Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Electolysis Elitests

So, trying a new format today. One I'll probably be sticking to from now on. Especially since I had considered it myself, and received confirmation from several readers that they would prefer it this way. One blog, per topic, in detail. So here is the first.

I'm going to be keeping my eye on this. I see this and I see hope for humanity. The only thing I can pray is that this technology doesn't become prey to those that would profit from seeing it go away. I'm going to go ahead and place the link here and at the end of my little rant. So what exactly do we have here.
For those of you who don't know about the Hydrogen economy, let me break it down a little. Basically it is the idea of using water and the act of electrolysis, or breaking water down to its basic components of Hydrogen and Oxygen, as a means of creating power. However, with current technologies it remains a technology that is too expensive for the benefits that it bestows. Or at least it used to be. Southern California based QuantumSphere Inc. has some interesting new technology that blows the competition out of the water.
Current electrolysis technology consists of using high dollar Platinum metal to aid in the separation of water to its base elements. This makes using this method as a form of power becomes very costly. Platinum is used as the conductor of the electricity other metals run the risk of not releasing the Oxygen, but instead bonding and reacting to it. Enter QuantumSphere, who has created a nanoparticle coating that can be applied to less expensive and more reactive metals, making the act of electrolysis much simpler. They also state that, because it is a simple coating, they can easily and quickly use it to retrofit current electrolysis machines. They boast an increase of 85% efficiency and project that with some more time and effort, they can push the 96% efficiency mark. These numbers are astonishing and phenomenal. And the best part... you could make your own hydrogen right at home to power your nice, new, clean, Hydrogen-cell battery powered car. Or home generator. Are you seeing where this is going? And how far away is this technology to you and me? Closer than you may believe. To quote directly from the article, "The first commercial product inspired by QuantumSphere's technology will debut later this year: a battery using a cathode coated with the startup's nanoparticles, thereby increasing its energy density 5x over alkaline cells and boosting power by 320 percent. The first commercial nonrechargeable batteries with this increased capacity will be announced by an as-yet-unnamed major U.S. battery maker in the second half of 2008." Please, God, let it be true.
Please read the article. Don't let the technical jargon get you down, push on, read what you can. This is fascinating and NEEDS people to get behind it before it is scooped up and swept under the rug.

2 comments:

Elly said...

One question: what is the byproduct of using Hydrogen fuel cells? Is this the great cell whose byproduct is water, or is it something far more insidiuos--oxygen?? Seriously, though, is this going to cut down on the world's already-too-low drinkable water supply?

Anonymous said...

I'm interested in hydrogen fuel cell technology - I do have one reservation, that being that while it is clean, doesn't rely too much on hydrocarbons or heavy metals (but the battery has to come from somewhere) it does produce large amounts of water vapor.

It would be interesting to simulate what releasing enough water vapor to power, say, New York City for a day, all in one area, would do to the local water table.