on hydrogen made from water. You have become a cutting-edge consumer, a powerful environmentalist, and a leader for U.S. energy independence - all by driving the kids to school.
      There are three crucial steps to building the infrastructure to support thousands of hydro cars in the next few years.
      Step one will require that we turn water into low-cost hydrogen. Technology to turn water to hydrogen - hydro fuel - exists right now. Most of the infrastructure is already built. The Northwest has 40 percent of the nation's hydroelectric power. Electricity is sent out over the existing power grid to every big city and small town in the Northwest. Electrolyzing machines are off-the-shelf technology.
      The electrolyzing machine transforms tap water into hydrogen. The energy content from the hydrogen in a gallon of water equals 10 gallons of gasoline. Most remarkably, when hydrogen is burned in your car engine its only exhaust is water vapor. This vapor returns to the atmosphere, producing rain and replenishing our rivers. Hydrogen becomes a perpetual fuel - power from a perfect natural cycle.
      Not only is it clean, it can be very cheap.
      At night while we sleep, demand for electricity ebbs. The wholesale price of electricity drops to about 2 cents a kilowatt hour. During the massive spring runoff, the price drops even further - to less than 1 cent a kilowatt hour even in low water years. Experts say it takes 38 kilowatt hours of electricity to produce the hydrogen equivalent of a gallon of gas.
      At 2 cents a kilowatt hour, hydrogen gas equal to a gallon of gasoline would cost 76 cents. At a spring price of 1 cent a kilowatt hour, the cost of producing hydrogen fuel equal to a gallon of gasoline drops to 38 cents. Even with retail mark-ups and added energy used for compressing hydrogen into the station's fuel tank, the cost of producing hydrogen here should be competitive with gasoline.
      Some would consider this calculation conservative. It assumes no benefit from selling oxygen to hospitals. Nor does it include benefits from a new power source centered in this country. We now pay billions to nations in the Middle East and elsewhere for the basic source of energy - oil. The electricity prices we will pay for producing hydrogen will go instead to local utilities, helping keep overall transmission and electric power rates low. This strengthens our economy.
       Hydrogen revenues also will strengthen the Bonneville Power Administration, which provides half the region's electricity and funds the world's largest fish and wildlife program on the Columbia River. Finally, large-scale hydrogen production will increasingly free us from the political turmoil in oil-rich regions of the world. Given the threat of terrorism and war, this benefit is - as they say in the commercial - priceless.
      Early-stage costs of hydrogen fueling stations, if added to the cost of producing pure hydrogen, could push hydrogen's price above the price of gasoline in the near term. But as demand for hydrogen increases, the cost of producing this infrastructure should drop rapidly.
      Cost is just one factor. Just imagine the enormous long-term environmental and human health benefits of a practical, powerful, zero-emissions fuel. Gasoline-powered cars account for half the oil consumed in the United States, half the urban pollution, and one-forth the greenhouse gases. Hundreds of millions of tons of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and other chemical pollutants would be eliminated every year. Pollution alert days could disappear forever in the rear-view mirror of history.
      Step two is to convert your car. This can be simple.
      The internal combustion engine in your car can run on hydrogen or gasoline. It doesn't care. New injectors, capable of handling both hydrogen and gasoline, will replace spark plugs. A new hydrogen fuel tank is under consideration by the federal Department of Transportation. With it, a hydrogen-powered car can travel 200 miles before refilling. Tanks on the drawing board can extend that range up to 1,000 miles.
      With two tanks, your car can run on hydro fuel until its empty. Then you switch your engine to gasoline with the flip of a switch, extending your car's range by hundreds of miles. As the "hydrogen highway" expands and tanks improve, gasoline can be phased out.
      Car safety is a vital issue. Because we've all heard of hydrogen bombs, some consumers are frightened of putting such an explosive material in the tank of their car. This fear is understandable, but exaggerated. A hydrogen bomb, for example, can be triggered only by the heat of an atomic bomb.
      Hydrogen fuel burns a lot like the natural gas fueling some buses today - only faster and cleaner. Because it is lighter than air, if a tank of hydrogen gas is broken in an accident, the flames will burn straight up - away from passengers.
      The rupture of a car tank filled with hydrogen can pose less danger to passengers than a tank filled with gasoline.
      Step three is to create a hydrogen highway.
      A public-private consortium should select key rural and urban markets to create an initial network of fueling stations.
      This project will form the initial backbone of a new hydrogen infrastructure, linking up to existing stations on the West Coast and expanding with demand.
      The hydrogen in tanks region-wide can serve another purpose. During emergencies, electricity-generating turbines can be powered by the stored hydrogen gas.
      This keeps the lights on with a nonpolluting source of electric energy - right in our neighborhood. This can save hundreds of millions of dollars in electric grid expansion projects.
      Our regional economy needs help. Global oil-based energy markets are unstable and threatened by terrorism. Worldwide, demand for energy far outstrips supply - condemning billions to a life of grinding poverty with no lights, no heat and no future. Carbon-based pollution adds to a threatened global environment.
       The sheer magnitude of these challenges demands a fundamental energy breakthrough - a new, hydrogen-based economy to power the 21st century. With the enormous power of the Columbia River, the Northwest enjoys a huge natural advantage in a hydrogen future. We can help lead the nation and the world away from the carbon-based economy of the last century and toward an energy revolution fueled by water.
      We need to unlock the river's powerful secret - now.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------Jack Robertson of Portland worked for the Bonneville Power Administration from 1986 through 1999, serving as acting chief executive officer and deputy CEO. He helped found the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. From 1973 to 1982, he worked on the staff of Oregon Sen. Mark Hatfield in Washington, D.C. Columbia's Power: The River Contains the Secret to Drive a National Energy Revolution
  The Register-Guard, February 16, 2003

