After a delicious layer of snow in the night the sun shines bright this mid-morning to welcome surprise. Yesterday the radio called for flurries and the TV showed graphics of violent puffy clouds to accompany the raging winds that drive wet snow. Now it is a simple wind that clouds the sun's smile even as its dappled grace flits around the room through the open curtain with something like amusement.
The sun must know how inefficient my panes are.
-- by doing nothing it is easy to be genius --
Friday, March 12, 2004
Thursday, March 11, 2004
the cutting edge bleeds money
My terminal lament is to go through these phases where acquisition becomes of paramount importance and I, with the virtue of a moldy bun, deride the powers-that-be and rage with meaningless words -- in run-on sentences -- that my rebellion cannot afford that which should not be sought.
Hence this blog entry and another hole in my back pocket.
Sample Articles Relating to Fuel Cells
-- a penance a day keeps the blog addiction at bay --
Hence this blog entry and another hole in my back pocket.
Sample Articles Relating to Fuel Cells
-- a penance a day keeps the blog addiction at bay --
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
the worst sentence in the world
The new speciation of the human broken free of locality is to fit the niche of the market ecology where the marginalized are the historians of defunct concentrations of technology and mere survival is an abstract term consisting of butterfly wings, sintering and shared pestilence.
-- poetry for the disenfranchised --
-- poetry for the disenfranchised --
a globally warm welcome to china's brown cloud
This link is really a non-link because it represents the table of contents to a rather overlarge document on the statistics of automotive usage in China.
Perhaps after you buy it you could send in a precis.
(PDF) Automobiles in China
More Publication about China's Automotive Industry
As in all things there is a backlash on the world stage. I don't endorse backlashes because they tend to ignore the sanctity of life and all that jazz. The backlash can be seen now in the democratic national ballot. Actually, it's a backlash of a backlash. The grave economic conditions in the US after September 11th, 2001 have created a campaign platform dependent on economic finger pointing. The real menace (in my not so humble opinion) is outsourcing to the exclusion of domestic jobs on a scale never before seen. Michael Moore and I are probably in total agreement.
Now that the Chinese are full members of the World Trade Organization we can openly criticize their market activities. Roughly 7 per cent of Beijing's annual budget is given over to clean air programs. The Chinese economy has experienced 10 per cent growth on average for more than ten years running.
What if the Chinese decided to design their own cars? Asia's largest nation is the benefactor of unparalelled trade liberalization. It isn't likely design will be given over by such powerful entities as General Motors.
Some differences are present in the design of similar models. Buick Century, a GM product, has a higher quality back seat included in its Chinese design. This difference between North American models reflects cultural attitudes toward vehicle usage. Chinese drivers carry passengers with greater frequency than their North American peers.
Perhaps 20 years ago it would have been possible to request the Chinese government to slow its economic growth and seize foreign owned and operated manufacturing operations. They may have been convinced to protect culture and environment together along with food security.
Today the Chinese are more dependant on oil than any other nation in the world. Today the Chinese do not control the design of their automobiles. Today the Chinese must accept genetically modifed (GM) rice into the food supply to protect against malnutrition. Golden Rice is perhaps THE trojan horse of the biotechnology industry and proponents of this industry's complete acceptance.
Today the Chinese understand the value of culture as a marketable commodity as in such groundbreaking films such as "Big Shot's Funeral" starring Canadian actor Donald Sutherland.
Today is another day. Tomorrow is yesterday if you haven't done it before.
-- making sense of the world is not possible --
Perhaps after you buy it you could send in a precis.
(PDF) Automobiles in China
More Publication about China's Automotive Industry
As in all things there is a backlash on the world stage. I don't endorse backlashes because they tend to ignore the sanctity of life and all that jazz. The backlash can be seen now in the democratic national ballot. Actually, it's a backlash of a backlash. The grave economic conditions in the US after September 11th, 2001 have created a campaign platform dependent on economic finger pointing. The real menace (in my not so humble opinion) is outsourcing to the exclusion of domestic jobs on a scale never before seen. Michael Moore and I are probably in total agreement.
Now that the Chinese are full members of the World Trade Organization we can openly criticize their market activities. Roughly 7 per cent of Beijing's annual budget is given over to clean air programs. The Chinese economy has experienced 10 per cent growth on average for more than ten years running.
What if the Chinese decided to design their own cars? Asia's largest nation is the benefactor of unparalelled trade liberalization. It isn't likely design will be given over by such powerful entities as General Motors.
Some differences are present in the design of similar models. Buick Century, a GM product, has a higher quality back seat included in its Chinese design. This difference between North American models reflects cultural attitudes toward vehicle usage. Chinese drivers carry passengers with greater frequency than their North American peers.
Perhaps 20 years ago it would have been possible to request the Chinese government to slow its economic growth and seize foreign owned and operated manufacturing operations. They may have been convinced to protect culture and environment together along with food security.
Today the Chinese are more dependant on oil than any other nation in the world. Today the Chinese do not control the design of their automobiles. Today the Chinese must accept genetically modifed (GM) rice into the food supply to protect against malnutrition. Golden Rice is perhaps THE trojan horse of the biotechnology industry and proponents of this industry's complete acceptance.
Today the Chinese understand the value of culture as a marketable commodity as in such groundbreaking films such as "Big Shot's Funeral" starring Canadian actor Donald Sutherland.
Today is another day. Tomorrow is yesterday if you haven't done it before.
