Nasa fuel cell technology to power Al Gore's new London headquarters

Fuel cell converts gas into heat and electricity without producing carbon emissions

theguardian.com, Damian Carrington, Monday 14 October 2013

The crown estate development near Piccadilly in London. Photograph: Miller Hare Ltd

Fuel cell technology used to power Nasa's space shuttle will provide light and heat for Al Gore's new London headquarters.

The fuel cell, which converts gas into heat and electricity without producing carbon emissions, has been installed in a major crown estate development in Regent Street in the capital.

"The fuel cell is a real flag in the sand, demonstrating what is possible in terms of energy efficiency and carbon reduction," said the crown estate's head of development, Alastair Smart. The cost of the new system, the first of its kind to be installed in the UK, has not been revealed but Smart said: "It offers a commercially viable and sustainable source of energy. One of the main reasons for this is that the infrastructure lasts for 20 years, a lot longer than traditional systems."

Climate campaigner and former US vice-president Gore said the £400m Quadrant 3 redevelopment showed a "sophisticated commitment to sustainability". The headquarters of his sustainable investment company, Generation Investment Management, will be sited in the new buildings.

The cell was developed by US company FuelCell Energy. It will emit 38% less carbon dioxide than using electricity from the grid and heat from gas-fired boilers, according to the crown estate, which says 350 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be saved per year. Unlike fossil-fuel-burning power plants, the fuel cell produces power with virtually no nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SOx) or particulate matter (PM) pollution.

The new plant forms part of the central energy system that serves 500,000 sq ft of offices, shops, flats, restaurants and hotels in the Quadrant development.

Mike Rinker, at the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), said: "Combined heat and power fuel cell systems can help commercial buildings with high energy demands reap significant savings in energy cost and use. We anticipate this type of system could reduce the fuel costs and carbon footprint of a commercial building by approximately 40%, compared with conventional electricity and heat use." PNNL is testing its fuel cell system at 10 businesses in California and Oregon.

Other companies are developing washing-machine-sized fuel cells, which could power individual homes.

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"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”

Hyundai’s fuel cell ‘flop’ is big leap forward

Car and Van News, July 16, 2013

Hyundai plans to have around 15 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles operating in London by the end of this year, and 40 or more by the close of 2014.

Through initiatives not only in the capital but across the country, the UK is emerging as a champion of these long-range all-electric cars.

Hyundai recently became the first manufacturer in the world to put a fuel cell car into full production, with plans to build 1,000 hydrogen ix35s by 2015 and another 10,000 cars beyond.

“These are not hand-built prototypes; they are proper series production models,” Hyundai UK CEO Tony Whitehorn tells Headline Auto.

“We have broken the chicken-and-egg cycle as to which should come first – the cars or the infrastructure to support them.”

Fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) are all-electric vehicles making their own electricity on the move through chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in a metal box known as a fuel stack. They have roughly the same range on a tank of fuel as a conventional petrol/diesel vehicle, but the only waste product is water vapour.

Whitehorn likens the arrival of FCEVs to the introduction of the Fosbury Flop in high jumping. “At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 Dick Fosbury arrived at the bar head first and backwards – and incidentally won the event,” he says. “Now everybody does the Fosbury Flop. This is our Dick Fosbury moment.”

The take-up of FCEVs in the UK is being encouraged by organisations such as the UK and Scottish Hydrogen Fuel Cell Associations, UK H2 Mobility, the London Hydrogen Partnership and London H2 Network Expansion.

“To establish hydrogen fuel cells you need collaboration between the vehicle manufacturers, the infrastructure companies and government,” says Whitehorn. “That is happening in the UK.”

The aim is to have 300 hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK by 2025 and 1,150 only five years later. The Sainsbury and Morrison supermarket chains recently joined UK H2 Mobility, prompting hopes that they may start to roll out refuelling pumps at their sites.

Forecasters think there could be 10,000 FCEVs in the UK by the end of this decade, with sales increasing by 300,000 a year to a total of 1.6 million by 2030.

The establishment of a refuelling infrastructure is only one obstacle to the widespread take-up of FCEVs, however. The other is cost, which is why Hyundai will lease its initial batch of cars. Currently an FCEV would be priced at the same level as a supercar because the fuel stack is expensive to make, but with economies of scale this would tumble.

“Over the next 18 months we need to look at the cost element and bring down the percentage difference between a fuel cell vehicle and one with an internal combustion engine,” says Whitehorn. “The important thing is that fuel cells are within the reach of private buyers now.”

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Hyundai Unveil the World’s First Mass Produced Fuel Cell Vehicle

Hyundai Unveil the World’s First Mass Produced Fuel
Cell Vehicle

Hyundai Unveil the World’s First Mass Produced Fuel Cell Vehicle

greenerideal.com, Ashleigh-rose Harman, April 11, 2013

Hyundai have sped off the start line in the hydrogen vehicle production race, by rolling the first fuel cell vehicle intended for mass production off of the assembly line.

Hyundai have created a version of the ix35 which runs completely on hydrogen, meaning the only by product this car produces is water. The zero emissions vehicle is the product of the millions that has been invested into fuel cell research by the Korean company. The competition is beginning to build when it comes to environmentally friendly driving, with car manufacturers publicising future plans for a zero emissions driving environment.

Hyundai motor Vice Chairman, Eok Jo Kim announced the new ix35 as ‘the most eco-friendly vehicle in the industry.’  He went on to add that it ‘proves that hydrogen fuel cell technology in daily driving is no longer a dream’.

Fuel cell engines are not a new concept, in fact the first fuel cell vehicle came about in 1959. However, the technology has always been too expensive to develop for the mass market, hindering its advancement for the past fifty years, but Hyundai’s commitment to the cause has allowed the technology to be developed to mass market potential.

Fuel cell engines work by replacing gas with hydrogen. The hydrogen is combined with oxygen within the engine, creating a chemical reaction. This chemical energy is then converted into electrical energy, which in turn powers the motor in the engine. When fuel cell technology is compared to the current ‘plug in’ electric engines, the results show us that fuel cell engines are a way of sustaining our current driving habits, without causing any harm to our environment.

One thousand ix35s are due to be built by 2015. They are first to be made available as fleet vehicles across Europe, available for public and private vehicle leasing. After this Hyundai are planning to release the vehicle for consumer sales, with the hope of lower production costs and a more developed refuelling network.

The European Union has established a hydrogen road map, containing plans for new hydrogen refuelling stations throughout the continent. With hope that fuel companies will help develop the necessary technology to help put this plan into action across Europe and then the US.

Our attitude towards oil is unsustainable when it comes to our planet as well as our supplies, and this is forcing the automotive industries priorities to change. Car manufacturers are finally using their resources to develop technologies that will sustain the vehicle industry and the planet.  Responsibility is now being handed to the gas companies, with the automotive world asking them to help develop the necessary technologies to make electric driving a viable option.

Ashleigh-Rose Harman writes on behalf of Tilsun Group, on a number of automotive topics including vehicle technologies, the future of driving and the benefits of vehicle leasing. Visit tilsungroup.com for information on vehicle leasing, including contract hire on the latest EV’s and Hybrid vehicles.

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