On Tuesday, ClearEdge Power— a cleantech startup that makes 5-kilowatt stationary fuel cells— announced that it won a $2.8 million grant from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to gets its technology out to the market more quickly.
Targeted customers for ClearEdge Power include the owners and operators of hotels, groceries, schools, medical centers and fast food restaurants. → Read More
America’s first pipeline-fed, retail hydrogen fueling station opened in Torrance, California, within Los Angeles county on Tuesday. The station will provide hydrogen for fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in the area. It was built through a joint effort by Toyota, Air Products and Shell alternative energies, with funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the U.S. → Read More
Alternative energy is a growing market, and though many states offer tax credits, rebates, and other incentives to promote clean energy, it can still prove to be an expensive proposition.
It generally also requires plugging your energy source into the grid so you’re not left in the dark when the wind calms or the sun lingers behind clouds.
Here is a roundup of solutions that can help power a… → Read More
Now this is good news – provided there isn’t a fuel cell hydrogen spill somewhere off the coast of Nova Scotia tomorrow. Horizon has been promising their liquid fuel cell for years but now they’re actually selling them. It costs $100, comes with two fuel cartridges, and offers as much power as “1,000 AA batteries,” allowing you to charge almost anything using add-on adapters. → Read More
Worried that Uncle John might be hitting the Night Train a little too hard this holiday season? Well, now you can keep a closer eye on him, and avoid that lawsuit when he crashes into that parked cop car. → Read More
Toshiba has been announcing fuel cells for home use for ages now, but it seems the announcement [press release in English] they made today is really serious. The company has unveiled the Dynario today, a mini fuel cell that can charge mobile devices on the go. Japanese mobile gadget geeks can already order the fuel cell on Toshiba Japan’s online store (where it’s available exclusively). → Read More
Panasonic has on display at CEATEC a “1.5 kWh battery module [made] from 18650-type (18 mm in diameter x 65 mm in length) lithium-ion battery cells, which are widely used in laptop computers, to provide energy storage solutions for a wide range of environmentally friendly energy technologies.” String a couple of these suckers together to store the juice collected from the solar panels… → Read More
Fuel cells, those electrochemical conversion devices, which are supposed to make the lives of gadget freaks easier, are still a hot topic in the alternative energy sector even though the technology hasn’t penetrated the mass market yet. Toshiba, for example, has been experimenting with fuel cells for quite some time now. And the company has now announced the development of a fuel-cell based cell… → Read More
Fuel cell technology is evolving at a rapid speed, it seems. In March, for example, Toshiba revealed plans to mass-produce portable fuel cells charging notebooks and phones. Now NGK Insulators, a company based in Nagoya, Japan, announced [JP] that it has developed the world’s most energy-efficient solid oxide fuel cell. → Read More
Hitachi seems to have made a major leap forward in the development of “green” vehicles. The company claims it has developed the world’s most efficient lithium-ion battery for hybrid cars, topping previous Hitachi batteries by an impressive 70% in output density. → Read More
Japanese companies NTT, Toho Gas and Sumitomo Precision Products have achieved a major leap forward in the production of efficient fuel cells. Their new and jointly developed fuel cell system [JP] boasts record-high efficiency (in the field of commercial applications, at least). → Read More
Japan’s biggest newspaper, the Nikkei, is reporting that Toshiba is finally ready to roll out portable fuel cells for the mass market (as of this writing, Toshiba’s Japanese website doesn’t have any information on this yet). The company even announced a fuel-cell powered cell phone in October last year, but it doesn’t seem likely we get to see that handset by the end of this month (as promised by… → Read More
Mini fuel cells are a hot topic in the electronics industry as a whole, and companies such as Hitachi, Panasonic and Toshiba showed a number of promising products that are soon to be commercialized. Now Sony follows with a (hybrid) fuel cell system that is sized at just 50x30mm. → Read More
Hitachi announced today [JP] it has developed a methanol-based fuel cell, which is 45% smaller than the company’s existing fuel cells. Hitachi also claims its quieter and “greener” than power generators fueled by gas or diesel. The 100W prototype can generate power for about 1.5 hours on 0.45 liter of methanol. → Read More
Short Version: The Medis 24/7 Power Pack makes for a good, easy-to-use emergency charging kit to keep in the car or for use anywhere without access to conventional power. At $30 to $50, it’s relatively inexpensive as long as you use it sparingly. → Read More
Panasonic today announced [JP] it developed the world’s smallest fuel cell for use in notebooks, reducing the size of its predecessor by 50%. The new model is sized at 270cc, which makes it as small as existing lithium ion batteries used in notebooks currently on the market. Panasonic says the fuel cell will be positioned at the underside of notebooks and provides about 20 hours of power… → Read More
For the past two weeks hydrogen fuel cell cars have been lighting up the nation’s highways on a cross-country trip designed to showcase the emerging technology. This last weekend, they rolled into the Los Angeles Coliseum completing their trip that started in Portland, Maine. Not only was the demonstration designed to be a positive reinforcement about the road-worthiness of the cars, but… → Read More
Samsung displayed its new portable fuel cell power supply in Korea recently. The souped-up battery will apparently let you squeeze a month’s worth of juice out of your laptop. Fuel cells consume a chemical called reactant that must be replenished, unlike traditional batteries that sip stored electrical energy. No word on if or when Samsung’s new baby will be available to the public… → Read More
Yamaha is set to debut a new pseudo-125cc fuel cell-powered scooter at this week’s International Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exposition in Yokohama. The scooter has a secondary Lithium Ion battery that charges from the main Hydrogen fuel cell. If Yamaha puts the little bike into production, it would be the first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle on the… → Read More
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