HYDROGEN HOUSE: This unassuming modular home in suburban New Jersey runs on solar power and stored hydrogen.
Image: ©DAVID BIELLO
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EAST AMWELL, N.J.—Mike Strizki has not paid an electric, oil or gas bill—nor has he spent a nickel to fill up his Mercury Sable—in nearly two years. Instead, the 51-year-old civil engineer makes all the fuel he needs using a system he built in the capacious garage of his home, which employs photovoltaic (PV) panels to turn sunlight into electricity that is harnessed in turn to extract hydrogen from tap water.
Although the device cost $500,000 to construct, and it is unlikely it will ever pay off financially (even with today's skyrocketing oil and gas prices), the civil engineer says it is priceless in terms of what it does buy: freedom from ever paying another heating or electric bill, not to mention keeping a lid on pollution, because water is its only by-product.
Slide Show: Photos show what makes this house work
"The ability to make your own fuel is priceless," says the man known as "Mr. Gadget" to his friends. He boasts a collection of hydrogen-powered and electric vehicles, including a hydrogen-run lawn mower and car (the Sable, which he redesigned and named the "Genesis") as well as an electric racing boat, and even an electric motorcycle. "All the technology is off-the-shelf. All I'm doing is putting them together."
"I'm a self-sufficiency guy," he adds. Strizki, a civil engineer, has been interested in alternative energy sources since 1997 when he began working on vehicles fueled by alternative means during his tenure with the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Strizki's two-story colonial on an 11-acre (4.5 hectare) plot 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of Trenton is the nation's first private hydrogen-powered house, which he now shares with his wife, two dogs and a cat. (His two daughters and son, all in their 20s, have left the nest.) It has been running entirely on electricity generated from the sun and stored hydrogen since October 2006, when Strizki—in a project that his wife Ann fully supports—built an off-grid energy system with $100,000 of his own cash and $400,000 in grants from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, along with technology from companies such as Sharp, Swagelok and Proton Energy Systems.
The Strizki's personalized home-energy system consists of 56 solar panels on his garage roof, and housed inside is a small electrolyzer (a device, about the size of a washing machine, that uses electricity to break down water into its component hydrogen and oxygen). There are 100 batteries for nighttime power needs along the garage's inside wall; just outside are ten propane tanks (leftovers from the 1970s that are capable of storing 19,000 cubic feet, or 538 cubic meters, of hydrogen) as well as a Plug Power fuel cell stack (an electrochemical device that mixes hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water) and a hydrogen refueling kit for the car.
On a typical summer day, the solar panels drink in and convert sunlight to about 90 kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to Strizki. He consumes about 10 kilowatt-hours daily to run the family's appliances, including a 50-inch plasma television, along with his three computers and stereo equipment, among other modern conveniences.
The remaining 80 kilowatt-hours recharge the batteries—which provide electricity for the house at night—and power the electrolyzer, which splits the molecules of purified tap water into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is vented and the hydrogen goes into the tanks where it is stored for use in the cold, dark winter months. From November to March or so Strizki runs the stored hydrogen through the fuel cell stacks outside his garage or in his car to power his entire house—and the only waste product is water, which can be pumped right back into the system.
"I can make fuel out of sunlight and water—and I don't even use the water," he notes. "If it's raining, it's fuel. If it's sunny, it's fuel. It's all fuel."
The modular home—built in 1991—looks like a typical suburban house; its top-of-the-line insulation and energy-efficient windows look no different, and the facade hides the hydrogen-powered clothes dryer and geothermal system for heating and cooling, which pumps Freon gas underground to harvest heat in winter and cool in summer.
"Geothermal is another piece of free energy," Strizki says, noting that he dug eight feet (2.4 meters) down into the granite under his home to take advantage of the constant 56-degree Fahrenheit (13-degree Celsius) temperature underground. In summer he can use the lower temperatures underground to cool his entire house, and in winter he can capture those warmer temperatures, supplementing them with a heat pump powered by electricity from hydrogen. "Nothing goes to waste."
This year, Strizki is hardly running his $78,000 Hogen electrolyzer (manufactured by Proton Energy Systems in Connecticut, a company that makes hydrogen-generation equipment) because last year's mild winter left him with full tanks. When he does turn it on, the excess hydrogen vents from a small pipe on the roof with the sound of an impolite burp.
