Thanks Anne and hello everyone

I run the Cape Tribulation Tropical Research station - and one of our major
research interests is energy sustainability - by living disconnected from
conventional energy sources we are obliged to be sustainable (or something
approaching it...!)

I also happen to be a technologist as well as a conservation biologist -
which helps (is essential!) in this business!

Cheers

Hugh Spencer




>Hi Hugh and welcome :-)
>
>I have forwarded on to the list another hydrogen skeptic comments,
>(by Jamie Brown - it should arrive shortly)and there are also some
>members of this list who have explained the downside of hydrogen.
>There are those who continue to remain convinced that hydrogen is the
>way of the future... I sit on the fence with this one and feel that
>hydrogen as an energy sourse is worthy of some research funding -
>rather than our $$ going to nuclear research.
>
>anyhow welcome, and jump right in...
>
>:-)
>
>a
>


Re hydrogen - I'm not going to wade into this one - it is to my mind a time
waster - but it is necessary to realise that hydrogen (as thought of in the
context of the Hydrogen Economy) is an energy storage mechanism, NOT a
fuel. - and a very inefficient one at that.

Now - if someone could convince a bacterium (or whatever) to generate
Hydrogen as a product of metabolism (of, say sewerage) at pressures of
1000 atm. then it would be worth considering.

maybe we should be promoting the excellent battery research being done at
UNSW by Prof Maria Skyllas-Kazacos
(http://www.control.com.au/bi2005/263Browse3.pdf) on Vanadium Bromide Redox
Flow Battery (and other related designs).

HS

end
____________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Hugh Spencer Director of Research |
Cape Tribulation Tropical Research Station | Phone/Fax (61)07 4098 0063

Australian Tropical Research Foundation | http://www.austrop.org.au/
"The Bat-House", Environment Centre. |
PMB 5 Cape Tribulation via Mossman | Hugh@...

Queensland 4873 Australia | ABN 21 059 585 107
___________________________________________|________________________________

Home to nine fat and happy flying foxes......

The AUSTROP Foundation is a not-for-profit, tax-deductible, environmental
organisation which supports conservation biology, appropriate technology
and environmental campaigning to protect the lowland wet tropical
ecosystems of Australia.

The Foundation also operates the List Server "Oz-envirolink" for
communications on environmental and related issues of concern to
campaigners, Australia and world-wide.