DEPARTMENT OF THEY MAKE HYDROGEN BOMBS WITH IT, DON'T THEY?
FAA Diverts Planes from Site of Hydrogen Leak
Pat Grossmith     Union Leader (NH)     January 19, 2009
An employee of Praxair Inc., which owns and services the tank in the rear of the 655 South Willow Street plant, poured some hot water on it, and then tightened the valve, ending the problem, said District Fire Chief James Michael.

Florida Guards Against Leaks in Hydrogen Vehicles
Claire Swedberg     RFID Journal     January 15, 2008

 STORAGE BREAKTHROUGH
New Carbon Nanomaterial
Prachi Patel-Predd     Technology Review     January 30, 2009

    Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like structure, has captured worldwide interest because of its attractive electronic properties. Now, by adding hydrogen to graphene, researchers at the University of Manchester, U.K., have made a new material that could prove useful for hydrogen storage and future carbon-based integrated circuits.

STORAGE BREAKTHROUGH

Pillared Graphene
A New 3-D Network Nanostructure for Enhanced Hydrogen Storage
Georgios K. Dimitrakakis, Emmanuel Tylianakis, George E. Froudakis
Department of Chemistry, and Materials Science and Technology Dept
University of Crete, Greece     ASAP Nanoletters     September 19, 2008

BREAKTHROUGH!

Prototype Hydrogen Storage Tank Maintains Extended Thermal Endurance
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory    June 4, 2008

LIVERMORE, Calif. – A cryogenic pressure vessel developed and installed in an experimental hybrid vehicle by a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory research team can hold liquid hydrogen for six days without venting any of the fuel.
     Unlike conventional liquid hydrogen (LH2 tanks in prototype cars, the LLNL pressure vessel was parked for six days without venting evaporated hydrogen vapor.

BREAKTHROUGH!

Microspheres and Microworlds
G.G. Wicks, L.K. Heung and R.F. Schumacher
American Ceramic Society Bulletin     June 2008

HUGE CARBON STORAGE
BREAKTHROUGH

“When we started doing experiments, we realized the metal interaction doesn’t just increase the temperature at which hydrogen can be stored, but it also increases the density above that in solid hydrogen. This is absolutely the first time this has been encountered without having to use pressure.”

Center for Neutron Research scientist Craig Brown, Team Leader

GREATEST LOW-PRESSURE HYDROGEN STORAGE DENSITY
YET ACHIEVED!

More Solid than Solid: A Potential Hydrogen-Storage Compound

US Institute of Standards & Technology
April 1, 2008

• Potential Hydrogen-storage Compound Could Fuel Hydrogen-Powered Cars    Science Daily     April 2, 2008
• Increasing the Density of Adsorbed Hydrogen with Coordinatively Unsaturated Metal Centers in Metal-Organic Frameworks  American Chemical Society
  Yun Liu, Houria Kabbour, Craig M. Brown, Dan A. Neumann, Channing C. , Ahn Langmuir

IS PROKHOROV EYEING CARBON STORAGE?

Hydrogen Fuel is the Way Ahead, Says Oligarch
Mark Leftly     The Independent (UK)     March 23, 2008

2Al + 3H₂0 --> 3H₂ + Al₂0₃ + heat
Purdue professor sees aluminum alloy
as ideal material for safe hydrogen economy
"Assuming a 50% recovery of H₂O, we get
an H density of (6/98)x100 = 6.1%"
The Science and Technology of Aluminum-Gallium Alloys as a Material for Energy Storage. Transport and Splitting Water
Jerry M. Woodall, National Medal of Technology Laureate
Distinguished Professor, School of ECE, Purdue University

Energy density (ED) of lead acid batteries(PABs) is 14 -- 23 WHr/lb.
ED of Al-Ga-H₂0 system (as hydrogen) is 1000 WHr/lb.

• Jerry M. Woodall: Making of Hydrogen from Aluminum

BREAKTHROUGH!
18%Wt. Hydrogen in Hydride?
A European research team has discovered a new form of a compound that could possibly release 18% wt. hydrogen in mild conditions.
This discovery is completely unexpected.
It was not predicted by theory!
New Form Of Hydride Stimulates Research On Hydrogen Storage, Hydrogen Cars
Science Daily     December 5, 2007

    Researchers at the Swiss-Norwegian experimental stations (beamlines) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility are currently studying several compounds of light elements with hydrogen and the different forms they take at different pressure and temperature. Lithium borohydride, LiBH4, is one of the compounds they study as it has a high weight content of hydrogen (18%). The new form of this compound, which scientists have just discovered, is promising because it appears to be unstable. Until today, all the known forms of this material are too stable, which means that they don’t let the hydrogen go.