That vented hydrogen speeds at 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour through the atmosphere on its way off the planet—one of only two gases, the other being helium, that escapes into space entirely because it is lighter than air. In fact, Strizki's quarter-inch thick propane tanks weigh less when filled with hydrogen than when depleted.
Of course, hydrogen is a highly flammable gas, but its quick escape eases Strizki's fears that it might ignite or explode. It "disperses faster than any other gas," he notes. "Hydrogen won't sit around waiting for a flame."
The final piece of Strizki's energy solution is dubbed "Genesis," his $3-million aluminum Mercury Sable, one of 10 that carmaker Ford produced in the 1990s to test how well the lighter metal would fare in crash tests. Ford gave Strizki the special model to drive in the Tour de Sol solar car race in New Jersey in 2000. Strizki installed a 104-horsepower electric engine (compared with a Toyota Prius's 44-horsepower motor) that can reach speeds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour. Pop the hood and next to the electric engine sit two fuel cell stacks that convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and electricity, propelling the electric engine forward smoothly and quickly.
The car never competed because it was not ready in time, but the unique vehicle does hold the world record for farthest travel on a single charge: 401.5 miles (646.2 kilometers), a distance which Strizki drove in December 2001. Today, Genesis shares the road with a variety of less costly fuel cell cars: Honda's new hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity, which hit the market this week leasing for $600 a month, as well as the hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox test-vehicle fleet from General Motors—part of a pilot program that aims to determine how hydrogen cars might function in everyday life. Both the Japanese and U.S. automakers are betting that these nonpolluting cars will one day replace the internal combustion engine.
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62 Comments
Add CommentSee? It can be done. So tell me why we need to drill any more stupid damn oil wells off our coasts and wildlife reserves? I see see huge SUVs & pickup trucks speeding down the freeway at 90+ mph. And yet these same people complain about four dollar a gallon gas, has this world gone mad or what? And what about future generations, don't they have any right to these same resources we're so flagrantly blowing out our tailpipes?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCould this be what industry fears, freedom from the grid, where will they get money from, whose going to purchase the gas, I bet you if people put money behind it instead of costing$500 000 it might cost $25 000, hmmm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCost is a problem with this. The other problem which Strizki may find over time is that hydrogen is aggresive on metals. I wonder if he is aware of that.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this$400.000.00 from the State of New Jersey to power a house that does not even look like it cost that must is a typical New Jersey give away. How can I get a deal like that. Does the fact that he worked for the state have anything to do with it. What nonsense.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMike Strizki:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCongratulations!
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first proof to me that it is possible to use solar energy to generate electricity and hydrogen, which is an energy carrier. Such generated hydrogen is used to power a car and other devices.
In my opinion, this is the the best proof of concept example.
This is the most difficult step in commercialization of solar based hydrogen economy.
Again, Mike congratulations to you!
Thanks,
Gordan
Cost at this stage is not really the issue, that it's seen as a viable solution is. Almost all new technologies were very expensive at the onset, and as they were further perfected the prices came down. It's all the more amazing that this was done in New Jersey no less. Just think of the energy savings in the Southwest where air conditioning is seen as such a problem and will be even more so in the future.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is really cool. Yes it is expensive but thin film printed solar cells should make the pricing much more reasonable. Give it about 18 months and there might be a price break. I can hardly wait because my little 64 watt panel is getting lonely. If he can generate that power in NJ imagine what CA sunshine can do!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisdid I read this correctly it takes 19,000 cubic feet of hydrogen to get the equivillant of 40 gallons of gas, proof that this technology is not the answer. Can you see people driving around pulling a semi trailer full of hydrogen, I don't think so. While I'm at it, water vapor is a bigger greenhouse gas than CO2, Why do yo think they called CO2 a greenhouse gas instead of a pollutant? so that when we do have hydrogen powered cars they can still taxes for the greenhouse gases we create, even if both are naturally occuring.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOnce again proving that all the real problems on this earth are caused by greed, stupidity and politics (synonymous). I suspect Mr. Oil company will shut this down in no time lobbying to make it illegal to store hydrogen at home and labeling it as a dangerous and outlawed substance - the administration will likely identify it as a terrorist threat and outlaw it shortly. Oh well, nice to know it can be done though.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"In fact, Strizki's quarter-inch thick propane tanks weigh less when filled with hydrogen than when depleted."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOh really? When depleted there is a trace of hydrogen at about atmospheric pressure. When full, there is more hydrogen. Hydrogen has mass and weight. The tank weighs more when full than when depleted. Why aren't articles like this properly vetted?