-- making sense of the world is not possible --
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
this century's most important decision
Well, I have had contact with Ms. Lightner. She returned my Friday afternoon call early Monday and gave me an alternate address for the information at the end of the link below. Unfortunately I had to email her again after an extensive search for this abstract at the DOE website.
Ms. Lightner told me to go to http://www.eere.energy.gov and select the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell link.
If you find something there please let me know about it. I am still waiting on Ms. Lightner's response. It is unfortunate she is probably busier than this wee issue warrants. She did tell me she had spoken to the people who look after the site where the link that was published leads to, but they were unsympathetic.
1. DOE Announces Date for Decision Regarding On-Board Fuel Processing
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced June 30, 2004, as the planned date for its go/no-go decision regarding on-board fuel processing for fuel cell vehicles. A panel has been assembled by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to review the current state of fuel processing activities against technical criteria. Based on the findings of the panel, NREL will submit a written recommendation to DOE on or before June 18, 2004. Written position papers for consideration by DOE regarding this decision must be received by May 15, 2004. NREL must receive requests to speak before the review panel no later than May 15, 2004. For further information, contact Valri Lightner, DOE, Ph. 202-586-0937, or valri.lightner@ee.doe.gov.
Get Details
Ms. Lightner told me to go to http://www.eere.energy.gov and select the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell link.
If you find something there please let me know about it. I am still waiting on Ms. Lightner's response. It is unfortunate she is probably busier than this wee issue warrants. She did tell me she had spoken to the people who look after the site where the link that was published leads to, but they were unsympathetic.
1. DOE Announces Date for Decision Regarding On-Board Fuel Processing
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced June 30, 2004, as the planned date for its go/no-go decision regarding on-board fuel processing for fuel cell vehicles. A panel has been assembled by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to review the current state of fuel processing activities against technical criteria. Based on the findings of the panel, NREL will submit a written recommendation to DOE on or before June 18, 2004. Written position papers for consideration by DOE regarding this decision must be received by May 15, 2004. NREL must receive requests to speak before the review panel no later than May 15, 2004. For further information, contact Valri Lightner, DOE, Ph. 202-586-0937, or valri.lightner@ee.doe.gov.
Get Details
engineers control fuel of the future
Society of Automotive Engineers on Fuel Cells
This link should give you an idea of where things stand with Fuel Cell vehicles in terms of their design.
If things continue as they appear to have done you will see ethanol at the pumps over the next few years. There are several indicators of that. The first is the recent announcement by the US to increase ethanol use to 12 per cent by 2015.
Ethanol is also the least expensive route for fuel producers to take in terms of delivery.
The second indicator is conversion price. On average it is estimated that for each refueling station approximately $600,000 USD would be required to make the conversion to hydrogen delivery versus just $30,000 USD for a liquid fuel.
Ethanol is also the easiest fuel for producers to dominate throughout the entire lifecycle of from corn crops, harvest and refining to metered delivery.
Much importance has been placed on 'reforming' fuels such as ethanol and methanol into hydrogen on-board Fuel Cell vehicles.
To that end, the US Department of Energy invites comments with respect to on-board fuel processing and the June decision it will take on this issue.
This link should give you an idea of where things stand with Fuel Cell vehicles in terms of their design.
If things continue as they appear to have done you will see ethanol at the pumps over the next few years. There are several indicators of that. The first is the recent announcement by the US to increase ethanol use to 12 per cent by 2015.
Ethanol is also the least expensive route for fuel producers to take in terms of delivery.
The second indicator is conversion price. On average it is estimated that for each refueling station approximately $600,000 USD would be required to make the conversion to hydrogen delivery versus just $30,000 USD for a liquid fuel.
Ethanol is also the easiest fuel for producers to dominate throughout the entire lifecycle of from corn crops, harvest and refining to metered delivery.
Much importance has been placed on 'reforming' fuels such as ethanol and methanol into hydrogen on-board Fuel Cell vehicles.
To that end, the US Department of Energy invites comments with respect to on-board fuel processing and the June decision it will take on this issue.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
[eCo-SPAM] federal government must act to save spotted owl
-- there are no borders in the natural world --
Dear Friend,
I write to you today with urgent news. The most-endangered bird species in Canada — the northern Spotted Owl - needs your immediate action to save it from extinction in Canada.
Act now by asking federal Environment Minister David Anderson to bring an emergency order to his cabinet colleagues to stop further destruction of spotted owl habitat and help lead to its recovery.
Spotted owl numbers in Canada have dropped to 25 breeding pairs, yet the government of British Columbia continues to allow logging in the final remnants of their habitat. The forests of southeastern B.C. are the only places in Canada where this endangered bird is found.
If the federal government does not take emergency measures as permitted under the Species at Risk Act, biologists estimate the spotted owl will become extinct in Canada within a decade.
THANK YOU for your action
-- sample letter added to comments --
Dear Minister,
I believe most Canadians know how difficult your job must be since so much emphasis in public policy and a majority of taxpayers' money goes to the task of ensuring our economies are kept burning.
I, for one, applaud your courage in the face of such a daunting and delicate task. While we have dominion of the planet and our needs come first it is with sadness that the erosion of species must be so marked in our time.
Best of luck with this 'issue'. I hope you are able to tackle the difficult challenge ahead in the tomorrow we have remaining.
