Scientists at Brown University and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed nanoparticles with a palladium core and an iron-platinum shell that can outperform commercially available platinum fuel cell catalysts. Most current fuel cells use platinum as the catalyst, which is what breaks the fuel down into electricity. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Fuel Cells
Lots of questions, and only some answers, about the Bloom Box
Bloom boxes at ebay I’m sure you’ve seen all the articles about the Bloom Box, the new fuel cell technology that Bloom Energy revealed this week. To recap, the Bloom Box is a car sized stand alone fuel cell that turns natural gas or other fuels into electricity. Each box, … Continue reading
GM’s fuel cell powered Equinox reaches 1 million mile mark
The Equinox, GM’s hydrogen fuel cell car that is currently being tested in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington DC, has reached a milestone for fuel cell powered electric cars. There’s about 100 cars in the Equinox test program, which has been underway for slightly more than 2 years, … Continue reading
Mantra Energy wants to convert CO2 back into new fuel
I received an interesting note from the Mantra Venture Group the other day. It had some really interesting things in it. One of their subsidiaries, Mantra Energy, has acquired the intellectual property for a process developed at the University of British Columbia called ERC (short for electro-reduction of carbon … Continue reading
European Union pledges 1 billion euros for the Fuel Cells and Joint Technology Initiative
The European Union has announced that it is adding a billion euros into a project designed to coordinate all European hydrogen fuel cell research. The goal is to achieve mass-market rollout of hydrogen cells by 2020. The Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) will focus on four main areas: Transportation and hydrogen … Continue reading
UPS expands testing of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
The United Parcel Service (UPS) has announced that they are expanding their U.S. hydrogen fuel cell testing program to include three large package delivery vehicles. UPS’s initial tests conducted on fuel cell cars were very successful, so they are ready to move to the next phase. The new fuel cell … Continue reading
Gore-tex based new cheaper fuel cell breakthrough eliminates need for platinum
tMonash University researchers have come up with a new Goretex fuel cell design that could make hybrid cars much cheaper and more reliable. The researchers have developed an air electrode conisisting of an extremely thin layer (0.4 of a micron) of highly conductive plastic is deposited on Gore-tex, the popular … Continue reading
Fuel cells to power your home
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co (better known here as Panasonic), plans on launching home fuel cell systems in Japan next year starting in April 2009. Matsushita hasn’t set the official price yet, but the company plans on keeping it below 1 million yen (about $10,000). Use of their fuel cell will … Continue reading