Fuel Cells 101 – Learning The Basics

Lexus LFFC Fuel Cell Concept

Sir William Grove created the first fuel cell in 1839. It wasn’t until 1950, however, that another British scientist, Sir Francis Bacon, demonstrated the fuel cell’s practical use in a fuel cell stack. It was the magic of chemistry created in this stacking of fuel cells that allowed them to win out over other competing power systems when NASA was looking to increase the duration of manned space flights. NASA even called their first fuel cells Bacon Cells in honor of Sir Francis Bacon. The fuel cell’s early success in NASA’s manned space flights allowed fuel cell technology to literally “take off” in the 1960’s. Many of the types of fuel cells that we have today were spawned out of the R&D done by NASA in the 1960s as variants of the Bacon Cell concept.

One of the fuel cell types developed out of the R&D done by NASA, the PEM fuel cell, continues to Continue reading “Fuel Cells 101 – Learning The Basics”

Coal Use Forecasted To Rise – How We Can Mitigate Coal Pollution

Do you consider yourself as a person that cares about the environment?  Are you concerned about climate change?  Are you concerned about oil pipelines traversing our lakes and rivers threatening our fresh water resources?  Then you understand energy production from High Efficiency Low Emissions (HELE) coal is an important part of the plan for a better environment, right?  No?

If we ignore the fact that new coal powered capacity will continue to come online over the next twenty years, we bury our heads in the sand when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other atmospheric pollution.  We need to change the way we use coal and start using thermolysis for gasification rather than combustion for burning.   By choosing thermolysis instead of combustion, we can produce energy without producing pollution that harms our air and water.  In order to foster renewable energy sources like solar and wind, we need to find a common denominator fuel to let renewables compete on a wide scale.  That common denominator fuel is hydrogen.  We can make hydrogen from coal with significantly reduced pollution while we wean ourselves off of fossil fuels.  We can also make hydrogen from water and create zero pollution.   We can increase our capacity to make hydrogen from water while we decrease our use of coal over the long term.  We can phase coal out of our energy mix, but it will take time and we must have a pragmatic approach.

RMP draws contrast between the common misunderstanding between what is combustion and what is a noncombustion chemical reaction.  Burning coal is not the same thing as thermolysis  or the thermal decomposition of matter without releasing particulate matter to atmosphere.   The byproducts of thermolysis are inert and saleable for road making material and other construction material.

Be it known to all within the sound of my voice, whosoever shall be found guilty of burning coal shall suffer the loss of his head.

-King Edward II of England, 1276

Coal has generally had three major knocks against it with regard to pollution and its negative effects on the environment:  1)  CO2 emissions,  2) Sulfur Dioxide emissions, & 3) Mercury emissions.   Other complaints about coal involve NOx’s and other particulate matter released to atmosphere.    So if we could produce cleaner energy from our abundance of US coal without releasing those types of Continue reading “Coal Use Forecasted To Rise – How We Can Mitigate Coal Pollution”

Cheniere – The First U.S. Company To Export Natural Gas (LNG)

Cheniere (NYSE: LNG) is the first company in America to be given a license to export liquefied natural gas by FERC.   The world became interested in researching Cheniere in 2011 when this authorization was given.  Just a few years prior, in 2005, the US was building LNG import facilities as natural gas shortages seemed imminent. Natural gas prices continued to climb from 2005 to 2008 as the world did not recognize the fundamental energy shift sweeping across the planet during the great recession of 2008.  From 2008 to 2011, the US & world energy market paradigm was changing fundamentally.  With new technological abilities related to hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, natural gas drillers had unlocked the potential of the Eagle Ford and the Mighty Marcellus.  Many operators didn’t recognize the fundamental changes taking place in natural gas markets.

Cheniere, however, adapted to world markets differently between 2005 and 2011 as they reacted faster than anyone else when they saw the future of natural gas, not the present.  Before modern era hydraulic fracturing into the Eagle Ford and Marcellus shales had reached the ears and psyche of America, Cheniere adapted their LNG strategy to be a natural gas exporter.  In 2011, Cheniere had the approval they needed and long-term sales agreements locked up with some of the world’s largest energy customers. And now in 2015, Cheniere’s first liquefaction train for export is about to go online.  How did Cheniere come to be the first company licensed to export LNG internationally? Let’s begin our recap of Cheniere’s story in the year 2011.

Cheniere Sabine Pass LNG
Cheniere LNG Facility in Sabine Pass, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. This facility is being built by Bechtel, the 4th largest privately owned company in the US.  Bechtel is a construction company based in San Francisco, California.  Click to enlarge.

In 2011, the board of directors of Cheniere was different than it is today. Two of the board members of Cheniere in 2011 had some inside connections that may have helped with Continue reading “Cheniere – The First U.S. Company To Export Natural Gas (LNG)”

Responsibly Migrating Away from Crude Oil

Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

Crude oil and internal combustion engines are a part of our lives.   Crude oil refines into the primary energy that gets our vehicles around today.   It’s what powers our cars and trucks on freeways across America every day.   Crude oil is responsible for many jobs and products across our country and around the world.   RMP takes those jobs, especially the jobs in America, very seriously. We feel a great responsibility to make sure it is well understood that we care  about jobs provided by the oil & gas industry to Americans and people around the world.  RMP advocates, however, for an immediate and responsible migration away from crude oil as a fuel source.  By ramping up the displacement of internal combustion engines with fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), like the Toyota Mirai pictured above, America’s economy and national security will improve.  Mirai is the Japanese word for future.

Continue reading “Responsibly Migrating Away from Crude Oil”

The Keystone XL Pipeline

keystone xl

The recent mid-term election in America has brought the Keystone XL pipeline to the forefront of American politics again. Washington DC has enthusiasm and momentum to push through legislation that will approve the final phase of the Keystone Pipeline System: the Keystone XL. But how did America get involved between the National Energy Board’s ambition to get bitumen to China and other foreign markets? The answer is simple: Alberta is landlocked and a pipeline across America is one route to economically get the bitumen to China or other foreign markets.

Chinese flag

China needs energy. China faces many challenges to get enough energy to keep their economy moving and producing for over 1.3 billion people.   China has made some remarkable moves toward making clean energy recently when they endeavored to start building more IGCC plants for electricity production from syngas.  IGCC technology with Continue reading “The Keystone XL Pipeline”