Wind Power to Hydrogen Fuel for Transportation

Hydrogen is a very clean fuel. Convert hydrogen to electric energy in a fuel cell to power a vehicle, and exhaust H2O (water vapor). A clean way to make hydrogen is via electrolysis of liquid water.

Now wait one minute....Your are going to use electricity.... to make hydrogen...... to make electricity??? And you are going to tell me that makes sense???

Apparently it does, if you take into account electricity is very difficult and costly to store...read big, expensive batteries, whereas hydrogen is relatively easy to store, although a potentially very dangerous item if mishandled, or misused. Hydrogen has the additional advantages of longer range per fill-up, and much faster refueling time.

So has Tesla met its match? Probably not, but they seem to have found some competition. Read the following linked article from Renewable Energy World:

German Wind-to-Hydrogen Plant Takes Car-Fuel Battle to Tesla

Bloom Energy - An indepth look

Bloom Energy produces Bloom Boxes, which use fuel cell technology to convert methane and oxygen from air into electricity and carbon dioxide. They have gotten a lot of good press about being environmentally friendly, green energy, etc. However, when one looks at the numbers, there is considerable doubt cast about the validity of those claims. From the Institute for Energy Research (IER) comes this analysis, The Bloom is Off Bloom Energy

Bloom Boxes are being produced in Delaware, and the company is being aided by major subsidies funded in part by higher utility bills, the appropriateness of which is now being challenged in the court.

The Bloom Box: breakthrough or hype?

This sounds like an amazing breakthrough in generating electricity. It is a new fuel cell technology that can convert most hydrocarbons to electricity, and in a way that generates much fewer emissions than current power generation from fossil fuels. And, when the fuel is methane from human activities, the net benefit is even greater. The Bloom Box's other major advantage is that in negates the need for elaborate power distribution grids, because the Boxes can be located locally where the electricity is needed.

Don't believe all this? I too was very skeptical, but watch the video produced by 60 Minutes (at bottom of link), and note who some of the first customers are: FedEx, Google, eBay, Walmart, all with sizable Bloom Box installations.

Thanks to Keith Kiernan for pointing this technology out. It will be fun to track how it advances, and if GE jumps in as forecast. I also really wonder what is in the "magic ink" used on the cell surfaces.