"...a nonprecious metal route to the design of new biohybrid architectures and building blocks for hydrogen-related technologies."

BREAKTHROUGH!

Cheap Hydrogen Power
Gets a Nanotube Boost
Robert Adler     New Scientist (UK)     November 21, 2007
 

Background: In May2007, a team from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory led by Michael Heben announced significant progress in reducing the amount of platinum required in electrolysis:

    "We are interested in developing the scientific principles to control catalysis and electrocatalysis on the nanoscale. We seek to design interfaces and electrodes using nanoscience to permit; (1) highly efficient and robust catalyst utilization, (2) fundamental investigations of the key reaction steps which are relevant to fuel- forming and fuel-cell reactions, and (3) a route away from precious metal catalysts. We approach this problem using carbon single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs)...
    "An increase in the Pt catalyst utilization efficiency  (currently less than 30%) would dramatically decrease the amount of catalyst needed in current PEMFCs. To effectively utilize the Pt catalyst in a PEMFC, the catalyst must have simultaneous access to the gas, the electron conducting medium, and the proton conducting medium. Typically, the catalyst layer for a conventional Pt-catalyzed fuel cell is prepared by an ink-process. Here, Pt-supported carbon particles are blended with Nafion in order to allow for the simultaneous access of the Pt catalyst to the electron conducting and proton conducting media. A common issue with this conventional blending process has been that the proton transport material, Nafion, tends to isolate the carbon  support particles in the catalyst layer, leading to poor electron transport throughout the cell. The use of SWNT-supported electrocatalysts in PEMFCs has the potential to eliminate this problem and improve the utilization efficiency of the electrocatalyst. Preliminary results show that the current associated with oxygen reduction on the Pt/SWNT electrodes with [6 micrograms of platinum per square centimeter] is only 20% lower than g/cm  the current for the Pt/SWNT electrode with [18 micrograms of platinum per square centimeter.] This result suggests that the Pt/ SWNT interaction has a pronounced affect on the kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction. "
Carbon Nanotube Materials for Substrate Enhanced Control of Catalytic Activity    

    Now another team from NREL, again led by Michael Heben, has discovered a "new nanotube physics" that combines nanotubes with peculiar metalloenzymes called hydrogenases. Although discovered in the 1930s as the critical engine of anaerobic metabolism (life in the absence of oxygen), these enzymes were brought to public attention in 2000 by Dr. Tasios Melis of UC Berkeley who discovered a method of stimulating anaerobic hydrogen production from algae. Then on September 10, 2007, Heben and his team announced that they had developed a "biohybrid" technique using single-walled carbon nanotubes to entirely replace the precious metals previously required for catalyzing oxygen/hydrogen reactions, and creating, somewhat surprisingly, robust, biologically-driven nanoscale electron pumps that may possibly be harnessed to produce useable power. -- RDM

Wiring-Up Hydrogenase with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Timothy J. McDonald, Drazenka Svedruzic, Yong-Hyun Kim, Jeffrey L. Blackburn, S. B. Zhang, Paul W. King and Michael J. Heben    NREL   Nano Letters

• Supplemental information     Nano Letters

H2 STORAGE BREAKTHROUGH!
14% CLAIMED

Adam Phillips, left, and Bellave S. Shivaram

University of Virginia Scientists Discover Record-Breaking Hydrogen Storage Materials
University of Virginia     November 9, 2007

HYDROGEN STORAGE BREAKTHROUGH
Hypercrosslinked polyanilines with nanoporous structure and high surface area: potential adsorbents for hydrogen storage
Jonathan Germain, Jean M. J. Fre´chet and Frantisek Svec
Journal of Materials Chemistry, The Royal Society of Chemistry
October 18, 2007

    Nanoporous polyanilines can be prepared using hypercrosslinking of commercially available polyaniline with diiodoalkanes or formaldehyde. Some of these polymers exhibit specific surface areas exceeding 630 m² g ^-1 that are unprecedented for this class of polymers. ...Our preliminary experiments indicate that these materials have a certain potential for hydrogen storage. Although their overall hydrogen storage capacity at 77 K is currently lower than that of our hypercrosslinked polystyrene, they offer the highest enthalpy of adsorption of any air-stable sorbenttype hydrogen storage material. Further optimization of reaction conditions is expected to lead to materials with much higher surface areas and therefore enhanced hydrogen storage capacities.

• The "Holey" Grail of Hydrogen Storage   
  Chemical Technology (UK)     December 4, 2007

Shell Selects Ilika Technologies for Joint Development Project in Hydrogen Storage
Ilika Technologies (UK)     October 2007

A small pellet of solid ammonia borane
 (240 mg), as shown, is capable of storing relatively large quantities of hydrogen
 (0.5 liter) in a very small volume.

