I feel like a child fixated on my bodily productivity :-) but this story is intriguing because human waste management has a major impact on our fresh water supply when water is used as a transport method... indoor plumbing and sewer systems.

Gerardine Botte, a professor at Ohio University is developing a hydrogen energy technology that turns urine into hydrogen energy. Read the full story at MSNBC.

Chemically binding hydrogen to other elements (like oxygen) to create water, makes it easier to store and transport, but releasing the hydrogen when it's needed usually requires financially prohibitive amounts of electricity.

By attaching hydrogen to nitrogen, Botte and her colleagues observed that they can store hydrogen without extreme conditions, and then release it with less electricity, 0.037 Volts instead of the 1.23 Volts needed for water.

Urea, a major component of urine, contains hydrogen bonded to nitrogen. When you stick a special nickel electrode into a pool of urine, apply an electrical current -- hydrogen gas is released.

Botte's current prototype measures 3x3x1 inch and can produce up to 500 milliwatts of power but the scientists are actively commercializing larger versions.

A urine-powered fuel cell vehicle could theoretically travel 90 miles per gallon. They are estimating that a refrigerator-sized unit could produce a kilowatt of energy for about $5,000.

Waste products from agricultural farms could be used to produce the energy needed to run the farm and livestock farmers who are required by law to pool their animals' waste, could use large scale prototypes to turn urine into power.

NREL is working with Nuclear Filter Technology to develop and commercialize NREL's innovative fiber optic hydrogen sensor technology. This technology provides industry with the early detection of hydrogen in the air, which only takes a small spark to ignite and explode.

NREL's fiber optic hydrogen sensor utilizes a non-ignitable, flexible, thin, glass or plastic, fiber optic strand that transmits light to a thin film material. The material changes color in response to the presence of hydrogen. The CRADA allows NREL and Nuclear Filter Technology to develop a full-scale prototype of this technology, which ultimately will result in commercially available products.

Industries that use or produce hydrogen can apply this technology.

Applications include those for the following industries:

• Petrochemical
• Transportation
• Fuel cell
• Fuel production
• Food processing
• Natural gas
• Nuclear waste

Nuclear Filter Technology is also licensing several NREL inventions related to the fiber optic and thin film materials that sense the presence of hydrogen.

SOURCE: Technology Transfer department of National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Madison, Wis.-based Virent Energy Systems states that its BioForming technology, based on research started at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, uses a solid-state catalyst to convert plant sugars into hydrocarbon molecules like those produced at a petroleum refinery.

And the company said the technology can take in a broad menu of feedstocks.

Virent Energy Systems, Inc. will enable the hydrogen economy by eliminating H2 storage and power density barriers from portable power systems ; while utilizing truly renewable

Virent was founded in 2002 by Dr. Randy Cortright and Dr. Jim Dumesic to commercialize the Aqueous Phase Reforming (APR) process, an innovative technology the two invented and patented while at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Although early research focused on generating hydrogen from sugar, as originally published in the journal Nature in 2002, the technology has since further evolved into the BioForming™ process, which enables the production of renewable liquid fuels, fuel gases, and other chemicals.

In 2005, Virent contracted with MG&E, a local Wisconsin utility, to build an integrated BioForming reactor and hydrogen/natural gas fueled generator for electricity production.  The success of this system, which began operating in December 2005 and can deliver up to 10 kW of power, demonstrated the viability of the BioForming process.  This sparked the interest of companies such as Cargill and Honda and ultimately led each to invest in the company in 2006. The production of gasoline via APR confirmed the technology was a new pathway to the production of liquid fuels and chemicals currently made from fossil fuels.

Virent’s BioForming™ process pioneers the commercial production of biofuels and bioproducts which are both sustainable and economical.  This technology can convert a wide roster of feedstocks, including non-food and home grown energy sources, into the variety of fuels and chemicals now made from fossil fuels.

Catalysts have been proven to be the most effective way to produce fuels and petrochemicals and have greater success utilizing cellulosic biomass than fermentation methods. Low energy input and biomass based feedstocks offer near zero CO2 emissions.

www.virent.com

ARB passes new ZEV amendment to produce 65,000 cleaner vehicles by 2012

The California Air Resources Board voted (in March, 2008) to triple the amount of zero emissions vehicles that staff had proposed for automakers to produce from 2012 through 2014, while directing staff to look at overhauling the program to account for climate change benefits.

Staff had proposed to require 2,500 pure zero emission vehicles, which the Board increased to 7,500. Automakers can produce fewer ZEVs, 5,357, if they are long-range fuel cell vehicles or they can opt to satisfy the requirement by manufacturing 12,500 battery electric vehicles with a range of 100 miles.

The Board maintained a second component of the vehicle emissions reduction program that allows the automakers flexibility in their alternative fuel programs by requiring an additional 66,000 plug-in hybrids during that same period. If the automakers produce 25,000 ZEVs, there are no remaining plug-in hybrid requirements.

Additionally, ARB Chairman Mary Nichols directed staff to overhaul the ZEV program for 2015 vehicles to synch up with other Board tailpipe emission programs such as the Pavley regulations addressing greenhouse gas emissions and the low emissions vehicle program.

“Today's decision will lead to more green auto choices for consumers now while keeping the pressure on the automotive engineers to continue fine tuning the technologies that will yield an all electric-drive vehicle fleet for California in the near future,” Nichols said. “We must continue to push for all types of technologies -- fuel cells, electric vehicles and hydrogen powered cars -- as we fight our duel battles against smog and global warming.”

The ZEV Program

Created in 1990, the ZEV program seeks to spur technological advancements in the automobile industry that lead to more clean cars on California’s roadways. The ZEV program is the world’s only enforceable requirement for development and production of zero emissions vehicles. As a direct result of the ZEV program, over 750,000 Californians are currently driving vehicles with near-zero emissions and an extended emissions warranty of 15 years or 150,000 miles. They are 80 percent cleaner than the average 2002 model year car. Today's action will assure many more near-zero and zero emission vehicles on California's roads in the near future.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.