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DARESBURY REPORT SHOWS ROAD TO CLEANER TRANSPORT
December 11, 2000Future global targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases may be more easily met thanks to new research on catalysts for fuel cells, published today in the new annual report from Daresbury Laboratory’s Synchrotron Radiation Department.
Tough emission targets are driving the development of zero emission vehicles such as electric cars. The power to drive these vehicles will come from a fuel cell, which uses methanol to generate electricity to power the car, but only emits water. The research, performed by Dr Andrea Russell from Southampton University, used the SRS to investigate which materials will perform best as catalysts in fuel cells, without their operation being ‘poisoned’ by carbon monoxide which is produced as a chemical by-product of the fuel reforming process. X-ray techniques investigated the structure of catalysts made of platinum and various alloys of platinum and ruthenium. Complimentary performance studies showed that well mixed alloys of platinum and ruthenium show an improved CO tolerance and are likely to be the better fuel cell catalyst. This research has addressed a key problem in developing viable fuel cells and will pave the way for the clean, green cars of the future.
Other exciting research done at the SRS and featured in the report includes:
- identifying how the bacteria that causes meningococcal meningitis changes to evade antibodies, which may lead to the development of a new vaccine (page 6);
- using X-rays to measure strain in aluminium welds, which may open the way for aircraft bodies to be welded, not riveted, together (page 14);
- using leaf fluorescence to identify the health of plants, which may lead to a hand-held health monitor for us in orchards and vineyards (page 26).
The annual report can be viewed in full on http://www.clrc.ac.uk/Activity/SR9900
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC)
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Turning Waste Material into Ethanol
Say the word "biofuels" and most people think of grain ethanol and biodiesel. But there's another, older technology called gasification that's getting a new look from researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University. By combining gasification with high-tech nanoscale porous catalysts, they hope to create ethanol from a wide range of biomass, including distiller's grain left over from ethanol production, corn stover from the field, grass, wood pulp, animal waste, and garbage.
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Oxygen ions for fuel cells get loose at low(er) temperatures
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A promising step towards more effective hydrogen storage
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Perfecting a solar cell by adding imperfections
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Are microbes the answer to the energy crisis?
The answer to the looming fuel crisis in the 21st century may be found by thinking small, microscopic in fact. Microscopic organisms from bacteria and cyanobacteria, to fungi to microalgae, are biological factories that are proving to efficient sources of inexpensive, environmentally friendly biofuels that can serve as alternatives to oil, according to research presented at the 108th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston.
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