Climate News Network 1st July 2017, Trucks, trains and ships using hydrogen fuel cells for propulsion are no longer just theoretically possible: they have reached the trial stage. Decades of work on refining the technology have coincided with the need to store surplus energy from solar and wind farms when supply exceeds demand.
And making and storing hydrogen from surplus renewable energy that can then be used as fuel for vehicles is good economic sense, according to the Norwegian research group SINTEF. Fuel cells are much lighter than batteries
and with hydrogen fuel they provide a better method of propulsion for all sorts of freight and passenger transport. The only residue of burning hydrogen is water, so there is no pollution.
Top-secret research and development has been going on since 1980 at SINTEF in an attempt to make
fuel cells competitive with the internal combustion engine for transport. The technology is already used in some niche markets, but it is now expected to become mainstream, according to Steffen Møller-Holst, vice-president for marketing at SINTEF. He says: “In Japan, 150,000 fuel cells have been installed in households to generate power and heat, and in
the United States more than 10,000 hydrogen-powered forklifts are operatingin warehouses and distribution centres.”
In Norway SINTEF has been working on advancing that technology. Engineers there also want to power
forklifts, but they’re planning more: they want as well to power heavyduty trucks and passenger ferries with fuel cells. Norway is also working on a plan to make its railways greener, running long-distance trains on hydrogen as an alternative to electrifying lines currently operated by diesel locomotives.
“In Germany, the first fuel cell train is alreadyundergoing trials, and Norway is one of many European countries now
considering hydrogen-powered trains based on the conclusions of a studycarried out by SINTEF for the Norwegian Railway Directorate,” saysMøller-Holst. He is convinced Norway should follow the German example.
Surprisingly, the report concluded that between €36 and 45 billion could be saved annually on one section of the line if battery- or hydrogen-powered trains were used instead of the more conventional electric trains drawing power from overhead wires. http://climatenewsnetwork.net/hydrogen-fuel-reaches-lift-off/
July 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
energy storage, EUROPE |
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Air Force to “Cyber-Secure” Nuclear Arsenal, SCOUT WARRIOR, 2 Jul 17, Modernizing computer networks for the nuclear arsenal is part of the current Air Force plan to build as many as 400 new Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBMs, to serve through the 2070s.
July 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
safety, USA |
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JFK Had a Super Secret Nuclear War Bunker in Florida,National Interest, Darien Cavanaugh, 2 Jul 17, This place wouldn’t have survived a direct hit,” Anthony Miller of the Palm Beach Maritime Museum told VisitFlorida.com, Florida’s official Website for promoting tourism.
In December 1960, the SeaBees – the U.S. Navy’s construction force — supposedly began the mundane task of building a munitions depot behind the Coast Guard station on Peanut Island, Florida.
Known as “Operation Hotel,” the SeaBees actually built a secret nuclear fallout shelter for president-elect John F. Kennedy, who often spent his winters at a nearby estate on Palm Beach.
It took the SeaBees less than two weeks to complete the underground bunker, which consisted of a corrugated steel shelter covered with 25 feet of concrete, earth and lead. Official documents referred to the site as “Detachment Hotel,” and the government didn’t formerly acknowledge its existence until 1974……. http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/jfk-had-super-secret-nuclear-war-bunker-florida-21406
July 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
history, politics, weapons and war |
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Science division of White House office left empty as last staffers depart, By JACQUELINE ALEMANY CBS NEWS June 30, 2017, WASHINGTON –– The science division of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was unstaffed as of Friday as the three remaining employees departed this week, sources tell CBS News.
All three employees were holdovers from the Obama administration. The departures from the division — one of four subdivisions within the OSTP — highlight the different commitment to scientific research under Presidents Obama and Trump.
Under Mr. Obama, the science division was staffed with nine employees who led the charge on policy issues such as STEM education, biotechnology and crisis response. It’s possible that the White House will handle these issues through staff in other divisions within the OSTP.
On Friday afternoon, Eleanor Celeste, the assistant director for biomedical and forensic sciences at the OSTP, tweeted, “Science division out. Mic drop” before leaving the office for the last time…….http://www.cbsnews.com/news/science-division-of-white-house-office-now-empty-as-last-staffers-depart/
July 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, USA |
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