• Category Archives: Biofuels

    World’s First Fuel Cell Heavy-Duty Truck Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell Heads to Switzerland

    Hyundai Motor today shipped the first 10 units of the Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell, the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell heavy-duty truck, to Switzerland. Hyundai plans to ship a total of 50 XCIENT Fuel Cells to Switzerland this year, with handover to commercial fleet customers starting in September. XCIENT is powered by a 190-kW hydrogen fuel cell system with dual 95-kW fuel cell stacks. Seven large hydrogen tanks offer a combined storage capacity of around 32.09 kg of hydrogen.

     The driving range per charge for XCIENT Fuel Cell is about 400km, which was developed with an optimal balance between the specific requirements from the potential commercial fleet customers and the charging infrastructure in Switzerland. Refueling time for each truck takes approximately 8~20 minutes. Fuel cell technology is particularly well-suited to commercial shipping and logistics due to long ranges and short refueling times. The dual-mounted fuel cell system provides enough energy to drive the heavy-duty trucks up and down the mountainous terrain in the region.

    Hyundai is developing a long-distance tractor unit capable of traveling 1,000 kilometers on a single charge equipped with an enhanced fuel cell system with high durability and power, aimed at global markets including North America and Europe. Hyundai plans to roll out a total of 1,600 XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks by 2025, reflecting the company’s environmental commitment and technological prowess as it works toward reducing carbon emissions through zero-emission solutions.

    Posted in Biofuels on July 7, 2020
    Continue reading

    BMW i8 to surge ahead on hydrogen fuel

    BMWs-hydrogen-powered-i8-1
    Putting its eco-friendly line in overdrive, BMW have unleashed the possibilities of the i8 Concept that runs on hydrogen fuel. In addition to its unparalleled, futuristic swag, the car is here to take on Toyota’s offering. The car has not been christened in all its glory as yet and continues to be a prototype that’s only getting better with each passing day. The company has been researching on hydrogen fuel for nearly three decades, which doesn’t really boast about their speed of operation. On the other hand Toyota’s 2016 Mirai will be available as the first hydrogen fuel cell EV, next year. Both companies formed a joint venture to leverage Toyota’s fuel cell expertise to the fullest. This explains why the i8 model will brag the same fuel cell technology that the 2016 Mirai will contain.

    Posted in Biofuels on July 6, 2015
    Continue reading

    Cleveland-based company powers up the Bi-fuel Chevrolet Impala with organic waste

    chevroletHaven’t we always dreamed of living in a utopia where sewage could literally be used to power our transport systems? Well, we might not have reached that dream completely, but the 2015 Bi-fuel Chevrolet Impala is a start. The car gobbles up leftovers and waste to power up and is the next greenest way to get around since the dawn of electric vehicles. To power up the car, the Quasar Energy Group based in Cleveland uses organic waste to produce a renewable energy called Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). This is then used as a fuel for the car.

    Posted in Biofuels on October 27, 2014
    Continue reading

    NASA to launch a green spacecraft in 2016 with environment-friendly propellants

    green-fuel-spacecraftNASA, the guys who have been known to send men and monkeys into space, has now taken a step closer towards a greener tomorrow. The organization has decided to replace switches traditional (and toxic) propellants with a safer, more efficient alternative, as part of the Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM). The project will see the SpaceX Falcon flight launch in 2016, powered with environment friendly propellants.

    Posted in Biofuels on August 23, 2014
    Continue reading

    Hotchkiss School uses cleaner biomass burners to go green

    hotchkiss-green-roof-biomass-3
    A school in the United States recently decided to cut short its power bills and came up with a smart strategy to do the same. The Hotchkiss School replaced its oil-burning boiler with woodchip biomass ones, subsequently reducing its energy bills as well as the carbon footprint. The effort reduced the carbon footprint of the school by a sweet 45%. The building also now sports a green-roof, making it an LEED-certified facility.

    Posted in Biofuels on May 3, 2013
    Continue reading

    Audi Pioneers Solar, Wind and CO2 ‘E-Gas’


    Always at the cutting edge of car design, German car manufacturers, Audi, have now announced plans to produce e-gas – a fuel made out of solar power, wind power and captured CO2 (which is carbon free). Audi are currently building a huge synthetic natural gas plant, from where they will conduct research to prove that this will be an efficient, effective and economically viable product. They plan to produce the fuel like this: wind turbines will generate electricity, which will produce hydrogen by electrolysis. This will then be combined with the CO2 captured from the atmosphere – their plant can capture almost 3,000 metric tons every year – to produce methane, or as Audi call it: e-gas. Sounds simple, right? Let’s see if Audi can pull it off!

    Posted in Biofuels on February 1, 2013
    Continue reading

    Teenagers develop urine-powered electricity generator


    Power generators have never been powered with urine before. Icky as it may sound, the concept could work as a win-win situation, helping users efficiently put away human waste and generate electricity in a green way. Keeping that in mind, four young whiz-kids, Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, Bello Eniola and Faleke Oluwatoyi, all in their early teens, have come up with a one-of-a-kind power generator that works on urine!

    Posted in Biofuels on November 17, 2012
    Continue reading

    Saudi Arabia to use 100% green energy in the years to come


    Saudi Arabia, the land of oil, has realized the need for cleaner and greener energy. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently announced its intentions of going 100% renewable energy in the foreseeable future. According to an official statement by Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, the Arab state will strive hard to go green as a leaf. Currently, Saudi Arabia relies completely on oil to power up with just one thirds of its energy requirements met with natural gas.

    Posted in Biofuels on October 23, 2012
    Continue reading

    Singaporean scientists develop eco-friendly waste-separating toilet that helps generate energy


    Toilets have never amounted to more than places to answer nature’s beckoning before. However, a bunch of scientists thought differently, and have come up with a super eco-friendly toile t that not only uses 90% less water than the conventional but also generates energy! Developed by the brains at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, the No-Mix Vacuum Toilet separates solid and liquid waste and uses vacuum to flush it all along with 1 or 0.2 liters of water for solid and liquid waste respectively. Once separated and flushed away, the liquid waste can then be used to source ingredients for fertilizers including nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus while the solid waste can be used to harvest methane which in turn can be used to generate power!

    Posted in Biofuels on July 2, 2012
    Continue reading

    Algae growing in Roman Baths, future of world’s biodiesels

    Holly-collects-algae-samples-from-roman-bath.jpg
    The world’s slowly bidding farewell to fossil fuels, in a bid to use cleaner and greener fuels, that don’t punch those devastating holes in our environment. Now, the Department of Biology & Biochemistry study has a new-found interest in algae growing in Roman Baths that can be used to produce biodiesel by extracting oil from algae cells. Growing algae as such could help boost the wide-scale production of biofuels, which could soon turn into the next best way to power up our lives in future.

    Posted in Biofuels on July 13, 2011
    Continue reading