Hopeless for Hydrogen?

By Brandon :D

One of the most efficient alternative fuels nowadays is hydrogen. Pure H2. It has emissions of pure water. It is a eco-friendly alternative that produces drinkable exhausts. (See Pac-car, one of the previous blogs, for more info.) But, there are problems that have to be solved before we can go around driving our water-producing cars. One of the biggest problems is where do we fuel up? There are less than 100 hydrogen fueling stations worldwide. Do people in Colorado buy a hydrogen powered car, and when they need to fill up, they go to California, or fly to France? How would that be possible, especially with people with busy schedules. (see diagram for where filling stations are.)
Another problem. Money. Yes, it's the root of all evil, and causes people to become not environmental. I mean, do you want to buy a $58,000 or a $160,000 hydrogen car. Yes, a hydrogen fuel cell powerful enough to power a car can add $100,000 to the price of a car.
Yet another problem. The hydrogen has to liquid. And to be liquid, hydrogen has to be kept very, very, cold. Below -421 degrees Fahrenheit. How would we keep it that cold? In the filling station, that's not a very big problem. They can just chill it using electronic cooling. In the cars, the cryogenic system takes care of this. But, if you don't turn the car on for a few days, the hydrogen will turn to vapor and leave through the vents.
Hydrogen is a genius alternative fuel, but in the end there are just too many problems to use hydrogen powered cars around the world.

(red- operable, green-planned, white-not functional)

My Dear "Wattson"....

By Brandon :D

Global Warming! Save Energy! The World Will Come To An End!
"Well, how do I help? I mean, I'm only one person in the world."
It takes the whole world to help, to completely stop pollution and help the environment, but you can help by doing just simple things. One of those things is getting a "Wattson." Through a wireless transmitter that plugs into your electrical consumption, and shows areas that are wasteful. As it name shows, it calculates usage, and figures out how many watts your using. If you want, it can turn it into dollars, euros, and pounds. Increases in usage trigger a change in color. It's just a regular energy efficient "Lite-Brite." This machine only costs $300. It sounds pricey, but in the long run, it will save you hundreds of dollars. For more info, check out Wattson's parent company, Kyoto.

Save Frosty! His Days May Be Numbered!

By, Brandon Bishop :P

White Christmas' have gone away in a lot of areas. Although not in Colorado, the snow crisis is a serious problem, especially to saveasnowman.org. On this website, they have an adoption center, where you can adopt your own snowman! All money raised goes to schools in North America. The curriculum covers greenhouse gases and ways to help the solution. But, most importantly, they teach them how to make their own snowmen. On the website is each school's plan on how they will be more environmentally efficient and a picture of each snowman up for adoption along with a complete profile. Each profile contains name, DOB, place of birth, family, hobbies, likes, dislikes, special skills, and notes from the orphanage. So, go and adopt a snowman, help a school, because snowmen(or snowwomen) have feelings, too!

Click on the picture to adopt!

Invention Nation

A great show for anyone interested in alternative energy. It is about 3 guys that travel across the country, in their bus that runs on vegetable oil, and look for unique sources of alternative energy. Check it out on the Science Channel, Mondays at 8.

Comparing Fuel Costs

Current Dec. 2007 Jan. 2007

National Average $3.054 $2.996 $2.229

State Average $2.887 $2.871 $2.172

Denver $2.826 $2.806 $2.111

Grand Junction $2.906 $2.838 $2.218

Hydrogen

By Riley Ruse
Hydrogen, discovered in 1776 by a scientist named Cavendish, is the most abundant element in the universe. It is number 1 on the periodic table. Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless highly flammable diatomic gas. It is also the lightest gas in the universe.
In the 20th century we found a way of engineering a car that runs completely on hydrogen. The only exhaust is pure, clean water. This system, with the right body, can give off astounding MPG ratios. Like the one person hydrogen testing vehicle developed in Sweden that set the world record for best MPG’s, 12,645.9454MPG. GM already began the construction of hydrogen cars.
Hydrogen is a true ingredient in our future. The U.S. already produces 3 billion cubic ft. of hydrogen every year. It will fuel our transportation to work and to Mars. Everything, everywhere depends on hydrogen in one way or another. It is the simplest element known to man and yet we’d die without it.

Flubber Fuel!

By Brandon :P

There is a new fuel that is made by using cyanobacteria to produce ethanol from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. Ethanol, as you may know, burns cleanly to produce energy, carbon dioxide, and water. Any connections? There is not very much waste in this process, and the waste is harmless, in the form of oxygen and some dead bacterial at the end of their natural life cycles. The picture below shows Pengchen Fu, who created this form of energy using large, glowing cylinders full of bubbling green liquid. Isn't it great? Who knew Flubber was an alternative fuel!