New fuel cells to keep airplanes up longer
(Image courtesy Georgia Tech Research Institute.)
Scientists are developing hydrogen fuel cells that should be able to keep small planes in the sky longer than today’s conventional engines can.
David Parekh: When you want to have a small plane aloft for a very, very long time, then you begin to take advantage of the fact that a fuel cell can convert the fuel to use for energy much more efficiently than the traditional internal combustion engine.
That’s David Parekh at Georgia Tech Research Institute. He and a team of scientists there are working on this problem, trying, for one thing, to create a lighter kind of hydrogen fuel cell.
David Parekh: You might think back to the first computers or the first cell phones and you compare them to what we have today, they were much larger and much heavier. So, really the challenge is to be able to improve the technology so you can get more power out of a smaller package.
He said another problem is storing the hydrogen onboard the aircraft. But, he said, hydrogen fuel cells should eventually be very efficient and should enable a certain kind of aircraft – small unmanned aircraft – to stay in the air for days, instead of hours.
And that’s useful when you want to use the craft to monitor things — for example, road traffic, or the development of an incoming hurricane.
Our thanks today to NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission.
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MANDATORY RENEWABLE ENERGY – THE ENERGY EVOLUTION –R1
In order to insure energy and economic independence as well as better economic growth without being blackmailed by foreign countries, our country, the United States of America’s Utilization of Energy sources must change. Our continued dependence on fossil fuels could and will lead to catastrophic consequences.
The federal, state and local government should implement a mandatory renewable energy installation program for residential and commercial property on new construction and remodeling projects with the use of energy efficient material, mechanical systems, appliances, lighting, etc. The source of energy must by renewable energy such as Solar-Photovoltaic, Geothermal, Wind, Biofuels, etc. including utilizing water from lakes, rivers and oceans to circulate in cooling towers to produce air conditioning and the utilization of proper landscaping to reduce energy consumption.
The implementation could be done on a gradual scale over the next 10 years. At the end of the 10 year period all construction and energy use in the structures throughout the United States must be 100% powered by renewable energy.
In addition, the governments must impose laws, rules and regulations whereby the utility companies must comply with a fair “NET METERING” (the buying of excess generation from the consumer), including the promotion of research and production of “renewable energy technology” with various long term incentives and grants. The various foundations in existence should be used to contribute to this cause.
A mandatory time table should also be established for the automobile industry to gradually produce an automobile powered by renewable energy. The American automobile industry is surely capable of accomplishing this task.This is a way to expedite our energy independence and economic growth. It will take maximum effort and a relentless pursuit of the private, commercial and industrial government sectors commitment to renewable energy – energy generation (wind, solar, hydro, biofuels, geothermal, energy storage (fuel cells, advance batteries), energy infrastructure (management, transmission) and energy efficiency (lighting, sensors, automation, conservation) in order to achieve our energy independence.
Jay Draiman
Northridge, CA. 91325
12-27-2006
P.S. I have a very deep belief in America’s capabilities. Within the next 10 years we can accomplish our energy independence, if we as a nation truly set our goals to accomplish this.
I happen to believe that we can do it. In another crisis—the one in 1942—President Franklin D. Roosevelt said this country would build 60,000 [50,000] military aircraft. By 1943, production in that program had reached 125,000 aircraft annually. They did it then. We can do it now.