Burning Bio News

Researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have found that photosynthesis may function as that clean, sustainable source of hydrogen. The team, led by Barry Bruce, a professor of biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology at UT Knoxville, found that the inner machinery of photosynthesis can be isolated from certain algae and, when coupled with a platinum catalyst, is able to produce a steady supply of hydrogen when exposed to light.

Hydrogen-generating technologies have made significant gains through hydrogen research at Idaho National Laboratory. The new solid-oxide electrolysis cells have more than doubled the lifetime of their predecessors by lasting 2,583 hours with an average degredation rate of 8.2 percent for 1,000 hours, more than twice the previous best performance of 21 percent degredation per 1,000 hours. “It means that they’re closer to commercial viability,” said Steve Herring, technical director of the High Temperature Electrolysis Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative.

The Hythane Ford E-450 shuttle bus will be included in the City of Hempstead’s alternative fuel fleet. Hempstead, NY, has recently unveiled its alternative fuel station, located at Point Lookout on Long Island, which has the capability of fueling compressed natural gas, hydrogen, and Hythane vehicles. Hythane is a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen, which dramatically reduces carbon dioxide, non-methane hydrocarbons and methane emissions in comparison with the natural gas version of the Ford-450 engine.

Technology advancements in the ammonia manufacturing process make the option of using hydroelectric power to produce this carbon-free fuel more viable and cost-effective than in the past. This article is an excellent primer in the evolution of ammonia production.

Packer Engineering in Naperville, IL is developing a biomass gasifier with Argonne National Laboratory. The ultimate goal is to develop a cost effective source of hydrogen. The City of Naperviille is interested in fueling the city fleet with the hydrogen. It appears a pilot gasifier is running, but the commercial model is still underdevelopment.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the delivery of $377 million in funding for 46 new multi-million-dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) located at universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and private firms across the nation. Of the $377 million awarded to the EFRCs, $277 million comes from funding made available through the Recovery Act with the remaining $100 million made from DOE’s FY2009 budget.

Hydrogen Energy International will receive $309 million dollars to build a hydrogen plant in Bakersfield, CA. Petroleum coke, biomass, coal or blends of each, will be gasified and combined with non-potable water to generate hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). The hydrogen gas will be used to fuel a net 250-megawatt power station. The CO2 will be transported by pipeline to nearby oil reservoirs and injected for permanent storage and enable additional production from existing Kern County oilfields.

Southern California Edison in taking part in a project by a joint venture of BP Alternative Energy and Rio Tinto to build plant to gasify petroleum coke for producing hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen would be burned at a nearby facility to produce electricity while the carbon dioxide would be captured for enhancing oilfield production. This project recently won approval from the state Public Utilities Commission.

Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Georgia researchers have announced a new “one-pot” process for producing fuel-cell-quality hydrogen, which simplifies production and uses cellulose from wood chips or grass. The researchers produced hydrogen gas pure enough to power a fuel cell by mixing 14 enzymes, one coenzyme, non-food cellulosic material, and water at 32 degrees C.

An industrial park in Wabash County has been chosen as the site for a New Jersey-based, ForeverGreen Enterprises, $227-million plant that will turn hazardous waste into hydrogen.

NanoDynamics Energy, Inc. announced today that it has received a 15-month, $2.4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the development of a 400-watt solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The SOFC will be designed to operate on a variety of fuels, including hydrogen and methane gas.

The county, Rochester Institute of Technology and General Motors representatives officially announced the opening of the Green Fuel Station in Rochester, NY. It looks like there is one other hydrogen fueling station in White Plains, NY.

A commercial-scale process to extract and reuse pure hydrogen from the hydrogen sulfide that naturally contaminates unrefined oil, is one step closer to reality through collaboration between the US DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory and Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc. (KPM) of Kingston, Ontario.

Umit Ozkan, professor at The Ohio State University has developed a new catalyst to make hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature, and using inexpensive ingredients.

Shell Oil opens a hydrogen refueling station in West Los Angeles, CA. Twenty-five hydrogen stations currently operate in California, most in the San Francisco-Sacramento corridor and the Greater Los Angeles and San Diego regions, serving more than 100 fuel cell passenger vehicles and transit buses, with a further ten stations already in the planning stages.

A bioprospecting expedition to Iceland’s famed hot springs has yielded new strains of bacteria with potential of producing hydrogen and ethanol fuels from wastewater now discharged from factories that process sugar beets, potatoes and other plant material.

Penn State University researchers have developed a method of converting cellulose and other biodegradable organic materials into hydrogen. Drs. Logan and Cheng used naturally occurring bacteria in a microbial electrolysis cell with acetic acid.

Penn State University scientists have drastically improved the efficiency of bacteria-powered fuel cells that convert biodegradable organic matter into hydrogen gas. This technology is still developing, but looks interesting.

Michael Webber, Associate Director at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of TX, Austin, has conducted an analysis of the total water requirements with recent data for a ÒtransitionalÓ hydrogen economy (2037). Whoa. There is something disturbing about projecting an experimental technology out 30 years. It will be fun to compare this report to life in 2037.

A hydrogen-powered home in Hopewell, NJ provides technical evidence that hydrogen can be viable. This prototype cost $500,000 to install.