Hydrogen fuel breakthrough/Technical University of Denmark (DTU)/Pill/Chicago
7 September 2005
Against a backdrop of record high oil prices, researchers from a Danish university plan to unveil an invention that makes it easier to use hydrogen as a fuel
Normally, pills are best associated with helping to stave off physical ailments. However, a group of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have found a way to use a pill that could cure the world's addiction to petroleum fuels.
The researchers have found a way to store hydrogen in a tabletised form, overcoming one of the biggest problems with using hydrogen: storage.
'The last 20 years, researchers worldwide have tried to find a practical way to store hydrogen. We have found the way,' said Claus Hviid Christensen, professor of chemistry at DTU.
After keeping their project a secret for the past six months while waiting for international patent protection, the researchers plan to publicly reveal their invention at a scientific conference in Chicago, reports national daily Jyllands-Posten.
The DTU team has worked for a year and a half to develop a method to store hydrogen, a lighter-than-air, inflammable gas, in a compact, solid form.
'Before, the amount of hydrogen needed to fuel a passenger vehicle for 500km occupied the same space as nine passenger vehicles. With our pill, the same amount of energy can be contained in a normal 50 litre tank,' said Christensen.
Other hydrogen fuel experts said that the innovation was nothing short of a breakthrough.
'Not least because the hydrogen pill doesn't lose energy when it is used,' said Andreas Züttel, a professor of physics with Fribourg University in Switzerland.
denmark.dk |
