I had the wonderful opportunity to present to the WA Senate Transportation sub committee on hydrogen technologies today. The link below includes a ~20 minute video that is a nice primer to what we do and why:
If you could solve one problem affecting the lives of everyone in the Pacific Northwest, what would it be?
What would you be willing to give up to solve it?
WSU is working to solve many Grand Challenges. The one I’m telling you about today is a $10B per year problem that’s making us sick — the importing and use of fossil fuels in Washington State.
So here is my Grand Challenge:
Sustaining the Pacific Northwest via locally produced, clean, fuel.
More specifically, reducing the importation of carbon-based fossil fuels into Washington State to … » More …
Tony Seba, a Stanford University lecturer and renewable energy entrepreneur, is working hard as an advocate for clean and renewable solar power and battery electric vehicles. This is a cause we need many people working hard towards. However, as is usually the case, problems arise not with what someone wants, but how they go about it. In one of his recent popular posts and presentations “Toyota versus Tesla: Can Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Compete with Electric Vehicles?” Tony presents six reasons that hydrogen cannot compete with electric vehicles. We’re going to address these one by one:
1.Hydrogen is not an energy source
Entirely true. Neither is electricity. … » More …
This article was originally drafted as an Op-ed submission for the Seattle Times and included input from many people at WSU. Thank you to all of them for the help:
According to the Washington State Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, gasoline fueled cars are by far the largest polluter of carbon dioxide in the state of Washington, accounting for one out of every four molecules emitted. If our state is going to reduce carbon emissions, we’re going to need many zero-emission vehicles– and soon.
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) or hydrogen Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) are the most common zero-emission vehicles. Washington state is making excellent strides … » More …
Two years ago I received seed funding from the WSU Energy Systems Innovation Center (ESIC) to investigate the potential for large scale hydrogen liquefaction in the Pacific Northwest. Since then I’ve had numerous conversations with diverse stakeholders including existing liquid hydrogen producers, program managers in the Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration, wind farm operators, chlor-alkali plant operators, bio-mass refiners, bio-fuel producers, and regional fuel cell companies. After two years of considering all of the diverse stakeholders for a system of this size and complexity, an awesome concept for our region has finally emerged. I’ll present this in the following parts: 1) existing North America … » More …
As you likely know, Whitman County (the home of WSU-Pullman) is the Saudi Arabia of wheat. We’ve produced more wheat than any other county in the United States every year since 1978. Of course it helps that we have a land mass equivalent to the state of Delaware and average just 6 residents per square mile.
What you may not know is the considerable potential for hydrogen to fuel these farms. This is a topic we’ll dive into considerable more detail over the coming years. Let’s overview the pieces for now:
Farmers are incredibly familiar with the chemical … » More …
A few years ago I attended a seminar on using extremely long carbon nanotubes for a space elevator. And so I started thinking…
Here’s the wiki for the space elevator concept. Here’s a graphic:
To be clear, space elevators may be harder than controlled thermonuclear fusion to achieve (that’s at least 50 years out). Although carbon nanotubes may have the strength to make it possible, the very best we can do could be ~1m in length. Compare that to the image above and you see how far we have to go. Not to mention running an elevator … » More …
The Seattle Times recently posted a user testimony of the Hyundai Tucson hydrogen fuel cell vehicle:
Sadly, the closest fueling station to Seattle is in San Francisco. Let’s take this moment and think about Seattle’s commute and the zero-emission options.
Downtown Seattle is extensively electrified for trolley buses. Aside from the mountain of copper it took to run the wires, that’s great for the environment, not so great for tourism or the pocket book. Electrification of just Seattle Metro … » More …
Jefferson County Washington is embracing their sustainable energy future. I recently gave a presentation at their Clean Energy luncheon in Port Townsend and was both proud and amazed by the level of engagement combined with a sense of urgency from the community. Video from the full talk starts at 5:00 here: http://porttownsendmedia.com//energy/Leachman.php A major part of humanities sustainable energy future will rely on local county and community efforts to work together for mutual benefit. Good luck Jefferson County!
A report by the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom was just released that emphasizes and quantifies the benefit of cryogenics to the UK economy. Here are a few statistics from the full report:
-Total direct and indirect annual contributions to UK economy is $492 million.
-Between $2.4-$5 billion generated in next 10 years.
To place this into context, the US economy is 2.5 times the size of the UK’s. If it scales, that could mean $1.5 billion/year generated in the US from a field that produces less than a handful of graduate engineers/year across the US. NASA and other … » More …