Re: A new development in renewable fuels

I have read the article. One error I note is the claim that a 1 KW
output can supply the average household. When sizing emergency
generators for homes, the conventional wisdom is you need around 10KW.
Of course that's for peak loads. Obviously if all you're running is
lights you could get along on 1 KW. But run the TV and the dishwasher
and a few other appliances simultaneously and it mounts up.

One point that did impress me is that water in the alcohol does no harm
-- in fact it contributes additional hydrogen molecules that are also
separated by the catalyst.

Somehow I think rhodium is scarce and expensive. Don't know about
ceria -- never heard of it in fact.

On Friday, February 13, 2004, at 07:20 PM, William Hamilton wrote:

> The following article details a new reactor developed at the
> University of MN that converts ethyl alchohol into hydrogen. It's
> much smaller than previous such devices -- small enough that it could
> be installed in a home. I haven't read it thoroughly, so I can't tell
> how pure the feedstock has to be. And that's important, since it
> takes energy to isolate alcohol. Also, of course it takes fertilizer
> to raise the corn from which the alcohol is made. But perhaps this is
> a small part of an eventual solution.
>
> http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/uom-nrp020904.php
>
> Bill Hamilton Rochester, MI 248 652 4148
>
>
Bill Hamilton Rochester, MI 248 652 4148
Received on Sat Feb 14 07:43:10 2004