Ammonia borane molecule
Pellets of Power Designed to Deliver H2
Pacific Northwest National Lab
August 2007

A New Alloy May Revive Hope for the Hydrogen Economy
The Economist (UK)     September 4, 2007

BREAKTHROUGH

Carbon Nanohorns 'A Better Prospect'
for Hydrogen Storage Applications
Fuel Cell Today     June 8, 2007

"The results show that hydrogen interacts far more strongly with such carbonous nanostructures than it does to carbon nanotubes, suggesting that nanohorns and related nanostructures may offer significantly better prospects as light-weight media for hydrogen storage applications," the researchers said.

• Nature of the Bound States of Molecular Hydrogen in Carbon Nanohorns     F. Fernandez-Alonso, F. J. Bermejo, C. Cabrillo, R. O. Loutfy, V. Leon, and M. L. Saboungi     Physical Review Letters
  May 25, 2007

Nanotechnology Breakthrough in Hydrogen Storage

Plastics in Packaging     June 5, 2007

    Researchers from Bilkent University in Turkey and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology believe that they can use nanotechnology to create plastics that will 'package' hydrogen in an unusual way. The researchers believe that by attaching titanium atoms to opposite ends of an ethylene molecule they can form a complex structure that will absorb 10 hydrogen molecules. This would double the minimum target set by the US Department of Energy for economically practical storage of hydrogen in a solid state material.

• Hydrogen Storage Capacity of Titanium Met-cars
  N Akman, E Durgun, T Yildirim and S Ciraci  
  Journal of Physics-Condensed Matter     September 26, 2006
  The adsorption of hydrogen molecules on the titanium metallocarbohedryne (met-car) cluster has been investigated by using the first-principles plane wave method. We have found that, while a single Ti atom at the corner can bind up to three hydrogen molecules, a single Ti atom on the surface of the cluster can bind only one hydrogen molecule. Accordingly, a Ti8C12 met-car can bind up to 16 H2 molecules and hence can be considered as a high-capacity hydrogen storage medium.

• Combinatorial Search for Optimal Hydrogen-Storage Nanomaterials Based on Polymers
  Hoonkyung Lee, Woon Ih Choi, and Jisoon Ihm
  Physical Review Letters #97     August 4, 2006
  An optimal material we identify is Ti-decorated cis-polyacetylene with reversibly usable gravimetric and volumetric density of 7.6 wt % and 63 kg/m3, respectively, near ambient conditions.

• Transition Metal-Decorated Nanotubes and C 60; High-Capacity Hydrogen Storage Medium    Taner Yildirim    NIST    April 25, 2005
  Here using first-principles density functional theory, we show that a single light-transition metal such as Ti absorbed on a SWNT or C60 can dissociate hydrogen molecules with zero activation energy barrier and strongly bonds not ONE, not TWO, not THREE but FOUR H2 molecules! At high metal coverage, the system is able to reversible absorb hydrogen molecules up to 8 wt%!

• Unlocking the Secrets of Titanium, a “Key” that Assists Hydrogen Storage     Brookhaven National Lab     July 23, 2004

Nanotech News at NanoAPEX

HSM Announces Breakthrough Material
for Solid Hydrogen Storage Systems
HMS Systems (Canada)     March 7, 2007

• Researchers on the Brink of StorageTechnology Breakthrough
  University of New Brunswick     March 23, 2005
• UH Chemistry Professor Named National Success Story
  University of Hawaii     March 11, 1999

STORAGE BREAKTHROUGH!
Record-breaking methane storage system derived from corncobs may encourage
mass-market natural gas automobiles
- and ultimately hydrogen vehicles!

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City have developed a method to convert corncob waste into a carbon "sponge" with nanoscale pores. The new material can store large quantities of natural gas and can be formed into a variety of shapes, ideal characteristics for next-generation gas storage tanks on methane-powered automobiles.
Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation

