This New Hyundai Car Runs On The Poop Of California Residents, And The Fuel Is Free.

[nationalize the fed]

With hydrogen supplied by Orange County's sewage treatment plant and paid for by the car manufacturer, a new fuel cell vehicle is actually hitting the market in Los Angeles.

Adele Peters March 18, 2014

A new car from Hyundai runs on a fuel that has a truly endless supply: human poop.

Hydrogen created from sewage at a waste treatment plant in Orange County, California, will power fuel cells in the Hyundai Tuscon, available for leasing later this spring in a limited area around Los Angeles.

Right now, there are only about 10 hydrogen fuel pumps in the entire state, and most are supplied with hydrogen that’s made from natural gas. But the Orange County Sanitation District is testing out new technology that can make hydrogen cheaply by processing solid waste and feeding it to microbes that turn it into methane. The fuel will be pumped to local stations, making it possible for Hyundai to put its car on the streets.

For now, it’s only going to be available in the immediate area. “We want to make sure with this car that customers have pretty easy access to hydrogen,” says Jim Trainor, a spokesperson for Hyundai. “If there were more hydrogen stations, we could have more customers. We’ll plan more when the infrastructure’s in place.”

Full Story:
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027144/this-new-hyundai-car-runs-on-the-poop-of-california-residents-and-the-fuel-is-free

[Turbineguy]

1. Eat a burrito

run fast.

[longship]

2. DUzy!

[rhett o rick]

15. Second!

[TRoN33]

22. LMFAO

[pipi_k]

26. Eat half a dozen burritos

and light a match.

Kapow! You're on vacation in the Caribbean...

[SomethingFishy]

35. LOL.. Burritos, The NOS of clean energy cars.

[mackerel]

3. Finally something useful from Orange Co.

P.S. There's a good joke in there.

[busterbrown]

4. Hysterical...

[loudsue]

5. All jokes aside, that sounds like it makes really good sense.

It's time some enterprising companies started using the kind of renewable fuel we have an endless supply of.

[Initech]

65. Robin Williams predicted this in his most recent special:

"Hi I'm Robin Williams. The shit hit the fan and it's powering my car! I just ate a huge burrito and now I'm about to go for a drive in my new shit powered Ford Fiesta. Fuck green, go brown!"

[PowerToThePeople]

6. That is great.

[Ferretherder]

7. I hate to point this out, but,...

...with a car that runs on the noxious fumes generated by an endless supply of crap, the republicans will be looking at us in their rear-view mirrors!

[rhett o rick]

16. True but since they are always going in the wrong direction, it might be a blessing. nm

[Ferretherder]

71. I never thought about it that way.

I 100% agree!

[classykaren]

8. Now what can the 1 percent and big oil do to mess it up?

[Thav]

9. Being from Iowa, all I can think is

hog confinement manure pits. Now there's an excellent supply.

[Javaman]

10. A new car from Hyundai runs on a fuel that has a truly endless supply: human poop.

sounds like repuke supporters.

[COLGATE4]

11. I'm told it has a

crappy ride.

[valerief]

44. Badda bing!

[NuclearDem]

12. Doc Brown was onto something. Mr Poosion.

[badtoworse]

13. Some years ago, I heard of a battery that uses human urine. This would be a great application.

[LTR]

14. I hope there's no exhaust.

[nationalize the fed]

20. exhaust from hydrogen engines= water vapor

No smog, no Nitrous Oxides no smog checks no problems



10 eco friendly ways to generate hydrogen from water

[truebluegreen]

32. Looks to me like they are talking about getting hydrogen from methane, not water. nt

[thereismore]

43. Correct. nt

[nationalize the fed]

50. No. The car has a hydrogen tank

Hydrogen created from sewage at a waste treatment plant in Orange County, California, will power fuel cells in the Hyundai Tuscon, available for leasing later this spring in a limited area around Los Angeles.

Truly green when they figure out that Hydrogen can be made from Solar Energy

[truebluegreen]

53. From the text of the post (and the article):

"...only about 10 hydrogen fuel pumps in the entire state, and most are supplied with hydrogen that’s made from natural gas. But the Orange County Sanitation District is testing out new technology that can make hydrogen cheaply by processing solid waste and feeding it to microbes that turn it into methane...."

My bold. So they still have to get hydrogen out of the methane (CH4) and how do they do that? What are the waste products? Once they have the hydrogen, great!--but what happens before that? 'Cause methane itself isn't exactly a good thing, being a greenhouse gas 20x worse than CO2.

[Kilgore]

58. It's done by a process called Reformation

Very common industrial process. Here is a link to the techie bits.

