Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Hydrogen ^ Fuel Cell Letter
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Fuel Cells Inching into Power Generation Markets
BUSINESS
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6/10/2012 @ 9:56AM |3,836 views
Fuel Cells Inching into Power Generation Markets
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UTC Power 400kW fuel cell (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Fuel cells powering cars are nearing their destination. But those used to provide electricity to the masses still have many miles to go. More practical, though, is using fuel cell technology to supply onsite power generation to specific businesses that cannot afford even a momentary outage.
To the extent that those enterprises derive their power from such onsite generation, the wear and tear on the electric grid is diminished and reliability is improved. Costs and technology are still hurdles. To overcome them, the industry needs to increase sales — a hard feat in today’s economic climate. To that end, the federal government could accelerate the technology by leveraging its buying power.
“Somehow and someway the industry has to achieve pricing parity with the incumbent technologies,” says Sam Logan, who is chairman of theFuel Cell Seminar and Exhibition. “The only way is to increase sales, production and volume, which would allow factories to operate more efficiently.”
Logan explained to this writer that the current tax credits provided to fuel cell makers will expire in 2016 and given the uncertain economic climate, it is improbable that such a broad expansion will occur before then. The credit now provided is $3,000 per kilowatt generated or 30 percent of the capital cost, whichever is less — something that may not get renewed in a bitterly divided Congress.
A better stimulus program would then have the federal government send huge orders to private businesses under multi-year contracts. Once that occurs, the wider market could then realize the benefits of those fuel cells used to generate power, says Logan.
Consider Whole Foods: It is aggressively trying to cut its energy consumption. Among the strategies that it is using to accomplish that is the installation of hydrogen-powered fuel cells at certain locations, all to provide 50-90 percent of its electricity. The same system can also be used as backup power in case those stores should get cut off from the grid.
The grocery chain, which purchased the fuel cells from United TechnologiesCorp., has installed the units at stores in Connecticut, California and Massachusetts. The energy is not just used for electricity but also to cool the refrigeration units and to heat the stores in the winter months.
Fuel cells work by separating hydrogen from oxygen. That process requires other fuel sources to break apart the elements. Right now, hydrogen is produced mainly from natural gas using steam reformation, which does nothing to limit the reliance on fossil fuels or the infrastructure that must carry them. The end product, however, is emissions free.
In some cases, fuel cells used for onsite power are the primary generators and in other cases, they are used to back up power delivered by the utility’s central generation. They are different from distributed generation that directly burn fuels and that are used to power whole campuses.
As for fuel cells, they have an electrical efficiency rate of 47 percent compared to 30-35 percent for legacy combustion systems, says FuelCell Energy. In combined heat and power applications, where the heat is captured and used, the result is an overall energy efficiency of up to 80 percent, it adds.
Fuel Cell Today
FuelCellToday - The leading authority on fuel cells
Latest News
13 JUN 2012
MIT Developing Glucose Fuel Cell for ‘Implantable Brain–Machine Interfaces’
The cerebrospinal fluid is rich in glucose, is under minimal immune surveillance, and recirculates at a rate far greater than the power draw of the proposed fuel cell.
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How Fuel Cells Work by Karim Nice and Jonathan Strickland
Alternative Fuel Vehicle Image Gallery Engineers replaced the engine of the GM HydroGen3 with a microwave-oven-sized fuel-cell stack. See more pictures of alternative fuel vehicles.
You've probably heard about fuel cells. In 2003, President Bush announced a program called theHydrogen Fuel Initiative (HFI)during his State of the Union Address. This initiative, supported by legislation in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) and the Advanced Energy Initiative of 2006, aims to develop hydrogen, fuel cell and infrastructure technologies to make fuel-cell vehicles practical and cost-effective by 2020. The United States has dedicated more than one billion dollars to fuel cell research and development so far.
So what exactly is a fuel cell, anyway? Why are governments, private businesses and academic institutions collaborating to develop and produce them? Fuel cells generate electrical power quietly and efficiently, without pollution. Unlike power sources that use fossil fuels, the by-products from an operating fuel cell are heat and water. But how does it do this?
In this article, we'll take a quick look at each of the existing or emerging fuel-cell technologies. We'll detail how polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) work and examine how fuel cells compare against other forms of power generation. We'll also explore some of the obstacles researchers face to make fuel cells practical and affordable for our use, and we'll discuss the potential applications of fuel cells.
If you want to be technical about it, a fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity.
The other electrochemical device that we are all familiar with is the battery. A battery has all of its chemicals stored inside, and it converts those chemicals into electricity too. This means that a battery eventually "goes dead" and you either throw it away or recharge it.
With a fuel cell, chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead -- as long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.
In the next section, we will look at the different types of fuel cells.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Panacea Newsletter for Free Energy Inventions protection
Panacea News Letter subscriptions.