From Farm Waste to Fuel Tanks
National Science Foundation     February 16, 2007

    Researchers have developed a corncob-derived carbon "sponge" that can store natural gas.   
    Using corncob waste as a starting material, researchers have created carbon briquettes with complex nanopores capable of storing natural gas at an unprecedented density of 180 times their own volume and at one seventh the pressure of conventional natural gas tanks.
    The breakthrough, announced today in Kansas City, Mo., is a significant step forward in the nationwide effort to fit more automobiles to run on methane, an abundant fuel that is domestically produced and cleaner burning than gasoline.
    Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnership for Innovation program, researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) and Midwest Research Institute (MRI) in Kansas City developed the technology. The technology has been incorporated into a test bed installed on a pickup truck used regularly by the Kansas City Office of Environmental Quality.
    The briquettes are the first technology to meet the 180 to 1 storage to volume target set by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2000, a long-term goal of principal project leader Peter Pfeifer of MU.
    "We are very excited about this breakthrough because it may lead to a flat and compact tank that would fit under the floor of a passenger car, similar to current gasoline tanks," said Pfeifer. "Such a technology would make natural gas a widely attractive alternative fuel for everyone."   
    According to Pfeifer, the absence of such a flatbed tank has been the principal reason why natural gas, which costs significantly less than gasoline and diesel and burns more cleanly, is not yet widely used as a fuel for vehicles.
    Standard natural gas storage systems use high-pressure natural gas that has been compressed to a pressure of 3600 pounds per square inch and bulky tanks that can take up the space of an entire car trunk. The carbon briquettes contain networks of pores and channels that can hold methane at a high density without the cost of extreme compression, ultimately storing the fuel at a pressure of only 500 pounds per square inch, the pressure found in natural gas pipelines.
    The low pressure of 500 pounds per square inch is central for crafting the tank into any desired shape, so ultimately, fuel storage tanks could be thin-walled, slim, rectangular structures affixed to the underside of the car, not taking up room in the vehicle.
    Pfeifer and his colleagues at MU and MRI discovered that that fractal pore spaces (spaces created by repetition of similar patterns at different scales) are remarkably efficient at storing natural gas.
    "Our project is the first time a carbon storage material has been made from corncobs, an abundantly available waste product in the Midwest," said Pfeifer. "The carbon briquettes are made from the cobs that remain after the kernels have been harvested. The state of Missouri alone could supply the raw material for more than 10 million cars per year. It would be a unique opportunity to bring corn to the market for alternative fuels--corn kernels for ethanol production, and corncob for natural gas tanks."
    The test pickup truck, part of a fleet of more than 200 natural gas vehicles operated by Kansas City, has been in use since mid-October and the researchers are monitoring the technology's performance, from mileage data to measurements of the stability of the briquettes.
    In addition to efforts to commercialize the technology, the researchers are now focusing on the next generation briquette, one that will store more natural gas and cost less to produce. Pfeifer believes this next generation of briquette might even hold promise for storing hydrogen.

BREAKTHROUGH!

Ethylene Suggested for Hydrogen Storage
National Institute for Standards and Technology     December 7, 2006
The absorbed hydrogen molecules account for about 14 percent of the weight of the titanium-ethylene complex. That’s about double the Department of Energy’s minimum target of 6.5 percent for economically practical storage of hydrogen in a solid state material.
 

BREAKTHROUGH!
Reversible, Metal-Free
Hydrogen Activation
Gregory C. Welch, Ronan R. San Juan, Jason D. Masuda, Douglas W. Stephan
Science Magazine     November 17, 2006

    Although reversible covalent activation of molecular hydrogen (H2) is a common reaction at transition metal centers, it has proven elusive in compounds of the lighter elements. We report that the compound (C6H2Me3)2PH(C6F4)BH(C6F5)2 (Me, methyl), which we derived through an unusual reaction involving dimesitylphosphine substitution at a para carbon of tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane, cleanly loses H2 at temperatures above 100°C. Preliminary kinetic studies reveal this process to be first order. Remarkably, the dehydrogenated product (C6H2Me3)2P(C6F4)B(C6F5)2 is stable and reacts with 1 atmosphere of H2 at 25°C to reform the starting complex. Deuteration studies were also carried out to probe the mechanism.

Alloy of Hydrogen & Oxygen Made From Water!
Carnegie Institution     October 26, 2006

Ammonia
The Key to a Hydrogen
Economy

Iowa Company Turns to Ammonia
to Solve the Hydrogen Storage Problem
Hydrogen Engine Center     September 19, 2006
Making Engines to Run On Hydrogen, Ammonia
The Chief Engineer     September 19, 2006
Can Ammonia Engine Make Gas Obsolete?
Wired News     May 20, 2006
Internal Combustion Engines and Ammonia
Ted Hollinger     Hydrogen Engine Center     2005

 HYDROGEN STORAGE
 BREAKTHROUGH!
“Professor Ihm’s remarkable discovery will immediately open the era of hydrogen-fueled vehicles.” --  Kim Jong-won, Director
High Efficiency Hydrogen Energy Development Project Group

Jisoon Ihm

South Korean Scientists Discover Matter for Hydrogen Storage
The Hankyoreh (South Korea)     August 5, 2006

     Professor Ihm discovered that the hydrogen can be stored in solid matter in normal temperatures and pressures by attaching a titanium atom to a polymer. Hydrogen, the gaseous matter, can be stably stored in the material, allowing for its immediate application in hydrogen vehicles. With the storage efficiency for commercialization of Professor Lim’s new material at 7.6 percent, surpassing that targeted by the U.S. Department of Energy 6.5 percent, his discovery is expected to draw interest from automobile makers worldwide.

• Combinatorial Search for Optimal Hydrogen-Storage Nanomaterials Based on Polymers
  Hoonkyung Lee, Woon Ih Choi, and Jisoon Ihm
  Physical Review Letters #97     August 4, 2006
      An optimal material we identify is Ti-decorated cis-polyacetylene with reversibly usable gravimetric and volumetric density of 7.6 wt % and 63 kg/m3, respectively, near ambient conditions.

