It’s undeniable that there is a real buzz in the green community over prefab and kit home construction and we intend to spend more time on this blog updating you on the exciting developments surrounding this promising architectural movement!

The hydrocarbons extracted from the oil shale kerogens is not real efficient for fuel use. Leaving many scientists to believe this non-conventional oil won’t be replacing any other fuels any time soon.

You can find oil shale all around the world, and the United States has a few major deposits. Global deposits of oil shale, are esitmated at around 2.8 trillion to 3.3 trillion barrels of recoverable oil.

Though the engery cost to produce this fuel, to the energy gained ratio is low, it can be used as an alternative to normal fuel we use today for many smaller countries to break away from foriegn oil dependicies.

Oil shale has a large negative impact on the environment and water quality, and China, Brazil and some other countries are large producers of oil shale at this time.

Check out this guy’s video of his electric-powered 1975 Beetle. His electric Volkswagen Bug raises a simple question. What’s the answer?

Methanol at room temperture is a polar liquid that is used as an antifreeze, solvent, an alternative fuel to gasoline for cars, and is also used in the transesterification reaction for biodiesel.

Methanol is produced naturally by the metabolism of many bacteria. AS a result there is always a small fraction of methanol vapor in the atmosphere. Methanol burns in the air forming carbon dioxide and water. When methanol burns the flame is colorless, as you can iamgine this provides further saftey hazards when around open methanol flames.

Combine this with the national average trip to work is over 35 minutes, you could have a costly commute to work and home every day, not to mention any other places you’ve planned to go such as vacations, groccery stores or to watch your kids sporting events far away.

No mater the reason, we’re aiming to bring you some reliable information and updates regarding alternative fuels. Some of these fuels maybe already viable uses and in production, but most are going to still be getting researched.

We’ve got alternative fuel vehicles reviews and news from that front, as well as fuels for other uses such as non-convential oils and other methods for you to gain knowledge about.

Some non-conventional oil production types includes: heavy oil, oil shale, biofuels, thermal depolymerization of organic matter, tar sands, and conversion of coal or natural gas to liquid hydrocarbons.

Some of the oils, will more then likely replace petro motor fuel one day as petro fuel becomes depleted and more costly to produce. The reason we do not currently replace petro fuel is because of the energy required to extract these non-conventional oils is greater then the energy we are able to produce from them.

We are currently working on methods that will increase the output of energy from these non-conventional oil methods that will increase their effieciency and increase thier value

Here’s what happens in the fuel cell: When hydrogen gas pumped from the fuel tanks arrives at the anode, which is made of platinum, the platinum catalyzes a reaction that ionizes the gas. Ionization breaks the hydrogen atom down into its positive ions (hydrogen protons) and negative ions (electrons). Both types of ions are naturally drawn to the cathode situated on the other side of the membrane, but only the protons can pass through the membrane (hence the name “proton-exchange”). The electrons are forced to go around the PEM, and along the way they are shunted through a circuit, generating the electricity that runs the car’s systems.

fuel cell flowUsing the two different routes, the hydrogen protons and the electrons quickly reach the cathode. While hydrogen is fed to the anode, oxygen is fed to the cathode, where a catalyst creates oxygen ions. The arriving hydrogen protons and electrons bond with these oxygen ions, creating the two “waste products” of the reaction—water vapor and heat. Some of the water vapor gets recycled for use in humidification, and the rest drips out of the tailpipe as “exhaust.” This cycle proceeds continuously as long as the car is powered up and in motion; when it’s idling, output from the fuel cell is shut off to conserve fuel, and the ultracapacitor takes over to power air conditioning and other components.
A single hydrogen fuel cell delivers a low voltage, so manufacturers “stack” fuel cells together in a series, as in a dry-cell battery. The more layers, the higher the voltage. Electrical current, meanwhile, has to do with surface area. The greater the surface area of the electrodes, the greater the current. One of the great challenges automakers face is how to increase electrical output (voltage times current) to the point where consumers get the power and distance they’re accustomed to while also economizing space in the tight confines of an automobile

Hydrogen fuel is fed into the “anode” of the fuel cell. Oxygen (or air) enters the fuel cell through the cathode. Encouraged by a catalyst, the hydrogen atom splits into a proton and an electron, which take different paths to the cathode. The proton passes through the electrolyte. The electrons create a separate current that can be utilized before they return to the cathode, to be reunited with the hydrogen and oxygen in a molecule of water.

A fuel cell system which includes a “fuel reformer” can utilize the hydrogen from any hydrocarbon fuel – from natural gas to methanol, and even gasoline. Since the fuel cell relies on chemistry and not combustion, emissions from this type of a system would still be much smaller than emissions from the cleanest fuel combustion processes.

Although wind currently produces just over 1% of world-wide electricity use, it accounts for approximately 19% of electricity production in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland. Globally, wind power generation increased more than fivefold between 2000 and 2007.

Wind power is produced in large scale wind farms connected to electrical grids, as well as in individual turbines for providing electricity to isolated locations. Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions when it displaces fossil-fuel-derived electricity. The intermittency of wind seldom creates insurmountable problems when using wind power to supply a low proportion of total demand, but it presents extra costs when wind is to be used for a large fraction of demand.

The most significant use for nuclear energy is for the generation of electrical power and to power some ships and submarines. The nuclear energy these ships require are made from heat and steam from the nuclear reaction power stream.

There are other less used uses for nuclear reactors and their technology but none that deal with power, or energy so we won’t be covering them.