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LONG BEACH, Calif. –The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota has been recognized as the National Hydrogen Association’s (NHA’s) 2010 Robert M. Zweig Public Education Award recipient for outstanding education and outreach initiatives on hydrogen. The EERC received the award during an annual awards ceremony during the NHA Hydrogen Conference & Expo in Long Beach, California.

The EERC was selected for this award for its dedication to initiatives that have resulted in significant progress in hydrogen technologies. The EERC is recognized for hosting events such as the 2009 NHA Summer Strategy Planning Meeting, the Hydrogen Works Training Course: A Premier Professionals Training Course (February 2009), the International Conference on Air Quality VII (October 2009), and the upcoming Advancing the Hydrogen Economy Action Summit III, cohosted with Senator Byron Dorgan, the Red River Valley Research Corridor, and the Mountain States Hydrogen Business Council (MSHBC).

“UND-EERC is being recognized for its robust environmental research program and contribution to the advancement of hydrogen education,” said NHA President Jeffery A. Serfass. “You should all be proud of your university’s program and leadership provided to the next generation of hydrogen and fuel cell producers and consumers,” he said.

“The staff involved in the education and outreach area at the EERC do outstanding work on these events, technical conferences, and online courses, so it is extremely gratifying for the EERC to receive an award relating to our combined efforts in hydrogen education,” said EERC Director Gerald Groenewold.

Dr. Robert M. Zweig became a leading hydrogen advocate in the late 1960s. Dr. Zweig’s passion was to improve the air quality in Southern California and became one of the greatest advocates of hydrogen energy in the world. Dr. Zweig was a founding member of several influential hydrogen organizations including Clean Air Now (CAN), the Clean Air Institute, and the International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Under his leadership, these organizations promoted hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and as the pathway to a pollution-free environment. Dr. Zweig died of complications from leukemia in February 2002.

“The EERC has clearly demonstrated the kind of public outreach that is consistent with the intent of this award, and I believe Dr. Zweig would be proud,” Serfass said.

The Hydrogen Action Summit III, organized and hosted by the EERC, is scheduled for Monday, September 13, 2010, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The event is being held along with the annual MSHBC Hydrogen Implementation Conference. The two events will showcase topics including hydrogen readiness, coproduction of hydrogen production from renewable and fossil fuels, transportation, and hydrogen infrastructure and utilization. More information will be available soon at www.undeerc.org.

WASHINGTON, DC –The winners of the 2010 Hydrogen Student Design Contest were announced today in a keynote session of the National Hydrogen Association’s annual conference, held this year in Long Beach, CA.

The team from Missouri University of Science and Technology was declared the Grand Prize winner. Teams from the University of Waterloo and the National University of Kyiv received Honorable Mention awards.

For the 2010 Contest, students were challenged to plan and design the basic elements of a hydrogen community in Santa Monica, California. They were asked to design one scalable hydrogen fueling station; identify renewable hydrogen sources in the community; and identify customers for early market hydrogen applications.

“While the design submitted by the Missouri University of Science and Technology team specifically applies to Santa Monica, it contains key elements that are applicable to metropolitan areas around the world” said Jeffrey Serfass, President of the Hydrogen Education Foundation. “The team incorporated some very interesting and useful innovations in their entry.”

The Grand Prize-winning team presented their design today to a keynote audience at the National Hydrogen Association Annual Hydrogen Conference and Expo in Long Beach, CA. As a part of the prize package, the team will also be presenting at the World Hydrogen Energy Conference in Essen, Germany on May 17.

The 2010 Contest was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Chevron, and Ballard Power Systems. For information about sponsoring the 2011 Contest, contact Kyle Gibeault at the information below.

A carbon nanotube can produce a very rapid wave of power when it is coated by a layer of fuel and ignited. (Graphic: Christine Daniloff)

MIT researchers are exploring a new technology funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the National Science Foundation, which they call a thermopower wave, that may convert chemical energy to fuel cells for micro-machines, sensors and emergency communication beacons.

The technology is already generating attention because it is 100% non-toxic, saves energy and can also create a significant amount of power in tiny batteries.

“We envision these thermopower wave devices enabling a new generation of energy sources by providing more power — as much as ten times — than smaller commercial batteries,” said Dr. Michael Strano, MIT associate professor of chemical engineering.

The key components of these devices are tiny, molecular wires called carbon nanotubes, or CNTs, which when coated with fuel can conduct heat and create an energy wave in the process.

Researchers Wonjoon Choi, Joel T. Abrahamson, Drs. Strano, Nitish Nair, Jae-Hee Han, Changsik Song and Seunghyun Hong, Prof. Seunghyun Baik believe the waves may form the basis of new types of fuel cells that convert condensed liquid fuel into electrical energy in a continuous manner.

A major challenge that the researchers faced was activating the devices without using too much energy. As a result, they explored different methods, including lasers, electrical sparks and direct heating from a resistor before they discovered the thermopower wave.

As they refine their mathematical decription of the waves, the scientists are looking forward to exploring ways to develop thermopower wave devices that can use transportation fuels such as ethanol or formic acid.

“Another important step for the researchers is to develop refueling systems that can cover the CNTs with more fuel so that the devices can be used more than once,” Strano said. “This will greatly expand their potential applications.”

Taipei, May 5 (CNA) A Taiwanese research team has won a gold medal at an international exhibition in Switzerland for its invention of a tiny device that can quickly detect very low levels of hydrogen leaks in factories and elsewhere.The Semiconductor Transistor-Type Hydrogen Sensor was displayed in April at the 38th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva by its team of inventors that was led by Professor Liu Wen-chau of the Department of Electrical Engineering of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, southern Taiwan.

The portable device, which has already been patented, is one centimeter in diameter, weighs 0.6 grams, can operate on as little as 50 milliwatts of power and can function at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 300 degrees Celsius.

It can detect concentrations of hydrogen leaks of less than 5ppm within 10 seconds, which makes it suitable for use in chemical and semi-conductor factories.

According to NCKU, in the future the device may be incorporated into the design of automobile batteries, fuel cells for aircraft and spacecraft, and hydrogen refueling stations.

Other applications may include use in integrated circuits, micro electrical engineering and communication, the university said.

(By Chang Jung-hsiang and Kay Liu)