The majority of the research presented on this website has languished in obscurity for many GENERATIONS for a number of reasons. In regards to the free energy technology issue, Panacea's research shows that this is due to skepticism in the scientific community, secrecy and business incompetence among inventors. To make it complete this is also reports of suppression by vested interests and ignorance by the general public. With no orgniazation like Panacea to pollice this, all these CONTINUE to contribute to us living in the "energy stone age" and paying for it in many ways.
The public are needed to participate in organizations like Panacea to help compile, protect and bring this education into the mainstream. Panacea's participation is aggressive in the effort to protect these FREEDOM technologies. It is Panacea's goal to ensure that these technologies reach the public. Vested interests will always start looking for ways to stamp out the fire, in which case they'll go right to the source.This is why we need subscribers, Panacea trustee's and you the public to provide the counter effort.
Open source Panacea University
History has shown that it those who run the multi trillion dollar energy industry will not under normal conditions roll over and hand over their reins of power and wealth to a bunch of engineer's or open source engineers who have dared to think out side the square for a FREE alternative energy source. Constant reports of these "goons" are testament to this. The sent goons like their employers are not only liars, but are also traitors to the freedoms of humanity. They willingly participate in illegal search and seizure, intimidation and in some circumstances assault and battery (or worse). These people are not only the bane of perfectly legal inventors, but the enemies of all freedom loving people.These goons are nothing more than the physical extension of the people who have usurped democratic government.
Our only protection is a public face, visibility and an organization (as oppossed to the individual). They can't attack an orgniasation with inferstructure publicly without exposing and incriminating themselves. That's their Achilles heel. If they ever attack us, our research or our free energy engineers and you as a subscriber report them, this is what they fear the most, exposure. By coming after us they will incriminate themselves and give credence to what we are saying, that there is a criminal element in existence preventing public access to FREE energy technologies, particular alternative medicine and other edcation Panacea researchers as a public service..
As a member of the public YOU ARE NEEDED to play a roll of security against the subjugation going on through FREE energy suppression, alternative medicine supression and other issues in our activism section. This is done by actively subscribing to our FREE newsletter. The best security is a PUBLIC OUT CRY and public EXPOSURE of these criminal activities.
In the event of YOUR Panacea-BOCAF or Panacea University web site EVER go down, your newsletter does not turn up or reports in the newsletter surface that any of our FREE energy engineers, or researchers are being intimidated. This can ONLY be a result of actions taken by the powers that be responsible for its suppression.These actions have been taken to deliberately try and contain YOU the public and have been going on since the time of Nikola Tesla in the late 1800's!. Reference- FREE energy suppression.
We have also included in your news letter (SO SAVE IT) a link to a designated police station to email in the event of your news letter or web site EVER going down! Plus if our engineers are ever intimidated. Universities and a Police station have an acknowledgment of the activities of Panacea-BOCAF listed on YOUR web site. PUBLIC EXPOSURE is what they fear. Lets hurt them where it counts!
Free Energy - Pentagon Conspiracy to Cover up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uGRsQZx6zWA
Stanley Meyer and many others. Always the same story. The Pentagon wants to see your idea and tell you how they would like to use your invention. You demonstrate your device proving to them that it works, then they block all of your efforts and end up killing you. The only way to get a free energy device out to the public is to foget about patents, distribute underground, sell it to EV enthusiests with the plans and encourage them to travel around and do as you are, you then have created a non interlinked underground distribution system that will spread to the general populous and it will spread like wild fire, it will be un-stoppable.
Help Stop The Suppression Of Inventions
http://www.panacea-bocaf.org/newsletter/newsletter.htm
Stanley Meyer and many others. Always the same story. The Pentagon wants to see your idea and tell you how they would like to use your invention. You demonstrate your device proving to them that it works, then they block all of your efforts and end up killing you. The only way to get a free energy device out to the public is to foget about patents, distribute underground, sell it to EV enthusiests with the plans and encourage them to travel around and do as you are, you then have created a non interlinked underground distribution system that will spread to the general populous and it will spread like wild fire, it will be un-stoppable.
Help Stop The Suppression Of Inventions
http://www.panacea-bocaf.org/newsletter/newsletter.htm
Is Wind Electricity Right for You?
The Bergey Excel-S is a popular small wind turbine.Home Power magazine publishes an annual Wind Turbine Guide for considering and planning a wind energy electric system for home, farm, or business. The 2011 guide "Is Wind Electricity Right for You?" covers site evaluation, towers, and turbine choices. Wind energy experts Ian Woofenden and Mick Sagrillo review 24 small wind turbines with a detailed table of specifications along with wind installer survey results.
The Small Wind Certification Council(SWCC) is an independent organization that assesses and issues certificates and consumer labels for the performance and safety of small wind turbines in accordance with criteria established in theAWEA Standard. SWCC Certification is based on an evaluation of the wind turbine design (Structural Analysis) and field testing (Power performance test, Acoustic sound test, Safety & Function test, and Duration test). Eligible turbines are currently defined as electricity-producing wind turbines with a swept area up to 200 m2 (approximately 50-65 kW).
