SCI/TECH: Hydrogen: Making the leap into Showrooms soon!

For decades hydrogen has been promised as the next big thing in energy storage, but time and time again setbacks happened and realistically mainstream use of the technology is still 15-20 years away at the latest. However, just because the hydrogen economy is still decades away from replacing the Oil economy, it isn't stopping "Automotive technology pioneer ZAP (OTC BB:ZAPZ)" from claiming it will begin selling fuel-cell vehicles in the second-half of 2005.


For those of you who do not know what a PEM is or stands for here is a brief explanation: PEM stands for Proton-exchange membrane and it is currently the most promising technology currently in use today. PEM's are low temperature fuel-cells that are currently being developed for transport and stationary applications. "In this fuel cell, hydrogen is split at the anode (which in practice is a thin layer of catalyst on the polymer membrane's surface) into protons, that travel across the membrane to the cathode (similar or identical to the annode layer) where they combine with oxygen and electrons (which have travelled to the cathode from the anode via an external "load" circuit) to create water, the cells only product when using pure hydrogen."

This news if it turns out to be news and not just a pump and dump scheme this could spur more investment in this area. It really seems like the Hydrogen economy is about to take off soon and when it does I'll be very happy. A couple of things do nag at me though because this company is a very small operation, and it is publicly traded in the OTC BB market, which is a very high risk segment of the market. I'm going to be doing more research on this and post a follow-up sometime after the new year.

Related News Links:
www.zapworld.com
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
U.S. maps path to hydrogen economy
Arnold Dreams of Future Fuel...Hydrogen!
Scientists Develop a Prototype Reactor to Produce Hydrogen Efficiently and Cheaply

[edit on 22-12-2004 by Banshee]

Well it seems my skeptism in this case is completly unfounded...at least for the reasons I was originally skeptical about. Now I'm wondering wether this company can survive the public market without getting eaten by a giant. I would hate to see that happen as this company is genuinly trying to do some good in the world. Some of the products they have already released into the market are:

The Smart Car


[edit on 22-12-2004 by sardion2000]

This is fantastic news! I was expecting them to roll out the refuling stations before the vehicles themselves. I hope these people are close to a hydrogen pump

What i'm curious about is how the hydrogen is stored...is it in a liquid or gaseous state?...neither of those are safe...the only safe way to store hydrogen is if it's chemicly bonded to another chemical. Like what tha people at United Nuclear did...they bonded Hydrogen to Hydrides, making the storage safe. They have a corvette with a hydrogen-conversion kit, that gets 700 miles per charge, and it's still capable of running off if petrol with the flip of a switch..

I'd bet even money that if Bill Gates dropped a few billion into the R/D of these hydrogen fuel cells he would be sitting on an even bigger empire. I feel it's going to take an extream effort as such to show those oil hungry states that they are going to have some serious competition.

The only problem right with Fuel Cell cars is a two fold problem...
Hydrogen is extremely hard to make and distribute...
To generate enough hydrogen to run a car for 1000 miles, you have to burn the equivalent of 2000 miles of fossil fuels or other fuel at the hydrogen plant... then there is the matter of distribution...

but no fear, tech is here... there is a company that claims their method of hydrogen generation only takes one fourth the amount of energy to produce the gas. so maybe soon it will be a benefit to use a fuel cell car...

LazarusTheLong, thats another reason to be skeptical about this piece of "news". I am very wary of any company listed on the Bulletin Board exchange. Even though they have a hit product right now(ie the Smart Car). They are taking a major risk in pushing thier product.

A post above said H2 was more dangerous then gas. I have to disagree. The Auto Industry has done tests comparing a Gas Burning Car and a Hydrogen Burning Car(not fuel cell powered). And when Gas explodes, since its heavier then air it explored down and out. H2 however since its lighter then air would explode up and out. I would rather be in the H2 powered car in that case as it gives you more time to escape(assuming of course that the tanks aren't under the passenger or drivers area of course). I'm trying to find the video right now as its a pretty amazing safety demo. The gas powered car just went up in flames. The H2 car just busted its gas cap and fire belched up in a conical pattern leaving the vehicle and test dummies unharmed. Neat stuff IMHO!

[edit on 23-12-2004 by sardion2000]

Alright its the new year, and alot has changed with Zap. For one They shipped around 400 units of thier smart car to Canada where they sold out in pretty much the first day and plus they sold in addition to the 400 they shipped and extra 600 pre-order units for people who werent lucky enough to nab themselves a smartcar. This seems like a very good up and coming company as they have real revenues, good products and a plan for going foward. Originally Zap speciallized in converting older Gasoline Cars into Electric Cars. They have really built up a talented research and development staff to be able to come up with the Products that they have now. Here is a short list of thier products that you can buy from them right now.

Ultimate Battery

UP TO 10 HOURS of LAPTOPS USE!
NO MORE DEAD BATTERIES!


Approx. Cost: 279.99 $


Lowest Cost Battery!
power for your PDA, Digital Camera, Cell Phone, Camcorder, MP3, DVD, and more


Approx. Cost: 59.99 $


NO MORE DEAD BATTERIES!
4 times power for your PDA, Digital Camera, Cell Phone, Camcorder, MP3, DVD, and more ...


Approx. Cost: 99.99 $


Check thier Website out, it has lots of interesting Products

www.zapworld.com...

EDIT: Full Disclosure - I am an Investor of this company so anything I say about it should not be taken as an endorsement to buy, sell or sell short.

[edit on 15-1-2005 by sardion2000]

[edit on 15-1-2005 by sardion2000]