Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur Butterfly wallpaper
Hydrogen, the wave of the future, but how far down the road?
Hydrogen can be produced from a wide range of sources including natural gas, coal, water, wind, nuclear power and biological methods, Hinkle said.
The hydrogen fuel cell technology show the most promise in the short term, he said, adding that US auto giant General Motors predicts the production of competitive and high-performance fuel cell cars in 2010-2012.
In the meantime, automakers are launching hydrogen-powered prototypes.
Honda announced Wednesday that it would offer a hydrogen-powered car in the United States next year, the zero-emissions FCX Clarity, to customers on a limited long-term lease basis for a cost of around 600 dollars a month.
I’m not sure why, but they quoted a lawyer who specializes in environmental regulation as saying that it will take a century before we’d have the technology and infrastructure in place to run most personal transport on hydrogen. Since both American and Japanese car companies are currently investing so much in hydrogen technology and putting hydrogen powered cars on the road in the near term, a century seems off the mark. Infrastructure is an expensive facet of fuel distribution, but think of it in terms of what the auto industry spends on a TV commercial for prime time or the Super Bowl. The cost of one Bowl commercial can run a million dollars or more,
For example, a 30-second spot during the 2005 Superbowl sold for $2.4 million. Commercials during less-watched programs are more affordable, but the cost of those commercials may still run in excess of $100,000 per 30-seconds.
The money is obviously there to build the stations that would dispense fuel if there is a market for the cars. This article indicates a growing demand for people skilled in green technologies which in turn means a growing business and consumer demand. GM’s and Honda’s marketing research has probably shown them the same thing. As fiscally cautious as automakers are it is difficult to believe they would invest so much in a technology they don’t think will bring a return.
Dinosaur found with vacuum-cleaner mouth
A dinosaur with a strange jaw designed to hoover-up food grazed in what is now the Sahara Desert 110 million years ago. Remains of the creature that “flabbergasted” paleontologist Paul Sereno went on display Thursday at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society, where they will remain until March.
I know what you’re thinking, a Flintstone’s vacuum cleaner. At 30 feet (9 meters) long he probably wouldn’t have fit into Fred and Wilma’s cave house.
