French drillers may have stumbled upon a mammoth hydrogen deposit
Enlarge / The equipment needed for drilling a borehole of this type. On the outskirts of the small town of Folschviller in eastern France stand three nondescript sheds. One of these temporary structures has recently become a hive of activity due to a continuous stream of visitors, including scientists, journalists, and the public. The shed…
Hydrogen-powered planes almost ready for takeoff
Enlarge / Airbus will be testing hydrogen power on a commercial airliner modified to carry an additional engine. A complete hydrogen fuel cell powertrain assembly occupied the pride of place in the pavilion of Beyond Aero at the recently concluded Paris Air Show. That a fuel cell system was the Toulouse-based startup’s centerpiece at the…
Airbus has unveiled the aircraft cabin of the future. Take a...
Airbus has unveiled its Airspace Cabin Vision 2035+ in a May 30 presentation. The plane maker is relying on a circular economy to make its new cabins lighter and less wasteful. In the future, Airbus hopes to integrate the new cabins in its developing hydrogen-powered aircraft. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access…
Synthetic gasoline promises neutral emissions—but the math doesn’t work
Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Synthetic fuel promises to put gasoline back in our future. Motorsport will be using it in 2026, and European Union law is using it as a stay of execution for the combustion engine. Advertising promises that a future without fossil fuels doesn't need to be one without gasoline. But burning…
Mixing diesel and hydrogen provides big cuts in emissions
Enlarge / Diesel engines can be modified to burn a diesel-hydrogen mix. A team of engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney has figured out a way to run a diesel engine on a mix of diesel and hydrogen, dramatically lowering its emissions. Why do we even need a diesel-hydrogen hybrid…
New device can make hydrogen when dunked in salt water
Enlarge / The right membrane can make hydrogen production much easier. With renewable energy becoming cheaper, there's a growing impetus to find ways of economically storing it. Batteries can handle short-term fluxes in production but may not be able to handle longer-term shortfalls or seasonal changes in power output. Hydrogen is one of several options…
How the Le Mans hydrogen racer is shaping up
Enlarge / GreenGT's prototype hydrogen-powered racer.Dhananjay Khadilkar Around 400 meters from the buzz of the paddock during this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans stood a tent with two racing cars and a mobile fueling station. Every now and then, people wearing blue T-shirts bearing the logo of "Mission H24" would walk by the cars…
Hydrogen lobbyist quits, slams oil companies’ “false claims” about blue hydrogen
A hydrogen filling station.Peter Gercke/picture alliance via Getty Images The head of a hydrogen lobbying group has stepped down amid concerns that blue hydrogen made from natural gas would serve as a “lock-in” for fossil fuels. Oil and gas companies in recent years have been touting the purported advantages of hydrogen made from natural gas.…
The hydrogen economy is about to get weird
Enlarge / A Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel-cell powered prototype railway train, manufactured by Alstom SA, travels in Salzgitter, Germany. If you were paying attention at the start of this century, you might remember the phrase "hydrogen economy," which was shorthand for George W. Bush's single, abortive attempt to take climate change seriously. At the time,…
Volvo and Daimler bet on hydrogen truck boom this decade
Hydrogen-powered heavy trucks capable of driving long distances are likely to reach a tipping point toward the end of the decade, according to the heads of the world’s two biggest truck-makers. Martin Daum, chair of industry leader Daimler Truck, told the Financial Times that, while diesel trucks would dominate sales for the next three to…