-- snip
Well, I guess if I am writing a blog I should at least get some mileage out of it. Please spend the 2 minutes it takes to send this faxed message. Submissions are accepted from anywhere in the world.
ViAgArA/ FREE 100% / Advertise NOW/ 100% FREE / ViAgArA / FREE
Dear Friend,
I write to you today with urgent news. The most-endangered bird species in Canada — the northern Spotted Owl - needs your immediate action to save it from extinction in Canada.
Act now by asking federal Environment Minister David Anderson to bring an emergency order to his cabinet colleagues to stop further destruction of spotted owl habitat and help lead to its recovery.
Spotted owl numbers in Canada have dropped to 25 breeding pairs, yet the government of British Columbia continues to allow logging in the final remnants of their habitat. The forests of southeastern B.C. are the only places in Canada where this endangered bird is found.
If the federal government does not take emergency measures as permitted under the Species at Risk Act, biologists estimate the spotted owl will become extinct in Canada within a decade.
THANK YOU for your action
-- sample letter added to comments --
Dear Minister,
I believe most Canadians know how difficult your job must be since so much emphasis in public policy and a majority of taxpayers' money goes to the task of ensuring our economies are kept burning.
I, for one, applaud your courage in the face of such a daunting and delicate task. While we have dominion of the planet and our needs come first it is with sadness that the erosion of species must be so marked in our time.
Best of luck with this 'issue'. I hope you are able to tackle the difficult challenge ahead in the tomorrow we have remaining.
-- snip
Well, I guess if I am writing a blog I should at least get some mileage out of it. Please spend the 2 minutes it takes to send this faxed message. Submissions are accepted from anywhere in the world.
ViAgArA/ FREE 100% / Advertise NOW/ 100% FREE / ViAgArA / FREE
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
PURPA is the way a politician says Tequila
I have to have a sense of humor about trying to play any kind of politics because like many before me I am not the cleanest person around. I've left a trail of secrets behind me so that if anyone who wants to can deny any argument I put forward just by issuing a judgment about the one night I got drunk at a party and ralphed in my buddy's bathroom. Word of warning. Avoid Tequila at all costs. Do not drink an entire bottle.
You begin to realize very quickly that even if you believe in redemption you are still the person you were before any sort of transformation took place. The reek of it remains long after the cleanup as it were.
Those partying days are behind me now you'll be happy to know. Going forward, the bright energy future is on the horizon. Together we will someday raise a clear glass of 'imported' spring water or tailpipe emissions to our mutual triumph... (I'll have wine with my cheese, thanks). Or will we?
Technically, the climate seems right to squeeze more efficiency out of photovoltaic panels than ever before. Designs hitting the market can now be built with 25 per cent efficiency with roughly 35 per cent uptime. And in wind turbines bearingless designs can peak out at 40 per cent efficiency with similar uptime. But the political climate, particularly in the US, took a turn in 2001 when the Bush administration killed one of former President Jimmy Carter's last remaining Energy policy amendments dating back to 1978.
PURPA Refrom Group Applauds 2001 Decision
According to one source Carter's energy policies were estimated to have cost an extra $8 Billion per year in the United States. What would be interesting to find out is if anyone knows whether energy costs were $8 Billion less following the 2001 repeal of the PURPA amendment?
Scientists Express Concern Over PURPA Void
"Technically, PURPA only calls for renewable energy if it is cost competitive with conventional polluting resources. Many of the benefits of renewables are not included in the price, such as clean air, but PURPA makes no provision for including these. By strictly interpreting the law, FERC has expressly forbidden non-price factors in PURPA decisions."
Politically, these scientists, who guys eat, breath and sleep study are like the unredeemed who everybody remembers had too much to drink at the party and fell down in a pool of their own vomit.
Nobody really knows what scientists are saying, nor do the people who do listen have much time to figure out the message. All a scientist is really good for is to make chemicals and derive killer products to pollute the environment for his or her 15 per cent per annum wage increase. My vision of the scientist is of the person who is always amiable but somewhat bumbling. She can never find her purse and doesn't know anything about money. But she knows where to find a great party and she can screw the little plastic top off the Tequila bottle no matter how tight it is.
I hope you don't share this stereotype.
-- in no way do I endorse my own opinion --
You begin to realize very quickly that even if you believe in redemption you are still the person you were before any sort of transformation took place. The reek of it remains long after the cleanup as it were.
Those partying days are behind me now you'll be happy to know. Going forward, the bright energy future is on the horizon. Together we will someday raise a clear glass of 'imported' spring water or tailpipe emissions to our mutual triumph... (I'll have wine with my cheese, thanks). Or will we?
Technically, the climate seems right to squeeze more efficiency out of photovoltaic panels than ever before. Designs hitting the market can now be built with 25 per cent efficiency with roughly 35 per cent uptime. And in wind turbines bearingless designs can peak out at 40 per cent efficiency with similar uptime. But the political climate, particularly in the US, took a turn in 2001 when the Bush administration killed one of former President Jimmy Carter's last remaining Energy policy amendments dating back to 1978.
PURPA Refrom Group Applauds 2001 Decision
According to one source Carter's energy policies were estimated to have cost an extra $8 Billion per year in the United States. What would be interesting to find out is if anyone knows whether energy costs were $8 Billion less following the 2001 repeal of the PURPA amendment?