This is not a good thing!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this[i]"That vented hydrogen speeds at 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour through the atmosphere on its way off the planet—one of only two gases, the other being helium, that escapes into space entirely because it is lighter than air." [/i]
This is not a good thing!
Given the facts that:
(a) water is likely to become the source for the hydrogen that will be used to carry energy harvested from alternative energy sources in ever increasing amounts;
(b) sloppy handling or intentional venting of H2 will result in increasing amount being vented into the atmosphere;
(c) hydrogen is swept away from the top of the Earth's atmosphere by the solar wind, forever reducing Earth's precious store of Water;
should raise the hairs on the back of our necks! [b] If a large enough volume of hydrogen is lost and not replaced, Earth will eventually come to resemble the planet Mars.[/b]
SciAm has become innumerate.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTake the quantities in this case. If Mike has 56 solar panels (assume 1 m^2 to start with), a "typical" summer day is 12 hours of sunlight, and PV efficiency is 10%, then in NJ he might get:
800 W/m^2 * 12 h * 0.10 * 56 m^2 = 53.76 kwh
So how do you get to 90 kwh?
The 800 W/m^2 is a generous assumption about sunlight in NJ. Max insolation on Earth is about 1000 W/m^2, NJ is a bit north, solar panel angles are not ideal. 800 is a peak figure.
12 hours is generous, if the system tracks the sun. (Mike doesn't.)
10% efficiency is usual.
So maybe Mike has a big garage. To get to 90 kwh, you need 100 m^2 of panels, or the roof of a 25x25 foot building. Yet in the photos, his garage is small.
More likely, Mike gave the reporter an idealized figure of 90 kwh as "theoretically possible". He uses 10 kwh, and I suspect he gets about that much.
Why can't magazines like SciAm or NatGeo print any calculations? Would it refute their agenda?
Won't the tank be more buoyant (and thus seem to weigh less) if it is filled with hydrogen alone, while the fluid in which it 'swims' (the atmosphere, made up mostly of nitrogen) is heavier? Not being versed in the mechanics of gas tanks, I'm assuming that as the resident gas is evacuated, ambient atmosphere takes its place. Or does it become a vacuum?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow ridiculous. Only in America. He could have bought a bicycle, a woodstove, a hand washing machine and a lifetimes worth of candles and spent the remaining $499,000 doing a lot of good elsewhere in the world...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA true conservationist would generate electricity from the surplus hydrogen, instead of venting it, and sell it to the electric company for other people to use. He'd make a little money, help other people, and avoid the permanent loss of that hydrogen which presumably will be lost into space.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe concept is great! More articles on Hydrogen please!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi.e. How to make, store and use. What are the problems to be overcome, etc? Then the engineers amongst us can get to thinking...
I personally would like to see a mix of renewables / technologies developed to generate and use Hydrogen directly and at the domestic scale level...
I would also value pointers to further reading... Thanks!
Your work proves this country can be powered with alternative sources and the US government should be using the same technology to power government facilities. objectively, every home should have a system similar to yours. Thanks for sharing this inovative successful project with me, and all the other folks tired of people talking about the high cost of energy, and not jumping in as you did.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wouldn't mind paying for fuel produced in this manner as long as I know it isn't destroying my planet. Money is only an issue when it becomes unreasonable (4.50 plus for a gallon of gas for instance). There isn't any reason this system couldn't be used en mass and the cost split amongst consumers.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEven though I think hydrogen is a great source of alternative power, I have to agree with James Flaherty. The near term effects would not be that evident, but once it becomes a wide spread use of energy, what would the results be? Would we be again harming the planet that we are ultimately trying to save for our children?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs there any way where generator of my office can be made to run using hydrogen
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCan someone advise if there is any way my office generator can be made to run on hydrogen, currently its running on diesel
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen you think about it, we have the most powerful object in our solar system (Sun) to be used at our discretion. Instead, we are destroying our planet by digging and submitting gases that would eventually one day destroy us.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe can all live cleaner and healthier if our nations employ this method of energy generation.
