Speaking of the subcategory of H2 generators which use an intermediary (but recyclable) REACTIVE element to reduce water, there is another such possibility in the news this week ...
This boron--> boron oxide scheme was developed by Tareq Abu-Hamed, University of Minnesota and colleagues at the Weizmann Institute, Israel. By reacting water with the element boron, the system produces on-demand hydrogen that can be burnt in an internal combustion engine or feed a fuel cell to generate electricity, folowing which the boron is itself recycled in an external device and reduced to elemental, in an efficient but complicated system. The hydrogen-on-demand approach is based on basic chemistry, but unlike elements: aluminum, sodium and potassium which are well-known for their violent reactions with water - boron does the same but at a more manageable pace. The by-product, boron oxide, can be removed from the car, turned back into boron, and used again, hopefully in a night-time system using off-peak power using an automatic system. The water has to be supplied as vapor heated to several hundred degrees, so the car will still require start-up heat, possibly from a hybrid design with biodiesel. Once the engine is running, the heat generated by the exothermic oxidation reaction between boron and water is enough. The Weizmann team calculates that a car would have to carry 18 kg of boron and 45 liters of water to produce 5 kg of hydrogen, which has the same energy content as a 40-liters (11 gallon) of gasoline. The cost of the gasoline can be figured at least $35.00, while the electrical energy is convert boron oxide back to boron would be about $10 or less @ a nighttime rate of 10 cents/kWh. Lead acid batteries to do the same mileage would weigh about a ton and lithium about 500 pounds - and cost about more than a normal Prius, just for the batteries. There is something to these two stories - the AirGen colloidal story and this one, which overlap in an important way - and it makes even the "Bettery-advocate" believe that there are other acceptable "solutions" [PI] for transportation power. Now if this could only be combined with LENR/hydrino ?? BTW - the De Geus alternative hydrino theory mentioned here some time ago claims that boron is an effective hydrio catalyst. Jones