Scientists Express Concern Over PURPA Void
"Technically, PURPA only calls for renewable energy if it is cost competitive with conventional polluting resources. Many of the benefits of renewables are not included in the price, such as clean air, but PURPA makes no provision for including these. By strictly interpreting the law, FERC has expressly forbidden non-price factors in PURPA decisions."
Politically, these scientists, who guys eat, breath and sleep study are like the unredeemed who everybody remembers had too much to drink at the party and fell down in a pool of their own vomit.
Nobody really knows what scientists are saying, nor do the people who do listen have much time to figure out the message. All a scientist is really good for is to make chemicals and derive killer products to pollute the environment for his or her 15 per cent per annum wage increase. My vision of the scientist is of the person who is always amiable but somewhat bumbling. She can never find her purse and doesn't know anything about money. But she knows where to find a great party and she can screw the little plastic top off the Tequila bottle no matter how tight it is.
I hope you don't share this stereotype.
-- in no way do I endorse my own opinion --
Monday, March 01, 2004
drape a half-naked model and voila... traditional advertising scheme
Just so you know, car companies are making a genuine effort. The 'egg' still has to be broken though. Why not talk to your bank manager today and find out what incentives are being offered as your financial institution's investment in 'clean' technology. The more requests this manager receives the better your chances of having the question passed on up the line so that the president's ear is bent. If your bank can invest money on whatever they want why not invest directly in the people who make it all possible -- you? You bought and paid for the car. Seeding the softpath could be as easy as putting protected funds on the key players in the hydrogen economy and then giving people like you less expensive money dependent on their choices. Imagine a 2 per cent loan for a hydrogen only vehicle or a 5 per cent loan for something that uses a reformer to convert methanol, or a 10 per cent loan to a car that uses a reformer to convert gasoline? What does a bank have to lose if the hydrogen economy is supposed to happen anyway? The mechanisms must be in place to facilitate this change more rapidly. I just wonder if there is some sort of ethical dilemma in that?
Oh yes, and now any and all are encouraged to drape their favorite model over some of these luscious designs.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
(PDF) Fuel Cell Car Chart
sobriety is about how much you can afford to drink
Five Hundred Million Cars, One Planet
Just think about the future value of the gasoline powered car. How old are the heaps littering the road anyway? As of 2002 there were an estimated 531 million cars on roads the world over, 25 per cent of which were in the US alone. Depreciation already takes a huge chunk of a car's value as soon as it is driven off the lot. Would people rather wait until later to have their gasoline cars made worthless? When is really a good time? The longer individuals wait the longer it will take. No amount of transitional planning can save the value of your vehicle. Conversion to hybrid fuels in an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) are costly unless they are built into the purchase price of a vehicle. Depreciated assets are difficult to spend money on when there is no cost recovery involved in the expense.
How many of those cars are going to be kept to the standard of a classic so they can go on display 25 years from now?
I know which model I want.
Oh yes, and now any and all are encouraged to drape their favorite model over some of these luscious designs.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
(PDF) Fuel Cell Car Chart
sobriety is about how much you can afford to drink
Five Hundred Million Cars, One Planet
Just think about the future value of the gasoline powered car. How old are the heaps littering the road anyway? As of 2002 there were an estimated 531 million cars on roads the world over, 25 per cent of which were in the US alone. Depreciation already takes a huge chunk of a car's value as soon as it is driven off the lot. Would people rather wait until later to have their gasoline cars made worthless? When is really a good time? The longer individuals wait the longer it will take. No amount of transitional planning can save the value of your vehicle. Conversion to hybrid fuels in an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) are costly unless they are built into the purchase price of a vehicle. Depreciated assets are difficult to spend money on when there is no cost recovery involved in the expense.
How many of those cars are going to be kept to the standard of a classic so they can go on display 25 years from now?
I know which model I want.
radical public utility
Over this weekend I have read a lot and given over much of my time to thinking about some of the unspoken barriers to adopting the hydrogen economy.
One question really dominated my thoughts, but I couldn't define whether it was a barrier or a socialist plot creeping under my skin.
What if car companies everywhere were deemed public utilities?
Phrased as a question the words seem almost ludicrous. Why would a car company become a public utility? The roads and the garbage are already taken care of by most governments. Besides, car companies operate without the kinds of political or cultural borders that governments do. Being a public utility would mean radical change -- everywhere a car is assembled or a part is sourced to complete a design.
In fact, if car companies became public utilites it would probably mean that design would be done by consensus in a manner that those companies couldn't resist. It might even mean that car design would be accomplished by consensus.
As it is, bringing car companies together over standards and managing to convince that any kind of change is necessary is a costly endeavor put forward by government on behalf of the people who bought the cars in the first place.
Just who is governing who around here anyway? So much for competition in the marketplace...
One question really dominated my thoughts, but I couldn't define whether it was a barrier or a socialist plot creeping under my skin.
What if car companies everywhere were deemed public utilities?
Phrased as a question the words seem almost ludicrous. Why would a car company become a public utility? The roads and the garbage are already taken care of by most governments. Besides, car companies operate without the kinds of political or cultural borders that governments do. Being a public utility would mean radical change -- everywhere a car is assembled or a part is sourced to complete a design.
In fact, if car companies became public utilites it would probably mean that design would be done by consensus in a manner that those companies couldn't resist. It might even mean that car design would be accomplished by consensus.
As it is, bringing car companies together over standards and managing to convince that any kind of change is necessary is a costly endeavor put forward by government on behalf of the people who bought the cars in the first place.
