will hydrogen create garbage?

The good news today is that a lot of great information has been made available in Spanish and Portuguese in the field of fuel cell technology. This thanks to the US Fuel Cell Council
release of two important publications from its archives.

USFCC back issues
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You know? This organization is great. They do what a coordinating body should do and work towards open standards and cooperation between members of industry and at all levels. Sharing this level of information in these languages is also a great bonus to Middle and South Americans. There is sure to be a fair amount of technology transfer from the public to private sectors, along with very targeted and realistic funding in a timely manner.

Everybody wants implementation too, don't they? And this is where that niggling 'but' always inserts itself. A review of each of the organization's key group missions revealed deep involvement and forward thinking. BUT why aren't they studying the legislative areas related to corporate responsibility for the entire life cycle of the products to be manufactured and sold to consumers and industry? Isn't this the sort of issue that got us into the mess we seem to be crawling out of at this very moment on a worldwide basis.

I suggest that this organization is one that is eminently capable of assisting in a worldwide move to hydrogen for the masses, but that it needs a new working group to watch out for the garbage. If these new technologies have a built-in lifespan nobody is going to be impressed when curbside pickup costs three times as much as it does to buy in.


Platinum today: Fuel Cell Science & Technology, Munich

Of course, platinum, an expensive material used in most fuel cells operating under 120 degrees Celsius, is going to be worth something to someone. However, if this group is banking on the value of platinum as a commodity in the recycling industry they should look to the glut of circuit boards and electronic components that are about to pile up in the next five years. There is gold in it for those who care to look.

On the scrap heap is equipment we can't even, in good conscience, donate to the underprivileged.

An idea of the problem to come

Killing two birds with one stone may be less costly than not understanding why the bird died.