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/chen1/

Kilgore

[truebluegreen]

62. But not a get-out-of-jail-free card:

from your link: "...Unfortunately, the production of hydrogen using steam reforming of natural gas does not eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. However, the carbon dioxide release is in fact lower for fuel cell vehicles powered by natural gas when comparing to those powered by gasoline."

[Kilgore]

68. But carbon neutral since.....

natural gas is not the source of the methane. Poop gas is biologically sourced.

Seems strange to be posting about poop gas.

[truebluegreen]

69. Maybe we should trademark the name...

[nationalize the fed]

59. how DO they do that? good question

It's a step to a Hydrogen powered world.

Can't expect total change overnight. Or so I'm repeatedly told.

The car doesn't emit smog, so that's a positive.

Next step:

[SidDithers]

72. One might say that solar hydro can!...nt

Sid

[LTR]

49. No shit?

[dembotoz]

17. to modify a phrase---give a toot--don't pollute

[treestar]

18. lol talk about a limitless energy course

go poop car!

[drynberg]

19. Finally, the Hyundai Gas Passer

Is Ford, GM, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, etc. far "behind" in getting the Gas Passers on the Road? It's like getting back real change from a wooden nickel! Surely Sustainable, no?

[nationalize the fed]

23. Toyota and Mercedes next

Mercedes hydrogen fuel cell car due 2017 - SlashGear

Toyota: Hydrogen cars have edge on electric cars

And there's this about electric only:

Electric cars can go only half as far in freezing weather, AAA finds. The average EV battery range in AAA’s test was 105 miles at 75 degrees but dropped 57% to just 43 miles at 20 degrees
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-aaa-electric-vehicle-range-20140320,0,3522803.story#ixzz2wWphMXOq

[BlueStreak]

38. That will impact fuel cell cars too, but probably not as much

You do have to heat the cabin and run the fans and that takes energy that otherwise could go to the motors. The problem with EVs is that PLUS the fact that batteries just don't work as well in the cold

The 3-minute refill time is a huge advantage over EVs (assuming of course there will be infrastructure for either, which doesn't really exist now for either EV or fuel cell).

Also, unlike pure EVs, fuel cells can scale effectively, at least up to mid-sized trucks. There is no battery technology on the horizon that would allow an EV garbage truck, for example, unless there were curbside recharge stations along the route. But you can't have trucks idle like that. There is a company making a curbside recharging system for city buses. That's brilliant because bus routes are designed with frequent stops anyway.

If we want to look at the transportation picture of 2020, here's what we could see:

Small city cars, still mostly gas engine because that is cheap, efficient and convenient. But EVs and fuel cells combined could get 20% of that market if they can get to a reasonable price point ($30K with 80 mile range) and have a massive build-out of infrastructure. 2- or 3-cylinder gas engine with light hybrid can get close to 100 MPG, making EVs irrelevant to most people.

Primary cars (full size cars, crossovers, 5 seats, used for commutes and weekend trips, etc). Hybrids will still dominate, including EVs with range extenders (e.g. Chevy Volt and BMW I3). EVs will be a tiny niche because the pricing and convenience just won't be there for most people. EVs under 5% of the market. Fuel cells could be a player more than 5%, but limited by hydrogen infrastructure. Fuel cell could grow to 33% of the market in the 2020s, but will probably still be under 5% by 2020. Fuel cells won't be cheap and hydrogen won't necessarily be cheap either.

Work vehicles (pick-up trucks, cargo vans, etc) Will still be dominated by gas and Diesel engines, but we should see more hybrid technology to get them to the 30 MPG range. Fuel cells could eventually be a player, but probably not much action by 2020.

Light trucks. EVs and fuel cells could take 10% of this market. EVs fit a niche where there are a few local trips each day, but not a lot of miles.

Medium duty trucks (local delivery vehicles, garbage trucks, etc). Diesel will still dominate by 2020. EVs will be less than 2%. Fuel cells could carve out a 10-20% slice, but not by 2020. This is a good target for fuel cells because most of these vehicles return to base daily where they could get tanked up overnight. A 250 mile range would be fine for most. An interesting player is hybrid systems using micro-turbines. Wrightspeed is building this now. Runs on anything, including natural gas, and has virtually no maintenance cost and a useful life three times the average Diesel life. Uses no fluids.

Heavy duty and OTR trucks. Still dominated by Diesel, but a lot more Diesels running off natural gas (see Cummins and Westport). Again, micro-turbines can be a real player. Wal-Mart, Kenworth, Capstone, and Great Dane have a very interesting pilot running now. This could run off natural gas or hydrogen. But if we make the hydrogen from natural gas, there is no point of doing that conversion.

[MindMover]

66. Which dinosaur company do you work for ...

[BlueStreak]

67. Explain yourself

If you disagree with one of those projections, then explain why you think it is wrong.