Just who is governing who around here anyway? So much for competition in the marketplace...
Sunday, February 29, 2004
century's most important decision
Public responses to decisions taken on these matters are too late after the decision is taken. The following may be THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION of the next century in North America. Remember that GM controls 67 per cent of the automotive market. Coupled with REGENERATIVE fuel cells and distributed electrical production, our electrical infrastructure could ultimately replace plans for piped hydrogen and propel us into a Hydrogen economy very rapidly. The link attached to this post is broken. I have put in a request to Valri Lightner for more information about this problem and the upcoming meeting. I will post as soon her reply is made.
1. DOE Announces Date for Decision Regarding On-Board Fuel Processing
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced June 30, 2004, as the planned date for its go/no-go decision regarding on-board fuel processing for fuel cell vehicles. A panel has been assembled by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to review the current state of fuel processing activities against technical criteria. Based on the findings of the panel, NREL will submit a written recommendation to DOE on or before June 18, 2004. Written position papers for consideration by DOE regarding this decision must be received by May 15, 2004. NREL must receive requests to speak before the review panel no later than May 15, 2004. For further information, contact Valri Lightner, DOE, Ph. 202-586-0937, or valri.lightner@ee.doe.gov.
Get Details
1. DOE Announces Date for Decision Regarding On-Board Fuel Processing
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced June 30, 2004, as the planned date for its go/no-go decision regarding on-board fuel processing for fuel cell vehicles. A panel has been assembled by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to review the current state of fuel processing activities against technical criteria. Based on the findings of the panel, NREL will submit a written recommendation to DOE on or before June 18, 2004. Written position papers for consideration by DOE regarding this decision must be received by May 15, 2004. NREL must receive requests to speak before the review panel no later than May 15, 2004. For further information, contact Valri Lightner, DOE, Ph. 202-586-0937, or valri.lightner@ee.doe.gov.
Get Details
never a hydrogen infrastructure
The following email was sent to the [H2OPower] list on Topica, a list to which I recently subscribed.
I have also posted the message to the [softpath] list also hosted on Topica. This article is highly recommended reading as it puts forward the means to an immediate transition to the Hydrogen economy.
Please precis the article and send your viewpoint along to local representatives, newspapers, friends, colleagues, etc. to get the word out. Forward your official contacts (esp. media and political) to the [softpath] list or to me and I will collate them for use. -- Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
Here is a link to a paper on the H2 economy which may
stimulate some debate;
stimulate some debate;
It makes some good points but is somewhat myopic in that it
only considers the issue from one "standard" viewpoint. If any part of the
paradigm could be changed the whole thing would collapse. The main parameters
that I think CAN be changed are the source of hydrogen and the
method/location of production.
only considers the issue from one "standard" viewpoint. If any part of the
paradigm could be changed the whole thing would collapse. The main parameters
that I think CAN be changed are the source of hydrogen and the
method/location of production.
If hydrogen is produced from water then the location of the
production can be almost anywhere, such as at the point of use (or very close to
it). This eliminates the need for a whole new storage and distribution
infrastructure. So the real challenge then is going to be solely in finding more
efficient means to produce hydrogen at the point/time of use.
production can be almost anywhere, such as at the point of use (or very close to
it). This eliminates the need for a whole new storage and distribution
infrastructure. So the real challenge then is going to be solely in finding more
efficient means to produce hydrogen at the point/time of use.
MJ
--^^---------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to: tim.pozza@sympatico.ca
EASY SUBSCRIBE:
Send an email to: H2OPower-subscribe@topica.com
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Saturday, February 28, 2004
an elemental universe
Hydrogen
The periodic table definition of the most abundant element in the universe.
Hydrogen Fuel Cells
The invention of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell.
H-Power Where Are We Going With Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Read about the invention of the hydrogen powered fuel cell beginning in 1839 to its near perfection by a direct ancestor of Sir Francis Bacon in 1959 and gain perspective about more recent development and some of the engineering hurdles yet to come.
Hydrogen Energy
Commercial Hydrogen Energy Resources
The periodic table definition of the most abundant element in the universe.
Hydrogen Fuel Cells
The invention of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell.
H-Power Where Are We Going With Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Read about the invention of the hydrogen powered fuel cell beginning in 1839 to its near perfection by a direct ancestor of Sir Francis Bacon in 1959 and gain perspective about more recent development and some of the engineering hurdles yet to come.
Hydrogen Energy
Commercial Hydrogen Energy Resources
Friday, February 27, 2004
hydrogen must attend
Join fellow Canadian Energy, Utility, Mining, and Public Service leaders at SAP Business Forum 2004, March 9, at The Metropolitan Centre. Learn technology and business best practices that will help increase your returns, improve reliability, and enhance customer responses.
9:15 FEATURE KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Hon. Murray D. Smith, Minister of Energy,
Government of Alberta
SAP Business Forum 2004 in Calgary, March 9, at The Metropolitan Centre.
To register for this event, visit
http://www.sap-presents.com/fm/cal6
7-8:30 a.m. Registration, Continental Breakfast
General Session:
9:15 FEATURE KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Hon. Murray D. Smith, Minister of Energy,
Government of Alberta
SAP Business Forum 2004 in Calgary, March 9, at The Metropolitan Centre.
