A Letter from Samuel W. Bodman, U.S.
Secretary of Energy
Over the past century our Nation’s growing use of gasoline-powered
vehicles – for both business and pleasure – has led to an
over-reliance on hydrocarbons, specifically petroleum. To
quench this thirst for gasoline, America must import about
15 million barrels of crude oil every day. This clearly displays
an uncomfortable dependence on foreign sources of energy.
To help reduce this dependence, President Bush launched the
Advanced Energy Initiative, which provides a $383 million
increase in clean energy research at the U.S. Department
of Energy. This funding will be used for new vehicle technologies
in efficient hybrid and lithium batteries, advancements in
cellulosic ethanol for fuel, and additional research in solar
and wind power.
As gas prices soar above $3.00 per gallon, there is increasing
public interest in the Hydrogen Economy as a potential alternative
to our current fossil fuel based economy. As the name implies,
it is focused around the production, storage, and use of
hydrogen and electricity in lieu of fossil fuels and seeks
to resolve two major problems: reducing or eliminating dependence
on foreign oil; and reducing environmental pollution. To
shift away from the fossil fuel economy, new technologies
and a significant amount of development must occur before
true commercialization of the Hydrogen Economy.
As the world population climbs toward 6.5 billion, the demand
for energy will only increase over time. Our non-renewable
global oil reserve will eventually deplete, forcing us to
look for viable alternatives. In addition, environmental
impact awareness of burning such fuels has grown, further
propelling our search for clean, efficient fuel. The hydrogen
fuel cell is widely viewed as a viable alternative to combustion
engines. Hydrogen is a renewable fuel that produces zero
emissions when used in a fuel cell. But where does the hydrogen
come from?
Unlike the internal combustion engine (ICE) that we have
in our cars, fuel cells have the potential to be far more
efficient. An ICE converts the chemical energy in petrol
to physical energy, which moves the engine pistons. Unfortunately,
this also produces a great deal of heat and friction which
contribute to a loss in efficiency. The theoretical efficiency
of an ICE is roughly 30%. In addition, the byproducts of
petrol combustion are the pollutants carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides, which many
believe have made a significant contribution to global warming.
On the other hand, the hydrogen fuel cell converts the chemical
energy in hydrogen directly into electrical energy.
GM Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles. Chevrolet Equinox, Project Driveway
Beginning early next year, General Motors will be lending 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Vehicles to “everyday” American families as well as to a few celebrities and politicians. Besides the public relations value – hence the celebrities and politicians – GM will also be gathering feedback on how people use the vehicles, how easy they find fueling them, and how they like driving them day-to-day.
Whether you are aware of it or not, magnets are part of our
everyday lives. Our driver’s license, credit cards, and ATM
cards have a magnetic stripe containing iron particles in
a plastic film that is encoded with information. VHS tapes,
audio cassettes, and floppy disks operate in the same manner.
Electric motors and generators also employ magnets. We are
all under the presence of the Earth’s magnetic field all
the time, and take advantage of this fact every time we use
a compass. The tiny magnet in the compass interacts with
the Earth’s magnetic field to give us a directional reading.
While bulk metals have shown great utility in magnetic applications,
magnets based on nanometal particles are shown to provide
additional advantages.
Although the use of silver to kill germs in the water supply
has been known for well over 5,000 years, it wasn’t
until 1893 that researchers in Switzerland determined that
silver ions can kill living cells, algae, moulds, spores,
fungi, virus, and other microorganisms, even when used in
low concentration. Silver is a powerful, natural antibiotic
and was used to prevent and treat infections in the late
19th and early 20th century for a variety of ailments. More
recently, researchers began to understand the mechanism of
bacterial destruction; the healing properties of silver are
now cast in the limelight again.
