Breakthrough May Lead to ‘Limitless’ Supply of Hydrogen

By Tuan C. Nguyen | September 21, 2011, 7:29 AM PDT

If a new technology pans out, the fading notion that hydrogen will someday supplant fossil fuels may be on the verge of a comeback.

There was a time in the early 90’s when the fuel cell was touted as the clean energy technology of the future. The only byproduct was water and it also packed a whole lot more energy than electric car batteries. For instance, nine pounds of the stuff was enough to enable a vehicle to go 150 miles. However, methods to generate hydrogen were in and of themselves energy intensive. And ultimately, the concept of needing energy to produce energy was problematic enough to make it a dealbreaker for many green investors.

But now researchers at Penn state have demonstrated an innovative “self-powered” process of producing hydrogen that, if scalable, can revive interest in fuel cell technology.

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Greenhouse Gas Index Continues to Climb

ScienceDaily (Nov. 9, 2011) − NOAA’s updated Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which measures the direct climate influence of many greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, shows a continued steady upward trend that began with the Industrial Revolution of the 1880s.

Started in 2004, the AGGI reached 1.29 in 2010. That means the combined heating effect of long-lived greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere by human activities has increased by 29 percent since 1990, the "index" year used as a baseline for comparison.

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World has five years to avoid severe warming: IEA

PARIS − The world has just five years to avoid being trapped in a scenario of perilous climate change and extreme weather events, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Wednesday.

On current trends, “rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change,” the IEA concluded in its annual World Energy Outlook report.

‘Monster’ jump in global warming gases reported

A new analysis reveals that greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 surpassed even the worst-case scenario envisioned by scientists four years ago.

After a brief siesta during the recession, global emissions of carbon dioxide are already breaking records again, according to a new analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy. The 2010 data suggest CO2 levels in the atmosphere are now higher than a worst-case scenario predicted four years ago, the Associated Press reports, revealing just how helpless humanity has been in trying to slow down global warming.