To register for this event, visit
http://www.sap-presents.com/fm/cal6
rave on cradle to grave
Forward thinking solutions are an everyday part of the California Hydrogen Business Council. The following link leads to a wealth of information about a cradle to grave model of hydrogen production and use.
Solar Hydrogen Vehicle Fact Sheet
Please send comments or links to other exciting project you may be involved in or have read about so they can become part of the growing repository of information soon to be made available.
Investors please look to
Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Investor. Poke around the site a little for some of the free information gathered there before you decide to buy. Your financial choices matter. Don't forget though, less than 2 per cent of the world's population controls over 90 per cent of its wealth. Convince others to vote with their feet if you have to.
A more comprehensive list of hydrogen and fuel cell related resources is in the works. Again, if you've got something to contribute, please don't hesitate to forward what you've got and we'll see if a place can be found for it.
Write to Tim
Solar Hydrogen Vehicle Fact Sheet
Please send comments or links to other exciting project you may be involved in or have read about so they can become part of the growing repository of information soon to be made available.
Investors please look to
Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Investor. Poke around the site a little for some of the free information gathered there before you decide to buy. Your financial choices matter. Don't forget though, less than 2 per cent of the world's population controls over 90 per cent of its wealth. Convince others to vote with their feet if you have to.
A more comprehensive list of hydrogen and fuel cell related resources is in the works. Again, if you've got something to contribute, please don't hesitate to forward what you've got and we'll see if a place can be found for it.
Write to Tim
Thursday, February 26, 2004
fossil vs. hydrogen mirrors browser wars
Just as things begin to heat up with the adoption of hydrogen as tomorrow's fuel the worry creeps in that fuel cell technology is going to be like the browser wars between Microsoft Inc. and Netscape Communications.
A feud that ended with a whimper when finally, somebody big blew into town (Time Warner), bought out Netscape and eventually shut the company and it's web browser down at version 7.
We have the boys and girls at Netscape to thank for such fine things as RSS feeds along with an open source browser called Mozilla given a final push by Time Warner with a couple of million dollars. After achieving an 85 per cent share of the browser market before Microsoft even had a strategy the death of such an enterprise is disturbing.
Fossil vs. hydrogen fuels still look very much like Microsoft vs. Netscape in that one implementation has deeper pockets in which to survive and thrive despite an apparent will in the market that would have contested such a loose foothold at the outset. Part of that is ownership. Ownership of the infrastructure. Ownership of the money. Does that sound at all like the basis of an anti-trust lawsuit? Maybe not, but it sure looks like somebody can bundle the browser with the computer and get away with it and call it consumer choice.
Shell Hydrogen
Shell Hydrogen -- Consumer Choice Drives Future
In fossil vs. hydrogen the problem exists in fossil enabling technology which 'reforms' the fuel to extract the hydrogen from it before it hits the anode. This enabling technology also comes with another caveat. The fuel cell must be different from one that runs on pure hydrogen, effectively eliminating customer choice for the life of the vehicle or home energy system. This situation exists because Proton Exchange Membranes (PEM Fuel Cells) that run on 99.99 per cent pure hydrogen can not run with a less pure fuel that would result with Hitest (hydrogen and natural gas for combustion), methanol, ethanol, or gasoline.
Yahoo! News - Officials say Calfornia governor's 'hydrogen highway' is realistic by 2010
Reformers aren't the problem. It is the people who use them.
BETA vs. VHS anyone?
A feud that ended with a whimper when finally, somebody big blew into town (Time Warner), bought out Netscape and eventually shut the company and it's web browser down at version 7.
We have the boys and girls at Netscape to thank for such fine things as RSS feeds along with an open source browser called Mozilla given a final push by Time Warner with a couple of million dollars. After achieving an 85 per cent share of the browser market before Microsoft even had a strategy the death of such an enterprise is disturbing.
Fossil vs. hydrogen fuels still look very much like Microsoft vs. Netscape in that one implementation has deeper pockets in which to survive and thrive despite an apparent will in the market that would have contested such a loose foothold at the outset. Part of that is ownership. Ownership of the infrastructure. Ownership of the money. Does that sound at all like the basis of an anti-trust lawsuit? Maybe not, but it sure looks like somebody can bundle the browser with the computer and get away with it and call it consumer choice.
Shell Hydrogen
Shell Hydrogen -- Consumer Choice Drives Future
In fossil vs. hydrogen the problem exists in fossil enabling technology which 'reforms' the fuel to extract the hydrogen from it before it hits the anode. This enabling technology also comes with another caveat. The fuel cell must be different from one that runs on pure hydrogen, effectively eliminating customer choice for the life of the vehicle or home energy system. This situation exists because Proton Exchange Membranes (PEM Fuel Cells) that run on 99.99 per cent pure hydrogen can not run with a less pure fuel that would result with Hitest (hydrogen and natural gas for combustion), methanol, ethanol, or gasoline.
Yahoo! News - Officials say Calfornia governor's 'hydrogen highway' is realistic by 2010
Reformers aren't the problem. It is the people who use them.
BETA vs. VHS anyone?
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
Read the story
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.
release of two important publications from its archives.
USFCC back issues
Read the story
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.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Flight of the Exxon Valdez
Personally, my thoughts have turned to the environment. I don't want to build websites as much as I want to build consensus around things like the air we breath or what happens to the products we buy that we just throw away. It's a common enough problem that we kind of just live with it these days and hope that the weak light of good news on the cleanup front gets steadier regardless of the choices we make personally. If you think that's a dim view, I can understand that. You've probably made some sacrifices yourself.
