Future cars could be fuelled by hydrogen technology
November 16, 2005
A small CSIRO-developed hydrogen device the size of a domestic microwave oven may be all you need to fuel your car in the future.
A team at CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology has developed a small device that can extract enough hydrogen per day from water to power a family car for up to150kms.
This work is an important part of CSIRO's Energy Transformed Flagship research program into positioning Australia for a future hydrogen economy.
Currently, the hydrogen unit runs on main's power, but researchers are investigating how to power the unit with renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.
While the idea of fuelling your car with hydrogen generated from a solar panel might sound like science fiction, project leader Dr Sukhvinder Badwal says concepts such as the hydrogen economy are real possibilities.
"Every time we stop at the petrol station to fill up the car we are reminded that fuel prices are not getting any lower," Dr Badwal says.
At this stage, hydrogen cannot compete with fossil fuels, but rising oil prices could create a different scenario, Dr Badwal says. "We just need to look towards future oil import costs."
He says that hydrogen is the cleanest fuel nature has given us and its portability and flexibility makes it ideal for a range of applications, including transport.
"While Australia has abundant renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, they cannot directly provide the portable fuel required by the transport sector. Hydrogen can fulfil that demand but, because it is not a naturally occurring fuel, has to be generated using conventional fuels or renewable sources."
Dr Badwal says that although several commercial systems exist, they are not very efficient. High capital costs, lifetime performance and the inability to handle intermittent and varying loads – important qualities when dealing with renewable energy sources – are also current drawbacks.
This is where CSIRO's latest work could make the difference. It is developing a solid-state system based on polymer electrolyte membranes for on-demand, distributed hydrogen production at homes, small-to-medium enterprises, remote locations, service stations and other end-user sites, where water and electricity are available.
The hydrogen generated can be stored for long periods and be converted to electricity when needed. The ability to generate energy on-site and on-demand would reduce up-front infrastructure costs. Dr Badwal says the team is still in the research and development stage, but "would like to have a commercial partner on board, as full-scale commercialisation is three to four years away".
Source: CSIRO
-
Dutch team has solution for troubled ITER nuclear fusion reactor
Feb 08, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
4
-
Will bubble-powered microrockets zoom through the human stomach?
Feb 08, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Solvay hails world's largest fuel cell of type in Flanders, one can power 1,400 homes
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (8) |
5
-
A 'natural' solution for transportation
Feb 03, 2012 |
3.6 / 5 (7) |
22
-
From cancer research to energy storage, Berkeley Lab scientist takes on big challenges
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
More news stories
Japan scientist makes 'Avatar' robot
A Japanese-developed robot that mimics the movements of its human controller is bringing the Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar" one step closer to reality.
12 hours ago |
5 / 5 (5) |
4
Intel packs performance and reliability into its latest SSD 520 series
Intel Corporation announced today its fastest, most robust client/consumer solid-state drive (SSD) to date, the Intel Solid-State Drive 520 Series (Intel SSD 520), a 6 gigabit-per-second (gbps) SATA III SSD ...
Feb 07, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
4
Google rumored to have built Heads-Up-Display glasses prototype
(PhysOrg.com) -- 9to5Google is reporting that they have received a tip from someone they believe to be a reliable source saying that Google is working on a Heads-Up-Display (HUD) pair of eye-glasses. The per ...
Apple to debut 'iPad 3' in March: report
Apple will unveil a new version of its market-ruling iPad table computer in March, according to a report in Dow Jones-owned technology blog All Things D.
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Feb 09, 2012 |
2 / 5 (20) |
0
New Kindle Touch is an impressive e-reader
When it comes to reading digital books, tablets are all the rage. But there's a lot to like about simple e-readers, which over the past year have become both a lot cheaper and a lot less clunky.
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Feb 09, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
NASA sees wide-eyed cyclone Jasmine
Cyclone Jasmine's eye has opened wider on NASA satellite imagery, as it moves through the Southern Pacific Ocean.
NASA sees Giovanna reach cyclone strength, threaten Madagascar
Tropical Storm 12S built up steam and became a cyclone on February 10, 2012 as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead. Residents of east-central Madagascar should prepare for this cyclone to make landfall ...
CIA website offline, Anonymous takes credit
The website of the Central Intelligence Agency was unresponsive on Friday after the hacker group Anonymous claimed to have knocked it offline.
Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins
Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. ...
The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...
New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission
Error-correcting codes are one of the triumphs of the digital age. Theyre a way of encoding information so that it can be transmitted across a communication channel such as an optical fiber o ...