Clean Energy Project Builder (formerly REDI Resources) is an online directory of community and small wind, and solar power companies from all over the United States who serve Minnesota’s clean energy industry. The directory allows you to browse companies; to search by specific services like engineering, operations & maintenance, or legal services; to find companies near you using geographic search; and to find companies through a range of other details like service area, number of employees, or completed project capacity.- Two veterans in the small wind industry, Mick Sagrillo & Ian Woofenden, review home-, farm-, business-, and school-scale wind turbines, with perspectives on the three most common mistakes to avoid and the three most important decisions you need to make for a wise buying decision.
- Some states have rebates for Small Wind Energy Systems, and the number of programs have increased with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 extended many consumer tax incentives originally introduced in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) and amended in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343).
"Wind energy works and makes environmental sense—more so today than ever before—but consumers have to be on their guard," writes wind energy pioneer, expert, and advocate Paul Gipe in his newly revised Wind Energy Basics, Second Edition: A Guide to Home- and Community-Scale Wind-Energy Systems. Gipe has worked for over three decades in renewable energy, has authored seven books, and has lectured widely on wind energy and how to minimize its impact on the environment and the communities of which it is a part.- The Wind Powering America web site contains resources for Small Wind for Homeowners, Ranchers, and Small Businesses, including Small Wind Electric Systems Consumer's Guides, events, webinars, news, publications, and web resources. Wind Powering America is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program that leads the nation's efforts to improve the performance, lower the costs, and accelerate the deployment of wind and water power technologies.Visit the Wind Powering America web site.
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory operates a Small Wind Turbine Research program. Their work includes independent testing, regional test centers, turbine development, and field verification.Visit the National Renewable Energy Laboratory web site.
Which type of pool heater is best for you?
Which type of pool heater is best for you?
We have Solar Pool Heaters to fit any budget. There are three major types of swimming pool heaters: solar , electric heat pump and gas. While we believe the vast majority of pool owners are best served by a solar pool heater, your unique circumstances and needs may dictate a different choice. This page briefly describes the three major types of pool heating and the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Solar Pool Heater
Solar pool heating is by far the most cost-effective way to heat your pool. The sun's energy is clean, free and inexhaustible. And plentiful in Florida on a year-round basis. While solar does not have the ability to deliver any temperature on demand in any weather, you will never have to turn your solar pool heater off because you can no longer afford its operating cost.
A solar pool heating system can double your comfortable swim season in a warm pool.
And depending upon what temperature you find comfortable, a solar pool heater may even triple your season. Also, keep in mind that during your current, unheated swim season, your pool can be much warmer if you prefer.
Solar pool heating is a very mature technology; thousands of solar pool heaters have delivered trouble-free operation in Florida since the late 1970s. Unlike a propane or natural gas pool heater with metal parts, a quality solar pool heater will keep you swimming in a warm, comfortable pool for the next 20 to 30 years.
All solar heating systems work on the same principle as a garden hose sitting out in the sun. The sun strikes the hose and the water inside is heated. Because the water temperatures required for swimming pool heating are relatively low, inexpensive but durable polypropylene plastic solar panels can be used for pool heating. However, because a swimming pool holds several thousand gallons of water, small temperature changes require large amounts of energy . So solar pool heating usually requires a large solar collector area: typically 50–80 percent of the swimming pool surface area.
Solar pool heating is best for those pool owners seeking the most environmentally friendly heating solution. If you are interested in going "clean and green," solar is the way to go.
We are exclusive Master Dealer for Aquatherm solar pool heaters.
A solar pool heating system can double your comfortable swim season in a warm pool.
And depending upon what temperature you find comfortable, a solar pool heater may even triple your season. Also, keep in mind that during your current, unheated swim season, your pool can be much warmer if you prefer.
Solar pool heating is a very mature technology; thousands of solar pool heaters have delivered trouble-free operation in Florida since the late 1970s. Unlike a propane or natural gas pool heater with metal parts, a quality solar pool heater will keep you swimming in a warm, comfortable pool for the next 20 to 30 years.
All solar heating systems work on the same principle as a garden hose sitting out in the sun. The sun strikes the hose and the water inside is heated. Because the water temperatures required for swimming pool heating are relatively low, inexpensive but durable polypropylene plastic solar panels can be used for pool heating. However, because a swimming pool holds several thousand gallons of water, small temperature changes require large amounts of energy . So solar pool heating usually requires a large solar collector area: typically 50–80 percent of the swimming pool surface area.
Solar pool heating is best for those pool owners seeking the most environmentally friendly heating solution. If you are interested in going "clean and green," solar is the way to go.
We are exclusive Master Dealer for Aquatherm solar pool heaters.
Wind Program
How Does a Wind Turbine Work?
Wind turbines operate on a simple principle. The energy in the wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create electricity.
Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more above ground, they can take advantage of faster and less turbulent wind.
Wind turbines can be used to produce electricity for a single home or building, or they can be connected to an electricity grid (shown here) for more widespread electricity distribution.
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