I salute you and your associates, and I am proud to work for a company (Swagelok) that help contribute to your dream.
you're an idiot. He is doing something. He is setting an example for the rest of the world by proving that natural and readily available resources that don't harm the environment can be used to power our homes and
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisautos. He is a true pioneer, and the planet needs a lot more people like him!
No you did not read that correctly - the 19,000 cubic ft of gas is what he is storing in ten (10) old propane tanks which he uses during the winter.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCarbon dioxide is not classified as a pollutant because it is made naturally in the process of respiration that all plants and animals do. It is a natural part of the carbon cycle and so there is your problem... it was here before we were!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf we all took a month off using fuel in the summertime the trees might have some time to catch up.
Mr. Strizki said nothing about hydrogen embrittlement's effect on metals. As an engineer, surely he's familiar with that problem. Over time, his propane tanks that store hydrogen and any meal piping would, at a minimum, leak.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMr. Strizki didn't mention the problem of hydrogen embrittlement of metals. How did he solve that?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWith respect to Mr. Strzski's Heating/Ar Conditioning system, using the ground as a source/sink for heat: our house in suburban St. Louis has had such a system for 18 years, and it has so far not required any major maintenance work. Heat is moved to and from 3 wells, 120 feet deep, using a circulating solution of 10% ethanol; the original charge is still in place. It's amazingly cheap to run. I think that the reason that the idea has taken so long to catch on is just that it has been called a "ground-source heat pump", and the air-source heat pumps have given the field a bad name because they are inefficient. Just call it something that sounds eco-good like "geothermal", and away we go.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the other hand I think there's a good argument that batteries will prove to be the better way to store and carry the energy, particularly for a vehicle, because of efficiency, cost and safety considerations. The battery takes the place of both the electrolyzer and the fuel cell and is sure to provide higher efficiency in using elecricity. Batteries have to improve in power density but progress has been steady.
Mike, I am proud of you!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou have realised, were others are only dreaming of. Or maybe, they are even afraid of seeing the hydrogen economy, better: hydrogen society to become reality. Nobody has to be "afraid" of US Dollars 500,000, which is nothing when you look at the net profits of oil companies and/or utilities worldwide, who only want our best.
In former years (back in 1903), 560 tons of undisclosed material could not fly as well, today, it can.
Time will tell, that direct, decentralised produced hydrogen can supply houses, communities and even our next generation. However, I have strong doubts, when I think of coal, oil and nucler energy. They are not the future, the future lies in personal power! Utilizing personal produced hydrogen for ttransport, heat and airconditioning and smart fuel cells to make electricity out of the hydrogen in one shot. It is possible, as Mike shows it to the world, however, it needs followers. A government can never be an early adaptor, thst can opnly be you and me! Why not start today???
http://www.fair-pr.com/background/35-locomotives-could-not-fly-or-evolution-in-the-aircraft-industry-1903-2007.php
Hi I am deaf I want know bible says nomore power bills can fixing light water a/c free no payment future I wish idea create electirc free no cost I bless god gift you free no more suffer bills payment I am happy free house no cost you save money understand god says that bible smile jesus chirst thank you samantha powell
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi I am deaf that is samantha powell I says bible no more power bills free eletric light water a/c saving money joy free maye future no cost hope create idea fixing power bills nomore smile god bless you amen samantha
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlthough interesting the cost a lone proves this in not a viable solution. Ms. Alice Parker; this is not new technology. Hydrogyn power has been around for automobiles since around 1982 and solar power was developed a very long time ago. A man by the name of John Ericsson (July 31, 1803 - March 8, 1898) developed a "solar machine, using concave mirrors to gather sun radiation strong enough to run an engine. " (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ericsson) in the 1800s. Now, more than a 100 years later and it still is to expensive for us to afford for personal use. Please tell me all conservationist are not this nieve. If anyone believe we can completely eliminate oil is one who never does any research on their own. Point of fact the computer we all used to comment on this topic could not work without petrolium.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI can see this as a brilliant idea "go-green" actually put down in reality in the best possible way. The cost incurred looks trivial when weighed against the pay-off it is giving to our planet earth. Commercialization of the ideas implemented by Stritzki will bring about a whole new revolution!!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"And together we can make it happen"
This is to me "THE BEST EXAMPLE" till date of implementing the concept of "Go-Green" put forth in reality. Theoretically, most of us have read about the the concepts used by Stritzki but this is an example of acually making it happen! The cost incurred is trivial compared to its 'pay-offs" to our earth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCommercialization of this concept has the potential to bring forth a revolution! let alone reduce costs.