Nanodiamonds Shed H2 in Mystery Process
Penn State     June 23, 2006

Professor Omar Yaghi

UCLA, University of Michigan Chemists Report Progress in Quest to Use Hydrogen as Fuel for Cars & Electronic Devices
University of California, Los Angeles    March 6, 2006

   Chemists at UCLA and the University of Michigan report an advance toward the goal of cars that run on hydrogen rather than gasoline. While the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that practical hydrogen fuel will require concentrations of at least 6.5 percent, the chemists have achieved concentrations of 7.5 percent — nearly three times as much as has been reported previously — but at a very low temperature (77 degrees Kelvin).
    The research, scheduled to be published in late March in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could lead to a hydrogen fuel that powers not only cars, but laptop computers, cellular phones, digital cameras and other electronic devices as well.
    "We have a class of materials in which we can change the components nearly at will," said Omar Yaghi, UCLA professor of chemistry, who conducted the research with colleagues at the University of Michigan. "There is no other class of materials where one can do that. The exciting discovery we are reporting is that, using a new material, we have identified a clear path for how to get above seven percent of the material's weight in hydrogen."
    The materials, which Yaghi invented in the early 1990s, are called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), pronounced "moffs," which are like scaffolds made of linked rods — a structure that maximizes the surface area. MOFs, which have been described as crystal sponges, have pores, openings on the nanoscale in which Yaghi and his colleagues can store gases that are usually difficult to store and transport. MOFs can be made highly porous to increase their storage capacity; one gram of a MOF has the surface area of a football field! Yaghi's laboratory has made more than 500 MOFs, with a variety of properties and structures.
    "We have achieved 7.5 percent hydrogen; we want to achieve this percent at ambient temperatures," said Yaghi, a member of the California NanoSystems Institute. "We can store significantly more hydrogen with the MOF material than without the MOF."
    MOFs can be made from low-cost ingredients, such as zinc oxide — a common ingredient in sunscreen — and terephthalate, which is found in plastic soda bottles.
    "MOFs will have many applications. Molecules can go in and out of them unobstructed. We can make polymers inside the pores with well-defined and predictable properties. There is no limit to what structures we can get, and thus no limit to the applications."
    In the push to develop hydrogen fuel cells to power cars, cell phones and other devices, one of the biggest challenges has been finding ways to store large amounts of hydrogen at the right temperatures and pressures. Yaghi and his colleagues have now demonstrated the ability to store large amounts of hydrogen at the right pressure; in addition, Yaghi has ideas about how to modify the rod-like components to store hydrogen at ambient temperatures (0–45°C).
    "A decade ago, people thought methane would be impossible to store; that problem has been largely solved by our MOF materials. Hydrogen is a little more challenging than methane, but I am optimistic."
    Yaghi, 41, has reason to be optimistic since only a handful of MOFs have been tested for hydrogen storage thus far. This is not unreasonable given that MOFs are composed of an inorganic component — a metal oxide — and an organic component; he can control their assembly into new structures nearly at will.
    How would hydrogen work in devices like cell phones, laptop computers and digital cameras?
    "Instead of a battery, one would have a medium such as MOF that stores hydrogen and releases it into a fuel cell," he said.
    Yaghi, whose research overlaps chemistry, materials science and engineering, has long been interested in making materials in a rational way.
    "When I started out in chemistry, I always thought it should be possible to take two well‑defined molecules as building blocks and stitch them together into a predetermined chemical structure — almost like you produce a blueprint of the structure ahead of time and then find the right building blocks necessary to build it. In this way, one can control the structure and the composition. This approach was difficult to implement at the beginning, but is not so difficult at this stage."
    Hydrogen, when burned, produces only water, which is harmless to the environment, Yaghi noted. With MOFs, hydrogen is physically absorbed, and it is easy to take the hydrogen out and put it back in without much energy cost, he said.
    "The challenge has been, how do you store enough hydrogen for an automobile to run for 300 to 400 miles without refueling?" Yaghi asked. "You have to concentrate the hydrogen into a small volume without using high pressure of very low temperature.
    "Our idea was to create a material with pores that attract hydrogen, making it possible to stuff more hydrogen molecules into a small volume," he said.
    In previous research, Yaghi and colleagues reported that MOFs also can store large amounts of methane (natural gas).
    "We have materials that exceed the DOE requirements for methane, and we think we can apply the same sort of strategy for hydrogen storage," he said.
    Additionally, Yaghi has shown that MOFs store prodigious amounts of carbon dioxide at ambient conditions, a development relevant to preventing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and automobile tailpipes from reaching the atmosphere.
    The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and BASF (a global chemical company based in Germany).
    Co-authors of the present research report, which Yaghi conducted when he was on the faculty at the University of Michigan, are Adam Matzger, assistant professor of chemistry at Michigan, and Antek Wong-Foy, chemistry research associate at Michigan.

