A long-time advocate and designer of zero-emissions power plants, Dr. Klaus Lackner was thrilled with President Bush's statement that the United States will sponsor a $1 billion, 10-year demonstration project to create the world's first coal-based, zero-emissions electricity and hydrogen power plant, but Lackner calls for an even larger vision.
Australian scientists have combined solar energy and natural gas in a novel process capable of producing large-scale energy to power the country's future industrial and domestic needs.
In the search for a nonpolluting energy source, hydrogen is often cited as a potential source of unlimited clean power. But hydrogen is only as clean as the process used to make it. Currently, most hydrogen is made from fossil fuels like natural gas using multi-step and high-temperature processes.
Researchers predict only 30-50 years at most before reserves begin to decline sharply. Increasing oil production will hasten the day when demand for oil outstrips supply and will make an inevitable oil crisis far more unmanageable, researchers from the University of Rochester say.