" And together we can make it happen"
Many years ago here in France lorries used wood pyrolytic retorts to generate hydrogen used in their motors. These lorries were real work-horses. This was tried in Africa too, but nobody wanted a car with what appeared to be a dustbin attatched to the back. They only wanted the latest four-wheel drive gas-guzzlers seen in glossy magazines. Sometimes it just makes you want to give up!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt seems this type of project is too expensive for use in single family homes at the moment but there could be other uses. Imagine replacing some neighborhood gas stations with "energy stations" that locally produce and sell hydrogen and electricity. It seems it could work with todays technology except for costs due to it being custom engineered. Pre-packaged modular systems that are mass produced could drop the costs down to the level of building a regular gas station. Once the thing is built it could run for decades and ongoing costs would be maintenance only.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI can see a booming franchise business in the future.
If anyone else thinks this is interesting send email to bhweller@hotmail.com
I think this is interesting, but it proves that its not practical at the single family home level. It needs some economies of scale. Instead of doing this in homes, use this type of system to replace gas stations with "energy stations". Instead of just selling gas, they could both produce and sell hydrogen and electricity. Pre-fab systems would be hauled in on trucks and bolted together by installers. I can see a booming franchise opportunity. My email is bhweller@hotmail.com
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishello, i am a volunteer; i have worked 15 years without pay. all i ask is a square foot of lab bench space any where. i will distill hydrocarbons from logging waste, brush, weeds, sawdust etc. next, i will generate h2 from water ; and add h2 to residue from distillation, to produce gasoline. i have worked as chemist on shell research refinery, fort lewis, wa.where i wrote the final report. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fort+lewis+src+coal+liquid&btnG=Search
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisglen hemerick, 15871 peacock hill rd se, olalla, wa 98359 phone 253-857-7225 ghemerick@yahoo.com, themerick@hotmail.com, ghemerick@harbornet.com
i wish to work as an unpaid volunteer in a lab, where i will produce cheap gasoline, and a portable small machine for converting wood waste, sawdust, shavings, stumps, brush, weeds into gasoline by distillation, followed by hydrogenation . i was chemist; and i wrote the final report http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fort+lewis+src+coal+liquid&btnG=Search
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisglen hemerick, 15871 peacock hill rd se, olalla, wa 98359 phone 253-857-7225 ghemerick@yahoo.com, themerick@hotmail.com, ghemerick@harbornet.com
If solar energy been helped instead of stopped by Reagan and the bushes we would be way ahead. Batteries still need a lot of work. Supercaps need to have higher voltage ratings by one or two orders of magnitude. Transmission and storage are the big problems. Massive conservation is where it should all start. Cover every truck trailer, train, car and building with PV. Every window (facing south) with the clear PV material. Flywheel farms regulating hydro and wind/solar farms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf solar energy been helped instead of stopped by Reagan and the bushes we would be way ahead. Batteries still need a lot of work. Supercaps need to have higher voltage ratings by one or two orders of magnitude. Transmission and storage are the big problems. Massive conservation is where it should all start. Cover every truck trailer, train, car and building with PV. Every window (facing south) with the clear PV material. Flywheel farms regulating hydro and wind/solar farms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf solar energy been helped instead of stopped by Reagan and the bushes we would be way ahead. Batteries still need a lot of work. Supercaps need to have higher voltage ratings by one or two orders of magnitude. Transmission and storage are the big problems. Massive conservation is where it should all start. Cover every truck trailer, train, car and building with PV. Every window (facing south) with the clear PV material. Flywheel farms regulating hydro and wind/solar farms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf solar energy been helped instead of stopped by Reagan and the bushes we would be way ahead. Batteries still need a lot of work. Supercaps need to have higher voltage ratings by one or two orders of magnitude. Transmission and storage are the big problems. Massive conservation is where it should all start. Cover every truck trailer, train, car and building with PV. Every window (facing south) with the clear PV material. Flywheel farms regulating hydro and wind/solar farms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGreat thinking BH. I immediately thought of some of the same solutions as you did. Why not have stations that sell all types of energy. The smart part is that it can be stored just like other energy sources already in use. Even transported from one part of the country to another using the existing infrastructure. There are no excuses for anyone now! Instead of just using it for single home use, whole neighborhoods or communities could pool costs... Possibilities seem endless.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo, you did not read it correctly, He has 19,000 cubic feet of hydrogen storage available at his house (10 residential sized propane tanks that were common in trailer parks 10 years ago for home heating, probably still today), only a small portion of that is actually transferred to his car when he needs to fill up.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou don't need 19,000 cubic feet of hydrogen storage. Just get a small individual pyrolysis retort and generate hydrogen as you need it! Such retorts were used up until the fifties in France and elsewhere to power cars and lorries with wood.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thissee www.eprida.com for technical details.
