Patrick James

Since its inception in 1958, NASA has been harnessing the unique properties of hydrogen to conduct missions. NASA's hydrogen technologies enable electrical power, life support and transportation systems. The agency continues to research, develop and test hydrogen technologies for future human space exploration vehicles as well as advanced terrestrial aircraft. One of the innovative ways in which NASA is implementing hydrogen usage is in its power cells.

Astronauts have been using them for power aboard spacecraft since the 1960s. Soon, perhaps, they'll be just as common on Earth - powering cars, trucks, laptop computers and cell phones. By combining hydrogen fuel with oxygen, Fuel Cells can produce plenty of electric power while emitting only pure water as exhaust. They're so clean that astronauts actually drink the water produced by fuel cells on the space shuttle. While Fuel Cells promise to be the environmentally-friendly power source of the future, some types run too hot to be practical and you can't "just fill 'er up" with hydrogen at most corner petrol stations. And fuel cell-based cars and computers are still relatively expensive. These obstacles have relegated fuel cells to a small number of demo vehicles and some speciality uses, such as power aboard the space shuttle and back-up power for hospitals and airports.

Now NASA-sponsored research is helping to tackle some of these obstacles. By finding a way to build "solid oxide" fuel cells that operate at half the temperature of current designs - 500°C instead of a blistering 1,000°C - researchers at the Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials (TcSAM) at the University of Houston hope to make this kind of fuel cell both cheaper to manufacture and easier to fuel.

"Our key advance was making the heart of the fuel cell (the sheet of electrolyte that controls the flow of electrically charged ions) - out of a thin film only one micron thick," says Alex Ignatiev, the director of the NASA-funded TcSAM." In contrast, today's off-the-shelf solid-oxide fuel cells have electrolyte layers 100 microns thick or more (a micron is one thousandth of a millimetre). "The thinness cuts down internal resistance to electric current, so we can get comparable power output at much lower operating temperatures." To make this ultra-thin layer, Ignatiev and his colleagues at TcSAM don't simply shave down a chunk of bulk material until it's thin enough. Instead, they grow the electrolyte atom by atom, depositing one layer of atoms at a time in a process called epitaxy. The thin films in TcSAM fuel cells are about 1,000 atoms thick. The same power at half the temperature creates a domino effect of cost savings. For one, cheaper materials can be used to build them, rather than the expensive heat-tolerant ceramics and high-strength steels demanded by 1,000-degree fuel cells. The automobiles that would use these fuel cells can also forgo exotic materials and elaborate heat-dissipation systems, lowering manufacturing costs. All of this tips the scales of economic feasibility in the right direction.

Research Source: Science@NASA

Lately, the “green” issue has been playing a lot on my mind – to be honest, I don’t subscribe to the misconception of being “environmental” equating to the over-played stereotype of the the hemp-smoking, sandal-wearing ‘typecast’ – in general I can’t abide the ignorance of placing these convenient little “tags” on people… most of the eco-aware people I know are very normal everyday people. Over the past few days I’ve been taking a look at my own life and trying to see if there were any ways in which I could contribute further in doing my part – and what has struck me most (carbon footprints etc. aside) is just how wasteful we are as a society. Even without delving too deep into the the environmental issues and the numerous ways we can and are harming the planet, it’s become particularly obvious, that simply by being that little bit kinder to the planet by being less wasteful in our own lives, we could save on our own personal finances as well as on a bigger scale!

World Fair Trade Day is coming up May 10th.

The electronics industry and the environment lobby always seem to be at loggerheads, particularly in light of all the e-waste being spewed out in the name of “advancement”. The Sony Vaio TZ11 laptop, Sony Ericsson T650i mobile phone and Sony Ericsson P1i PDA have come out on top, in a recent survey of greener electronics products. Conducted by Greenpeace, the survey of the main brands of desktop PCs and notebooks, mobile phones, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), were assessed for their use of hazardous chemicals, energy efficiency, overall product lifecycle (recyclability and upgradeability) and other factors, such as the promotion of environmental friendliness and innovation.

What the hell are GreenPeace thinking?

BBC News reports: Four Greenpeace activists were arrested after attempting to hang a banner that read, “Climate Emergency – No Third Runway” on the tailfin of a British Airways Airbus A320. They were arrested, taken to a nearby police station and cited with “unlawful and irresponsible” conduct.

One protester, Anna Jones, said: “Our planet and the people who live on it are in danger. Climate change can be beaten but not by almost doubling the size of the airport.

While I strongly agree with the sentiments expressed and as someone who feels deeply about the environment and global-warming stunts like this don’t help the cause. The end result of actions like this is to associate environmentalist and green issues with the “nut-job” fringe of society… The planet is a real everyday issue, felt by real everyday people and it is only real everyday solutions by these same people, that will bring about the necessary change… not extremist theatrics.

This week an Irish Post poll showed more than 80 per cent of respondents were in favour of halting all construction of new roads around the historic site. In one of the largest responses ever received more than 3,000 people took part. That opposition has been mirrored in previous petitions and online message boards opposing routing a motorway past this historic archaeological treasure.

Against this background the Government’s intransigence smacks of nothing more than sheer bloody-mindedness. It seems Ministers are determined not to be seen admitting they made a mistake. But there is little doubt that the route chosen for the new M3 motorway is a mistake of colossal proportions. It is akin to Britain’s Department of Transport deciding to re-route the M4 motorway so it passed close to the world famous stone circle at Avebury. To make matters worse the Irish Government could have easily ordered the route of the M3 to be altered to ensure it avoided the Hill of Tara but chose not to do so. Instead they decided it was worth risking the destruction of one of the world’s most important archaeological sites for the sake of so-called progress.

Source: Tara Watch

ENVIRONMENT Minister John “Gormless” Gormley is now faced with a potentially embarrassing High Court challenge over a decision made by his predecessor to allow the M3 motorway to be built over an historic site near the Hill of Tara. The Green TD claimed when he came to office last June that he was powerless to over-turn a last-minute order made by outgoing Environment Minister Dick Roche for 2,000 year old ruins discovered last year near the Hill of Tara to be destroyed to make way for the M3. In a turbulent first day in office last June, Mr Gormley declared he had no authority to revoke his predecessor’s order, despite his so-called commitment to protecting heritage. Numerous high profile people have criticised the government’s stance on the Hill Of Tara, including most recently Dublin-born actor Stuart Townsend commenting that:

“If more people had protested against the idea of building a road on such as important site, the Government would not have even tried to go ahead with it.

But he stressed it was not too late to reverse the project, and said:

“People should let their voices be heard. This fim shows what people power can do, and Tara should be no different.

There is also a petition in place to stop the development of the motorway on the hill of Tara.

Please follow the link to Sign the Petition

Source: Dailymail [via] TaraWatch

Marvel Comics’ Tony Stark (Ironman), crime-fighting billionaire industrialist/inventor, has a Tesla sports car parked in his garage! Among the other exotic motors is the 100% electric sports car as seen in the recent screen-grab from the Iron Man Super Bowl ad. I think green car lovers everywhere will be aching to see what a 100% electric supercar can do!

Source: AutoBlogGreen