My aim is to jump ahead on the timeline on the adoption of the hydrogen economy and to avoid pitfalls where it is now threatened.
Hydrogen evaporates faster than the memory of the Exxon Valdez.
Recent bad news about this possible transition to a Hydrogen Economy has struck a foul blow to those who thought the promise of this maturing technology 20 years ago would bear fruit in just a few short years from now.
I spoke with the PR Director of Ballard Power Systems a few years ago while working on a story. She told me commercial rollout of PEM Fuel Cells would be accomplished in 2005. Unfortunately, this is NOT a given. Governments are protecting jobs, infrastructure investments, petrochemical R&D and geological resources, among other things.
One of the major factors "appears" to be that pure Hydrogen can neither be supplied in the quantities needed nor transported nearly as efficiently as petrol, methanol, ethanol or natural gas. Even electrolysis (a way of using electricity to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water) as an on-site method of fuel distribution is considered difficult. Car companies expect that in order to meet the demand properly 30 per cent of the 170,000 plus gas stations in the US alone would have to make Hydrogen or a reformable fuel mixture available.
The fall back position is OIL. OIL! OIL! OIL! Oil before methanol. Oil before ethanol. And all of these before Hydrogen. Fossil fuel and nuclear and natural gas electricity production before hydrogen or hydrogen storage. No soft path. No earth, wind or sun fire.
And certainly no Regenerative PEM Fuel Cells or futuristic electrical generation built into the car's motion (yes, some hybrid models do recharge 'traditional' batteries under braking, but how many use each wheel as a generator).
Please notice your local gas station under construction or renovation... Is it supplying natural gas? Propane? Hydrogen? Where is all the profit going?
Government will is one thing. An interest in change is fine. But who wants to phase themselves out? What individual has the time to invest in building their own car or heating/air conditioning system in an effort to fight off corporate interests in maintaining dependencies?
And just where do we draw the line politically about what is in the public's interest anyway? Public policy may acknowledge dependence but it fights just as hard for corporate independence even during an era when the corporation has been seen to become government. By way of extending this it must be asked whether corporate self interest is the public policy of the future. Perhaps the French were not wrong when they declared "A market economy, but not a market society."
So, what is this favor I am going to ask you, right?
Well, it's simple really...
1.) Help make utility companies buy power from individuals to the effect of seeding the soft path to distributed energy stored as hydrogen for electricity production, transmission and distribution.
2.) Help break the 'egg' by campaigning against new car purchases until all car companies (or the most powerful among them) use their equity to bring regenerative fuel cell vehicles to market.
3.) Help build an open source knowledge base of industry needing to be phased out, training requirements, transitional requirement and other identifiable assistive information for employees, managers, executives and owners under each region in which these stakeholders live and operate.
4.) Build an open source organization to gather information for and to research and promote:
a.) Smart roads vs. smart cars (commuter clog and smog cleanup)
b.) Public patents for donated technologies
c.) Grassroots hydrogen focused planning, technology and implementation
d.) Debatable public scenarios for future adoption
c.) Features and benefits, reassurance of individual choice, safety and advancement in personal and business transportation future
d.) Knowledge base for house, apartment, business and industry as well as collecting ideas for legislative change in locality, activist resources
Anyway, I could go on, but I don't want to completely turn you off. These plans are big, of course, and it would be impossible to do anything without help and consensus, or being pointed in the right direction.
My aim is to jump ahead on the timeline on the adoption of the hydrogen economy and to avoid pitfalls where it is now threatened.
Hydrogen evaporates faster than the memory of the Exxon Valdez.
Recent bad news about this possible transition to a Hydrogen Economy has struck a foul blow to those who thought the promise of this maturing technology 20 years ago would bear fruit in just a few short years from now.
I spoke with the PR Director of Ballard Power Systems a few years ago while working on a story. She told me commercial rollout of PEM Fuel Cells would be accomplished in 2005. Unfortunately, this is NOT a given. Governments are protecting jobs, infrastructure investments, petrochemical R&D and geological resources, among other things.
One of the major factors "appears" to be that pure Hydrogen can neither be supplied in the quantities needed nor transported nearly as efficiently as petrol, methanol, ethanol or natural gas. Even electrolysis (a way of using electricity to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water) as an on-site method of fuel distribution is considered difficult. Car companies expect that in order to meet the demand properly 30 per cent of the 170,000 plus gas stations in the US alone would have to make Hydrogen or a reformable fuel mixture available.
The fall back position is OIL. OIL! OIL! OIL! Oil before methanol. Oil before ethanol. And all of these before Hydrogen. Fossil fuel and nuclear and natural gas electricity production before hydrogen or hydrogen storage. No soft path. No earth, wind or sun fire.
And certainly no Regenerative PEM Fuel Cells or futuristic electrical generation built into the car's motion (yes, some hybrid models do recharge 'traditional' batteries under braking, but how many use each wheel as a generator).
Please notice your local gas station under construction or renovation... Is it supplying natural gas? Propane? Hydrogen? Where is all the profit going?
Government will is one thing. An interest in change is fine. But who wants to phase themselves out? What individual has the time to invest in building their own car or heating/air conditioning system in an effort to fight off corporate interests in maintaining dependencies?