Contact: Stuart Wolpert ( swolpert@support.ucla.edu ) Phone: 310-206-0511

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Unlocks a Secret of Ammonia
HYDROGEN STORAGE:
Filling Up with Hydrogen
David Schneider   American Scientist    Sept/Oct 2005

• Mechanistic Studies of Hydrogen Formation
  from Amine--borane Complexes  Pacific Northwest National Lab/
  International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy   June 22, 2005  
  R. Scott Smith, Bruce D. Kay, LiyuLi, Nancy Hess, MaciejGutowski, Benjamin Schmid & Tom Autrey
• Fuel-Cell Researchers Look to Carbon
  John Gartner     Technology Review      August 8, 2005
      Published in the July 26 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study claims that earlier research underestimated the potential capacity of carbon materials to store hydrogen.
• New Look for Hydrogen Storage    Physics Web   July 19, 2005

• Titanium and Nanotubes Improve Fuel Cell Storage Capacity
  Small Times     July 26, 2005

'Metal-Decorated' Nanotubes
Hold Promise for Fuel Cells
National Institute for Standards & Technology    
May 3, 2005

BREAKTHROUGH

Prof. Huen Lee

"We will be able to store hydrogen inside ice at a near-ambient temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and use it as a fuel or for other purposes with the addition of heat that frees hydrogen from ice."

Hydrogen Storage Solved?
Korean Scientist Says
Just Freeze Water in an
Organic Metal Mixture!
Kim Tae-gyu  Korea Times  April 7, 2005

ammonia borane

BREAKTHROUGH
   Big Hopes for Tiny, New
Hydrogen Storage Material
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory  March 21, 2005

            Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found a way to release hydrogen from a solid compound almost 100 times faster than was previously possible furthering hopes for a viable hydrogen storage medium.

Delft University of Technology Researcher Sees Higher Temperature Fuel Cells and Magnesium Hydride as Key to Hydrogen Storage in Cars
Innovations Report     January 27, 2005

GM Joins with U.S. National Lab
to Advance Hydrogen Storage
Partnership with Sandia National Laboratories focuses on solid-state storage
General Motors/PRNewswire     January 6, 2005

Nested Metal-organic Frameworks as Possible Novel Hydrogen Storage Materials    Chemie.de      January 5, 2005

Linde state-of-the-art liquid hydrogen storage
uses liquified air as an insulator. Will nanotechnology
bring the storage benefits of liquid hydrogen
even closer to commercialization?

  BREAKTHROUGH!  

"These advancements lower the
weight and raise the storage
temperature of liquid hydrogen,
dramatically reducing costs."
David McDonald, CEO and President of Nanomix
Hydrogen Storage Advancements
for Vehicle and Fuel Cell Power
Nanomix Receives Two U.S. Patents in Alternative Energy
Nanomix    December 9, 2004

     The patent describes the low temperature storage of hydrogen using novel nanostructured materials including light elements, so as to permit non-chemically-bound low-pressure storage of hydrogen. Typically hydrogen is stored at 20 K, Nanomix technology makes storage possible at temperatures greater than the liquefaction temperature of nitrogen, 77 K. This innovation has the potential to make hydrogen storage much more cost effective and has been successfully prototyped by Nanomix. The system employs a combination of thermal insulation and a cold enclosure for the storage and controlled distribution of hydrogen as a high-energy fuel. This setup largely avoids the storage life limitations, energy penalties, and/or weight penalties associated with other technologies for liquid hydrogen storage as well as high-pressure gas-phase hydrogen storage.

FROM THE ARCHIVES                                                                               
"A New Technology for Hydrogen Storage"
Nanotubes in Fuel Tanks and Nanohorns in Fuel Cells
Presented to Fall Meeting of the California Hydrogen Business Council
South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, California

Jeff D. Wyatt  Covalent Materials (now Nanomix)

PowerPoint 
RealVideo
RealAudio
Windows Audio

Get RealPlayer

© 2001 VIMS
November 7, 2001

An Interview with Jeff Wyatt
Nanomix's Director of Business Development
Part 1   Part 2  by Bill Moore  EV World  August 17, 2002

October 15, 2004  

New Research May be Key to Hydrogen Cars
Mark Colvin and Mark Horstman     Australian Broadcasting

• Chemical Keeps Hydrogen on Ice      TRN     December 1, 2004
      One of the challenges in using pure hydrogen as fuel is finding ways to store the hydrogen that do not involve high pressures and low temperatures.
      Researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, the Colorado School of Mines, and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand have devised a new way to store hydrogen at low pressure and a temperature that is just above freezing. The work is a step toward practical hydrogen storage for vehicles.
      The researchers have demonstrated that it's possible to store hydrogen clusters at low-pressure within a clathrate hydrate, or ice-like framework of water molecules that form large and small cages capable of trapping other molecules.
      Key to the method is a promoter molecule, tetrahydrofuran, that occupies the large water cages while the small water cages are occupied by hydrogen. This allows hydrogen to be stored at much lower pressure within the clathrate hydrate than the pressure needed to store just hydrogen.
       Without the promoter molecule, clathrate hydrate hydrogen storage requires 300 megapascals, which is 2,961 atmospheres of pressure, at 6.85 degrees Celsius. The promoter molecule enables storage at five megapascals, or 49 atmospheres, at about the same temperature.
• Tetrahydrofuran       Lyondell    
  Based on information currently available, this product is not known to contain any chemicals currently listed as carcinogens or reproductive toxins under California Proposition 65 at levels which would be subject to this proposition.