i wanna live with you!!!! well, i wanna live just like you!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisamalia gonzalez go-sa@hotmail.com
from monterrey, mexico
i saw you on cityclub magazine
Of course the price tag is enormous. Mike's house is a proof-of-concept prototype. Since the concept has indeed proven that one can get off the grid, it's time to move this into production. To evolve the new paradigm into existence on a massive scale. Mike has proven that the paradigm shift is viable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's quite unfortunate that there are even more enormous powers-that-be that are entrenched in old tech, old policies, burdened by investment in the past, with a gigantic infrastructure designed around the old ways -- unable to walk with the rest of us into the future.
Indeed, there are players out there that would love it if no one knew a thing about this. I suspect there are those out there that even plot - right this second - to discredit Mike's accomplishment. All for their own misguided and twisted purposes.
I have been thinking about a system like this for some time, but not to the scale Mike has done. I would use the hydrogen to cook with. For the most part, a well-thought ut solar-optimum straw bale house doesn't require much additional heat, and where I live cooling isn't an issue.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe solar hydrogen would be replacing cooking gas and/ or wood heat.
[ I mistyped 'haydrogen' in the last sentence- it must be a sign. ]
I have been thinking about, wondering if such a system would work. Thanks to Mike for showing it can.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would use a scaled down system, the hydrogen being used mainly to cook with, since a properly designed passive solar straw bale and rammed earth house requires very little heat, and where I live, no cooling.
Some people are working on electrolyzing hydrogen in their car engine compartments: See the John Aarons videos on YouTube, especially #83, search YouTube for 'hydrogen', or go to Aaron's http://www.HydrogenTap.com site.
HIALEAHMETER.COM SELLS SOLAR METERS IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL ME AT CHRISTYR@HIALEAHMETER.COM
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGreat, all I need is �303,000 and a house with 11 acres of land -in the UK that's only about �2-10 Million oh and planning permission for the hydrogen tanks
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf something is technologically possible, then it is technologically possible at low cost. It just takes R&D and investment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOf course, projects like this will get neither because of the international oil cartels which will move heaven and earth to block something which will remove their monopoly power. We go to war to ensure the oil still flows, so we certainly won't allow new technology which will hinder the oil monopolies.
David Biello may write in , or for Scientific American, but his grasp of basic physics wouldn't get him into many universities. How fast a bubble of hydrogen would travel up through the atmosphere would depend on many factors, not least the size and internal turbulence of the bubble. A velocity of 20 metres per second is tiny compared with the individual molecule velocities of both the hydrogen and the air it would pass through. Though it may not create a flamefront ,or explode, it will nontheless chemically react with oxygen at the bubble boundary and will get consumed to form water vapour unless it is quite large.A large lightwieght bubble has a slow terminal velocity, so climb rates of 20 metres per second are unlikely. As for the nonsense about the "empty" tanks, they will stop releasing hydrogen when they still contain hydrogen at or near ambient atmospheric pressure, unless you used a vacuum pump to extract that small amount that is left, and for what? The only thing that is lighter than a tank filled with hydrogen at atmosheric pressure, is one filled at below that pressure or holding a vacuum.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt was never in doubt that where money was no object solar cells could produce power which could then be used to produce hydrogen by electrolysis. In the real world where efficiencies and costs matter, electrolysis is variously quoted at between 60 and 75% efficient and fuel cells about 70 to 80% efficient, which gives an at best overall efficiency of 60%. This takes no account of pumping energies to compress and store hydrogen.This is a lot poorer than the cycle efficiency of most batteries As well as metal corrosion problems, elemental hydrogen burns with an invisible, odourless flame, and forms an explosive mixture with air over a wide range of mixture ratios. Although much more energetic than gasoline on a per unit mass basis, it's very low density means that carrying enough for a long journey in a vehicle requires large, highly pressurised tanks, which would be a considerable hazard in any traffic accident. Other storage methods weigh a lot for the hydrogen they store When the prices drop and efficiency of solar cells rise as many hope and expect, some of the ideas in the article will be justifiable.