And just where do we draw the line politically about what is in the public's interest anyway? Public policy may acknowledge dependence but it fights just as hard for corporate independence even during an era when the corporation has been seen to become government. By way of extending this it must be asked whether corporate self interest is the public policy of the future. Perhaps the French were not wrong when they declared "A market economy, but not a market society."
So, what is this favor I am going to ask you, right?
Well, it's simple really...
1.) Help make utility companies buy power from individuals to the effect of seeding the soft path to distributed energy stored as hydrogen for electricity production, transmission and distribution.
2.) Help break the 'egg' by campaigning against new car purchases until all car companies (or the most powerful among them) use their equity to bring regenerative fuel cell vehicles to market.
3.) Help build an open source knowledge base of industry needing to be phased out, training requirements, transitional requirement and other identifiable assistive information for employees, managers, executives and owners under each region in which these stakeholders live and operate.
4.) Build an open source organization to gather information for and to research and promote:
a.) Smart roads vs. smart cars (commuter clog and smog cleanup)
b.) Public patents for donated technologies
c.) Grassroots hydrogen focused planning, technology and implementation
d.) Debatable public scenarios for future adoption
c.) Features and benefits, reassurance of individual choice, safety and advancement in personal and business transportation future
d.) Knowledge base for house, apartment, business and industry as well as collecting ideas for legislative change in locality, activist resources
Anyway, I could go on, but I don't want to completely turn you off. These plans are big, of course, and it would be impossible to do anything without help and consensus, or being pointed in the right direction.
Alchemical Tea Leaves
For as long as this tiny three inch space exists for me to cram little words into I am happy.
Big words fit here too, although they may be looked down upon as snobbish or as lurid examples of wanna-be intellect. Covering up with words is for lawyers and geologists -- pretty much anybody who works in a profession for which words are a necessity of life knows the protection of a secret language. A language encrypted by education and experience takes time to decode and perhaps generations to write.
A lot of this exists today. The arcane and the codifed. Some of it is bound to protect us too. It's for this reason that parents babyproof their living spaces when that child is due to arrive. Some things you just don't need to experience.
However lead is turned to gold in our own lives we almost all of us share the belief in our dominion over nature. The choices we make with the precious little time we have beyond the virtual chemistry of making a living might allow some of us to learn several secret languages. And with that some may yet make some sense out of the crucible into which these languages mix and make the world in which we live. And yes, even the environment is different from the one we inherited from our hunter-gatherer forebears. Consider roaming now. You won't get too far with a fence in the way, nor will the branded herds be yours for the taking.
Let the words grapple with themselves. Dominion over stewardship. Humana Vitae and the creation into which God placed Adam and Eve without promising them life everlasting. Consider a chain of generations moving in isolation from and toward speciation now capable of massing into one humanity. Uni-culture. Uni-gene. All because none of us can truly read the spectrum of color reflected by the chlorophil in the leaf of a plant. The bush was burning, not talking.
Where would we stop if we finally discovered how to speak with the tea leaves instead of tramping them. Or what if a person knew exactly what to eat and in what quantity to completely satisfy every cell in his or her body. Even our evolution has taken us away from the fine-grained understanding each cell has of its own needs in its own environment. We might be better off to detect chemicals and their harm at the level an ant would. But since this is impossible without genetically altering ourselves we resort to technology to solve what our own senses can not. We build canaries for our coal mines, and we hope to detect the cumulative impact of our concentrated presence in things like sewage treatment plants, garbage dumps and nuclear decommissioning.
The roads must roll -- and all the people on it.
Big words fit here too, although they may be looked down upon as snobbish or as lurid examples of wanna-be intellect. Covering up with words is for lawyers and geologists -- pretty much anybody who works in a profession for which words are a necessity of life knows the protection of a secret language. A language encrypted by education and experience takes time to decode and perhaps generations to write.
A lot of this exists today. The arcane and the codifed. Some of it is bound to protect us too. It's for this reason that parents babyproof their living spaces when that child is due to arrive. Some things you just don't need to experience.
However lead is turned to gold in our own lives we almost all of us share the belief in our dominion over nature. The choices we make with the precious little time we have beyond the virtual chemistry of making a living might allow some of us to learn several secret languages. And with that some may yet make some sense out of the crucible into which these languages mix and make the world in which we live. And yes, even the environment is different from the one we inherited from our hunter-gatherer forebears. Consider roaming now. You won't get too far with a fence in the way, nor will the branded herds be yours for the taking.
Let the words grapple with themselves. Dominion over stewardship. Humana Vitae and the creation into which God placed Adam and Eve without promising them life everlasting. Consider a chain of generations moving in isolation from and toward speciation now capable of massing into one humanity. Uni-culture. Uni-gene. All because none of us can truly read the spectrum of color reflected by the chlorophil in the leaf of a plant. The bush was burning, not talking.
Where would we stop if we finally discovered how to speak with the tea leaves instead of tramping them. Or what if a person knew exactly what to eat and in what quantity to completely satisfy every cell in his or her body. Even our evolution has taken us away from the fine-grained understanding each cell has of its own needs in its own environment. We might be better off to detect chemicals and their harm at the level an ant would. But since this is impossible without genetically altering ourselves we resort to technology to solve what our own senses can not. We build canaries for our coal mines, and we hope to detect the cumulative impact of our concentrated presence in things like sewage treatment plants, garbage dumps and nuclear decommissioning.
The roads must roll -- and all the people on it.
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