If you are just going to come in with "because Elon Musk if building a big battery plant" then don't waste anybody's time. Batteries won't work anytime soon in the majority of transportation applications, especially the ones that use the most fuel and create the most carbon in the atmosphere.

[Blue Owl]

41. And BMW (emphasis on the "BM")

n/t

[Arkana]

21. This car looks like a real shitbox.

[A Simple Game]

24. With a slight modification to the car seats, I can see

fast food joints replacing gas stations on the highways.

[meow2u3]

25. Is there an available diarrhea turbo engine?

[Eleanors38]

36. Yes, a model with a GOPer Blower.

[Buddyblazon]

27. And considering how full of shit most Californians are...

they could power a round trip to Mars.



*I keed, I keed, my Californian DUers.

[freebrew]

28. The article doesn't explain..

how they're getting hydrogen from the methane. Or are they using methane and calling it hydrogen, in which case the exhaust would also contain CO2.

Just askin'.

[nationalize the fed]

51. The car is powered by a fuel cell that uses hydrogen

you're right, they should have explained how you get hydrogen from methane

Hydrogen is sometimes produced and consumed in the same industrial process, without being separated. In the Haber process for the production of ammonia, hydrogen is generated from natural gas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen

[freebrew]

70. Thanks for the link-interesting. nt

[Iggo]

29. I knew our poop was best!

Yeah!!!

[boston bean]

30. Is this what will be known as the "new" Crude?

[truebluegreen]

31. OK. So we're getting hydrogen from methane instead of natural gas...is that a big improvement?

I thought natural gas was methane. And then how do we make hydrogen from it? It seems to me this would be a blind alley because methane is 20x worse as a greenhouse gas than CO2.

I don't get the excitement, although doing something useful with poop is certainly an outcome devoutly to be wished.

[boston bean]

33. Do you mean you don't get the

excrement?

[truebluegreen]

34. Heh.

[Kilgore]

57. Methane is a great source for hydrogen

It's a process called steam reformation. Common in the chemical industry.

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/chen1/

Kilgore

[fredamae]

37. Ha! Big Oil can eat

Sh!t

[snooper2]

39. It's still a fucking Hyundai

Sometimes you have to remind folks what a real car feels like

[Blue Owl]

40. The new Ford Fecal!

Great invention but gonna be tough to market...

[valerief]

45. Will it be an Ass-UV? nt

[Kilgore]

55. Well Done!!

[rrneck]

42. They should use the technology to power public transportation first. nt

[nationalize the fed]

52. It's happening

Several companies are conducting hydrogen fuel cell research and practical fuel cell bus trials. These include:
Daimler AG, with thirty-six experimental units powered by Ballard Power Systems fuel cells completing a successful three-year trial, in eleven cities, in January 2007.[1][2]
Thor Industries (the largest maker of buses in the U.S.), based on UTC Power fuel cell technology
Irisbus, based on UTC Power fuel cell technology

There are also fuel cell powered buses currently active or in production, such as a fleet of Thor buses with UTC Power fuel cells in California, operated by SunLine Transit Agency.[3]

Hydrogen-powered fuel-cell buses began operating in Beijing on an experimental basis in 2006.[4] Three fuel cell buses, made by Daimler in Germany and purchased with a grant from the U.N. Development Programme, were the first fuel cell buses to enter operation in China.[4] The technology has not gained broader use in the city because air pollution reduced the efficiency and operating life of fuel cells.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell_bus

An elevated view of London's first HyFLEET:CUTE hydrogen fuel cell bus, showing the six roof mounted hydrogen fuel tanks, looking down from the high level concourse at Tower Gateway Docklands Light Railway station.

[rrneck]

63. Best news I've had all day.

[3catwoman3]

46. There is great potential here...

...for a multipurpose car.

Replace the regular seats with comfortable bidets, drive in the nude, and you can refuel your car "as you go," so to speak.

[Lurks Often]

47. Imagine if they could generate power using the crap coming out of Washington DC

Then you'd really be talking about power to the people

[KamaAina]

48. I rode a bus with fuel cells a few weeks ago

in Emeryville, CA, in between Oakland and Berkeley.

edit: Oh yes, welcome to DU!

[nationalize the fed]

54. thanks!

[DebJ]

56. DUZY for so many comments in this thread!

My favorite is ASS-UV

[libdem4life]

60. No sh##? Orange County...Republicans full of it...that 'splains it. LOL.

Yet, leave it to California ... from the in-ternet to the out-house. Gotcha covered.

[DJ13]

61. Hyundai has made shit boxes for decades

its just official now.

[Initech]

64. Fuck green, go brown!