You did NOT read it correctly: the 19K cu/ft of storage refers to the tanks in his back yard to store hydrogen to heat his home for the winter. There are existing hydrogen powered cars (including his) that do not have a trailer behind them. Did you miss the part where he drove 401 miles on a single tank—can you imagine doing this with 19,000 cu/ft of tanks behind him?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEnglish:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo not believe those who say that investing in"green" industry are unprofitable. It is extremely profitable for the producer and investor in the absence a high cost of a technologies. However, huge amounts of money being spent on new technology. But a users a same solar panels pay a huge price for them. But look at the device a same of solar panels, what it is made, what materials need to manufacture solar panels and photovoltaic cells, and you'll realize that "green" technology - is not only good for the environment, but also extremely profitable for the investor and the manufacturer, and for the consumer, and the environment. This is - a profitable business, not charity! Smart people will immediately recognize where to invest. Good when the cost is almost minimal, and profits - are very high. Ukraine has great scientific potential. And the cost of scientific development is many times cheaper than in many countries. Some scientific achievements are unique, exclusive and potentially extremely profitable. Operates the law of competition: who is the first of a investors and manufacturers understand their profit, he can have the opportunity to use a unique Ukrainian scientific, technological and commercial achievements.
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Не вірте тим, хто каже, що інвестиції в "зелену" промисловість неприбуткові. Це є надприбутковим для виробника та інвестора при відсутності великих витрат на технологію. Однак величезні гроші витрачаються на нові технології. Але користувачі тих же сонячних панелей платять величезну ціну за них. Однак подивіться пристрій сонячної панелі, з чого вона складається, які матеріали йдуть на виробництво сонячних панелей і фотоелементів і Ви зрозумієте, що "зелені" технології - це не тільки корисно для навколишнього середовища, а й надприбутково і для інвестора, і для виробника, і для споживача, і для навколишнього середовища. Це - вигідний бізнес, а не благодійність! Розумні люди відразу зрозуміють куди інвестувати. Добре коли витрати майже мінімальні, а прибуток - дуже великий. Україна має великий науковий потенціал. А вартість наукових розробок у багато разів дешевше, ніж у багатьох країнах. Деякі наукові досягнення є унікальними, ексклюзивними й потенційно надприбутковими. Діє закон конкуренції: хто першим з інвесторів і виробників зрозуміє свій прибуток, той і має можливість скористатися українськими унікальними науково-комерційними та інженерними досягненнями.
They now have whats called slurry. Some call it milk of magnesia. I'm trying to see if it would be worth trying to get hold of some and use it (a small amount ) to work with the home.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey now have whats called slurry. Some call it milk of magnesia. I'm trying to see if it would be worth trying to get hold of some and use it (a small amount ) to work with the home.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's all about the money! The world could already be a better place... the governments won't let us be free. Slaves to pay them for life!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI live in Surprise Arizona. I have 39 Solar Panels on my house. My electric bill went from 2975 to under 500 for the year. Today with the Solar Panels that you can purchase from Canada or elsewhere, there should be no reason why people have not done it. Now, I am looking at getting some more panels to run a DC air conditioner.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think your wrong. Hydrogen gas is lighter than air. Thats why Germany used Hydrogen to fill the blimps.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI live in the SW right now I am looking into the idea of a DC air conditioner. I also have a pool and in my research a 3/4 DC powered pool pump is equivalent to a 1.5 hp pump. This could be a hugh industry in the SW.
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