10 March 2010
The Swedish company myFC AB unveiled a series of hydrogen powered portable fuel cell power generators designed to recharge your mobile device whether you are in the desert, jungle or any remote location lacking a power outlet.
How is energy created? Through the "Proton Exchange Membrane", hydrogen is ed into electricity by drawing from a packet of aluminum powder added to one of the compartments in the device along with precious water. The companies aim is targeted to developing countries like Africa. It may be naive to believe the people in poverished countries such as Africa need a hydrogen power pack that requires one of the most important things to them, water. And no mention of the quality of water that is needed, is it distilled? Filtered? Plain? Because the water running straight from the tap in many remote villages have high iron content, will this conflict with the production of hydrogen? Then there is the Aluminum powder packet which according to the company will be "inexpensive" but it is still an expense nonetheless, another thing people in Africa do not have much of, money.
The company has 3 different designs. The B2 series is for charging your smartphones and devices that require 6W of power. The H3 with output being from sub-watt to 3W is for charging all your other portable electronic devices. Both of the B2 and H3 series are designed to be durable enough for outdoor use. The third design is called the Blade, at 3mm thick, it's really just a prototype design for manufacturers to integrate on the back of devices which I could see having more potential than a stand-alone product.
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08 March 2010
New technology part of wide-ranging green building makeover. From BusinessGreen, part of the Guardian Environment Network
Transport for London (TfL) hopes to cut its carbon emissions by 40 per cent and save £90,000 per annum on utility bills with a newly unveiled green power plant at its head office that includes the UK's largest hydrogen fuel cell.
TfL and the London Development Agency (LDA), which is housed in the same building, also announced last week that they plan to sign up to the 10:10 energy efficiency campaign from this April.
As a result, they have committed to reduce carbon emissions by a further 10 per cent and cut energy bills by £400,000 over the next financial year.
The £2.4m combined heat and power plant, which was unveiled late last week, is located at TfL's Palestra building in Southwark and was implemented as part of a major green retrofit.
The plant is expected to supply all the facility's power needs at off-peak times and 25 per cent of requirements during peak hours.
Waste heat will also be pumped into a unit on the roof to ensure the building keeps cool and supplement its six existing electric chillers.
The hydrogen fuel cell, which was funded out of TfL's £25m Climate Change Fund, will likewise provide electricity, heat and cooling and provide the office's hot water supply.
Speaking at the opening of the new facilities, Kit Malthouse, deputy mayor of London and chairman of the London Hydrogen Partnership, said: "Zero-polluting hydrogen fuel has the potential to radically transform the way we power our city to create a more pleasant environment. This isn't a fuel of the future but is available right now."
He added that "to catalyse its use more widely", the technology's benefits would be promoted to visitors and passers-by via a permanent multimedia exhibition display fuelled by energy generated on the site.
In a bid to meet its 10:10 commitments, TfL likewise plans to cut general waste and paper consumption at its 32 sites and to retrofit 22 of them in accordance with the Building Energy Efficiency Programme.
Solar panels will be introduced to heat water, while green roofs will be installed to boost insulation, absorb rainwater and improve local ecology.
The deployment of new building management software is also planned to control temperature, heating and cooling systems more effectively, while new energy management and enhanced automated meter reading systems will be similarly installed.
Low-condensing NOx boilers will replace old ones in three buildings and 2,500 lights will be swapped for energy-efficient replacements. About 1,000 halogen lamps will likewise be replaced with low-energy LED lights that should cut energy consumption by 90 per cent and improve lamp life by 25 times.
The company said that alongside the building improvements, a staff awareness programme will be launched from April to encourage personnel to cut their energy consumption.
In broader terms, the organisation plans to spend £23m on green programmes over the next year to help Londoners reduce their carbon emissions. For example, TfL is planning to introduce a public cycle hire scheme in the capital later this year and also aims to add 300 new diesel-electric hybrid buses to its current fleet of 56 by March 2011, after which time all new additions will have to be hybrids.
New technology part of wide-ranging green building makeover. From BusinessGreen, part of the Guardian Environment Network
Transport for London (TfL) hopes to cut its carbon emissions by 40 per cent and save £90,000 per annum on utility bills with a newly unveiled green power plant at its head office that includes the UK's largest hydrogen fuel cell.
TfL and the London Development Agency (LDA), which is housed in the same building, also announced last week that they plan to sign up to the 10:10 energy efficiency campaign from this April.
As a result, they have committed to reduce carbon emissions by a further 10 per cent and cut energy bills by £400,000 over the next financial year.
The £2.4m combined heat and power plant, which was unveiled late last week, is located at TfL's Palestra building in Southwark and was implemented as part of a major green retrofit.
The plant is expected to supply all the facility's power needs at off-peak times and 25 per cent of requirements during peak hours.
Waste heat will also be pumped into a unit on the roof to ensure the building keeps cool and supplement its six existing electric chillers.
The hydrogen fuel cell, which was funded out of TfL's £25m Climate Change Fund, will likewise provide electricity, heat and cooling and provide the office's hot water supply.
Speaking at the opening of the new facilities, Kit Malthouse, deputy mayor of London and chairman of the London Hydrogen Partnership, said: "Zero-polluting hydrogen fuel has the potential to radically transform the way we power our city to create a more pleasant environment. This isn't a fuel of the future but is available right now."
He added that "to catalyse its use more widely", the technology's benefits would be promoted to visitors and passers-by via a permanent multimedia exhibition display fuelled by energy generated on the site.
In a bid to meet its 10:10 commitments, TfL likewise plans to cut general waste and paper consumption at its 32 sites and to retrofit 22 of them in accordance with the Building Energy Efficiency Programme.
Solar panels will be introduced to heat water, while green roofs will be installed to boost insulation, absorb rainwater and improve local ecology.
The deployment of new building management software is also planned to control temperature, heating and cooling systems more effectively, while new energy management and enhanced automated meter reading systems will be similarly installed.
Low-condensing NOx boilers will replace old ones in three buildings and 2,500 lights will be swapped for energy-efficient replacements. About 1,000 halogen lamps will likewise be replaced with low-energy LED lights that should cut energy consumption by 90 per cent and improve lamp life by 25 times.
The company said that alongside the building improvements, a staff awareness programme will be launched from April to encourage personnel to cut their energy consumption.
In broader terms, the organisation plans to spend £23m on green programmes over the next year to help Londoners reduce their carbon emissions. For example, TfL is planning to introduce a public cycle hire scheme in the capital later this year and also aims to add 300 new diesel-electric hybrid buses to its current fleet of 56 by March 2011, after which time all new additions will have to be hybrids.
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