Team Leader
Chen Ping

Vancouver, Canada - On Friday, August 6 2004, at approximately 9:30 PM, a hydrogen fuel leak in a Praxair tanker truck led to an explosion and fire outside Ballard’s manufacturing facility located at 4343 North Fraser Way in Burnaby, British Columbia. The incident occurred as Praxair was preparing to transfer liquid hydrogen from a tanker truck to Ballard’s hydrogen bulk storage tank. There was no damage to any of Ballard’s facilities or equipment and the only person injured in the accident was the Praxair driver, who received minor burns to his face and hands.

This incident highlights the relative safety of hydrogen fuel. Had the leakage and resulting fire been gasoline, or propane related, the situation could have been far more severe. In this case, Ballard’s emergency response personnel reacted as trained, Ballard’s safety systems operated as designed, the fire crews were able to manage the hydrogen fuel safely and effectively, and the only injury sustained was a minor one. This incident also demonstrates the strength of Ballard’s commitment to safety. Safety is our top priority and we are committed to providing the systems, procedures and training necessary to ensure a safe environment for our employees and a safe product for our customers.

    "I hauled gasoline and jet fuel for seven years. The only response to a payload fire was to run like hell. It was impossible to put out a fire. Anything, anyone in the vicinity would be consumed. The truck and tank trailer and the roadway itself  would melt.  However, real world

Gasoline tanker on fire  July 13, 2004
Highway 5 - Seattle, Washington

THE INCREDIBLE HISTORY
OF LIQUID HYDROGEN

see "Is Hydrogen a Practical Fuel?" Part II, Chapter 8
for NASA's early experience with liquid H2:
 
"Tests were devised in which tanks containing liquid hydrogen under pressure were ruptured. In many cases, the hydrogen quickly escaped without ignition. The experimenters then provided a rocket squib (a small powder charge) to ignite the escaping, hydrogen. The resulting fireball quickly dissipated because of the rapid flame speed of hydrogen and its low density.

"Containers of hydrogen and gasoline were placed side by side and ruptured. When the hydrogen can was ruptured and ignited, the flame quickly dissipated, but when the same thing was done with gasoline, the gasoline and flame stayed near the container and did much more damage.

"The gasoline fire was an order of magnitude more severe than the hydrogen fire. The experimenters tried to induce hydrogen to explode, with limited success. In 61 attempts, only two explosions occurred and in both, they had to mix oxygen with the hydrogen. Their largest explosion was produced by mixing a half liter of liquid oxygen with a similar volume of liquid hydrogen.

"Johnson and Rich were convinced that, with proper care, liquid hydrogen could be handled quite safely and was a practical fuel-a conclusion that was amply verified by the space program in the 1960s."

--  John L. Sloop, NASA

2004 Annual Hydrogen Program Review Proceedings    May 24, 2004

New to ICHC? Read this:

The Human Right to Renewable Energy

HYDROGEN HAWAII Telly Award Finalist Director: RD Masters 90-minute DVD from Amazon.com or watch it now with Amazon On Demand

Change the World FREE DOWNLOADS

NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES Transitions to  Alternative Transportation Technologies 2008

Full Book | PDF Summary

Benchmarking of Hydrogen Energy Roadmaps
HYWAYS-IPHE
June 8, 2008

Using Hydrogen in Confined Spaces
 HYSAFE 2009

20% Wind Energy by 2030 - DOE 2008

California Hydrogen Blueprint Plan

US Windpower Cost & Performance - DOE 2008

Renewable Portfolio Standards in the US
DOE 2008

Impacts of PTC Expiration
Navigant 2008

Analysis of the
Transition to Hydrogen
 DOE March 2008

Oil Change International 2007

Greenpeace 2007

Future Investment
EREC/Greenpeace 
July 2007

Chernobyl Catastrophe
Greenpeace 2007

Endless Energy Project -  GLOBE 2007

World Energy Tech Outlook 2050
European Commission 2007

Potential Hydrogen Communities in Europe Institute for Energy
January 2007

A New Energy Future
Environment California
2006

The Hydrogen Economy
UN Environment Programme 2006

Renewable Hydrogen
Clean Energy Group
2006

HyWays - A European Roadmap 2006
L-B-Systemtechnik

Manufacturing R&D for the Hydrogen Economy DOE 2006

Nuclear Power
No Solution to Climate Change  FOE 2005

A Global Survey of Hydrogen Energy Research
Development & Policy
Center for Energy and Environment Policy
April 2004

Electrolytic Hydrogen Production   NREL

Hydrogen Posture Plan
U.S. Dept of Energy

The Hydrogen Highway
Illinois Coalition

Wells-to-Wheels
Analysis of Future Fuels
European Union

The Hydrogen Economy
U.S. National Research Council 2004

Arizona Public Service
Alternative Fuel/H2 Pilot
Plant Design Report
DOE FreedomCar 2003

2003 Integrated Energy
Policy Report
California Energy
Commission

Research and Current
Activities
U.S Climate Change Technology Program 

Transitioning
To a Renewable
Energy Future
European Union

Hydrogen Energy
and Fuel Cells
European Union

Great Transition
Global Scenario Group 2002