Fuel cells and hydrogen

Heightening speculation that BMW and Toyota are about to announce an expanded partnership involving fuel cell technology, the German automaker confirmed today that it is no longer talking with General Motors about a similar research arrangement, reported a Bloomberg article.

On Friday, BMW and Toyota will hold a press conference announcing the details of a closer working relationship. Last December the two companies penned an agreement that gave Toyota access to BMW's small diesel engines to sell in its European line up of vehicles, and in return, Toyota would help BMW play catch up in the hybrid market by … Read more

Retailer Brookstone will sell a portable fuel cell able to charge smartphones a dozen times before running out.

Fuel cell maker Lilliputian Systems today announced that Brookstone will be the first retailer to carry its portable USB power source, which will be sold under Brookstone's brand. The fuel cell device is about the size of a thick smartphone, and the lighter fluid-filled cartridges are about the same size as a cigarette lighter.

It's a big step forward both for Lilliputian Systems, a 10-year-old spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and for portable fuel cell technology in general. … Read more

To make its data center greener, Apple will be getting energy from old garbage.

The company plans to power the fuel cells at its Maiden, N.C., data center with biogas from landfills, according to a regulatory filing spotted by Data Center Knowledge.

The filing also indicates that Bloom Energy will supply the 4.8 megawatts worth of fuel cells that will partly power the data center. Yesterday, Bloom Energy CEO K.R. Sridhar told CNET that the company will supply its 200-kilowatt parking space-size Bloom Boxes to Apple.

By using biogas rather than natural gas to power its fuel … Read more

On the day Bloom Energy officially opened shop on the East Coast, the company's CEO confirmed Bloom will supply fuel cells to Apple's North Carolina data center.

Bloom Energy today is breaking ground on a factory in Newark, Del., to build its Bloom Energy Servers, or Bloom Boxes, which produce electricity from natural gas or biogas.

The facility, which was a former Chrysler plant, will have the capacity to turn out 1,000 Bloom Boxes a year, Bloom Energy CEO K.R. Sridhar said in an interview with CNET. Each fuel cell, which is the size of few … Read more

In a new twist on using waste for energy, Microsoft is designing a data center powered by biogas, the gas given off from landfills and other sources.

The company last week further detailed its Data Plant experiment, an idea to bring more reliability to its data centers and lower pollution from them.

Fuel cells would supply power to the data center and make it independent from the grid, said Christian Belady, general manager of Data Center Services in a blog post last week. In theory, having on-site power allows a data center operator to use the electric grid as bac … Read more

A day after being criticized by Greenpeace for its energy practices, Apple said Greenpeace's estimates for power use at the company's latest data center are much too high.

Apple said that its data center now under construction in North Carolina will use about 20 megawatts at full capacity. Greenpeace put the estimate at 100 megawatts.

Greenpeace gave Apple, Amazon, and other companies low marks for locating their data centers in areas that rely heavily on coal and "dangerous nuclear." Those companies also scored lower than competitors, including Google and Yahoo, because they disclose less information on … Read more

Two key players in the hydrogen manufacturing arena will be working together to make hydrogen fueling stations a reality for the fuel cell vehicles that should be coming to market in the second half of this decade.

Air Products and Fuel Cell Energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to market stationary Direct Fuel Cell (DFC) power plants. These systems, manufactured by Fuel Cell Energy, are designed to take natural gas or renewable biogas and produce hydrogen, electricity, and heat. The three energy byproducts can be used to power and heat the production facility or nearby homes or businesses while … Read more

Better Place is sweetening the deal for electric vehicle drivers and potential drivers by offering them free charging at its charging stations in Hawaii for the remainder of the year.

Through 2012, electric vehicle owners can sign up for a free membership with Better Place to gain access to the company's 130 charge spots on the state's chain of islands. Better Place operates 130 charge spots on four islands, including the Big Island, Oahu, Kauai, and Maui. Each Charge Spot has two charge points, enabling two cars to charge at the same time. But the best part is … Read more

By building a wind turbine to power a hydrogen production and fueling station, a little hamlet in Long Island is positioning itself as the bellwether for carbon-neutral transportation.

The town of Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island erected a 121-foot-tall turbine last December on the township's Department of Conservation and Waterways land to take advantage of powerful Atlantic winds and power the hydrogen and natural gas fueling station it built in 2009. The turbine can generate up to 180 megawatts of power per year, and presents an estimated hydrogen fuel and energy cost savings of $40,000 per year. … Read more