GREEN HYDROGEN

OK, I’ve heard of “Green Technology”, Hydrogen but only recently “Green Hydrogen.  Right now, alternate energy sources primarily come from the following technology:

• Solar energy.
• Wind energy.
• Hydro energy.
• Tidal energy.
• Geothermal energy.
• Biomass energy.

Hydro and geothermal energy have been known for quite some time and definitely go back hundreds of years.  I’m sure you know about grist mills grinding wheat and corn to make flour.  The mills were always located on a stream, preferably a fast-running stream, with a wheel being driven by water moving into buckets located around the circumference of the wheel.   Geothermal energy was used by the Vikings hundreds of years ago. 

Green hydrogen is a fairly new “entry” into the alternate energy source but gaining great popularity among opportunistic companies wishing to push the boundaries of this technology into traditional uses.  Let’s take a look.

 Green hydrogen, is made by using “clean” electricity from renewable energy technologies to electrolyze water (H2O), separating the hydrogen atom from its molecular twin oxygen.  Why don’t we define electrolysis?   Electrolysis is process by which electric current is passed through a substance to affect a chemical change. The chemical change is one in which the substance loses or gains an electron (oxidation or reduction). The process is carried out in an electrolytic cell, an apparatus consisting of positive and negative electrodes held apart and dipped into a solution containing positively and negatively charged ions. The substance to be transformed may form the electrode, may constitute the solution, or may be dissolved in the solution. Electric current (i.e., electrons) enters through the negatively charged electrode (cathode); components of the solution travel to this electrode, combine with the electrons, and are transformed (reduced). The products can be neutral elements or new molecules. Components of the solution also travel to the other electrode (anode), give up their electrons, and are transformed (oxidized) to neutral elements or new molecules. If the substance to be transformed is the electrode, the reaction is often one in which the electrode dissolves by giving up electrons. Obviously, a chemical process.  Hydrogen is one of the biproducts and a usable gas either combined with carbon dioxide to form methane or burned by itself as a fuel. 

Green hydrogen seems to be on everyone’s mind at the moment, with at least ten (10) countries looking at the gas for future energy security and possible exports. These countries are:

• Australia
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• Japan
• Norway
• South Korea
• United Kingdom
• United States

 Actually, there may be an eleventh (11^th) country, Portugal.   In May, Portugal unveiled a national hydrogen strategy said to be worth €7 billion ($7.7 billion) from 2020 to 2030. The jury is still out on usability but they are certainly investing greatly in research and infrastructure to prove the technology.  So are the other ten (10).

Alongside oil and gas firms, renewable developers see green hydrogen as an emerging market, with offshore wind leader Ørsted last month (July) trumpeting the first major project to exclusively target the transport sector. Right now, transportation is the leading use of hydrogen and provides the greatest return of investment (ROI).

Beyond such big names as ørsted, a host of smaller companies is hoping to grab a slice of the growing green hydrogen pie. Companies such as ITM Power.  ITM Power might not be that well known today, but if green hydrogen lives up to a fraction of its promise, it could one day be huge. ITM Power Plc designs and manufactures products which generate hydrogen gas, based on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology. This technology only uses electricity (renewable) and tap water to generate hydrogen gas on-site and has a product offering capable of being scaled to 100MW+ in size. In establishing the existing customer base, particular importance has been placed on the ability to provide a fully integrated system, of the system to respond rapidly to varying power profiles, and to generate hydrogen at a pressure, flow rate and purity appropriate to its application.

The opportunity for green hydrogen to be applied across a wide range of sectors means there is a correspondingly large number of companies that could benefit from a burgeoning hydrogen fuel economy. Of these, perhaps the most significant are the oil and gas firms that are increasingly facing calls to cut back on fossil fuel production.

Several major providers of oil are among the players jostling for pole position in green hydrogen development. Shell Nederland, for example, confirmed in May that it had joined forces with energy company Eneco to bid for capacity in the latest Dutch offshore wind tender so that it could create a record-breaking hydrogen cluster in the Netherlands. Days later, BP’s solar developer Lightsource BP revealed that it was mulling the development of an Australian green hydrogen plant powered by 1.5 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity.

Big Oil’s interest in green hydrogen could be critical in getting the fuel through to commercial viability. Cutting the cost of green hydrogen production will require massive investment and massive scale, something the oil majors are uniquely positioned to provide.  If companies are willing to make the financial sacrifice, the future could possibly look extremely bright for future growth.  I personally think fossil fuels are here forever but we must continue efforts to develop clean energy sources.  They are the future, and green hydrogen just might be the brightest ray of hope in that future.

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR 2020

I want us to hop into Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine and go back about twenty (20) years.  Two decades ago, at the start of the millennium, IT (Internet Technology) was deeply concerned about Y2K.  I remember being an employee of General Electric at that time and GE programmers were paranoid over what might happen relative to Y2K.  It was a big deal and preparation for an IT apocalypse was being considered.  I have no idea as to how many terabytes of data was backed up on a daily basis getting ready for what might happen.  Also, the iPhone, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Facebook didn’t exist—had not been invented or at least commercialized.  So, what’s in store as a new decade begins?

Let’s take a very quick look at computer technology and how that technology drives just about everything we do now days.  Here we go:

Automation 2020: Hyper-automation.  In my younger years, I worked for a great engineer named Bob Ditto.  Now we are talking about the mid- 60’s so you will understand his vision when you hear his admonishment to me to get “computer-savvy” when the time comes.  He said: “if it can be automated, it will be automated and everyone better get ready for it.”  He was absolutely correct in that assessment.  Hyper-automation takes applications for performing various tasks to the next level. It enables application of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (MI), to increasingly automate processes and augment human requirements.

Multi-experience is the new experience 

From 2020 onward, multi-experience will see the traditional idea of computing evolve from a single point of interaction to include multisensory and multi-touchpoint interfaces, such as wearables and advanced computer sensors. Over the coming decade, this trend will become what is known as ambient experience.  If you read the literature, you will see that wearable technology is certainly one trend that will continue and advance relative to all possibilities, especially in wearable medical technology.   Multi-experience currently focuses on immersive experiences that use augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, multichannel human-machine interfaces and sensing technologies. 

Democracy, 2020 style

The democratization of technology means providing people with easy access to technical or business expertise without extensive or expensive training.  Most people in our society today are not programmers and even if we are, we are not proficient enough to exact usable code but the day is approaching where “citizen access” will be possible. “Citizen access” will focus on four key areas: 1.) application development, 2.) data and analytics, 3.) design, and 4.) knowledge.  Democratization is expected to see the rise of citizen data scientists, programmers and other forms of DIY technology engagement. For example, it could enable more people to generate data models without having the skills of a data scientist. This would, in part, be made possible through AI-driven code generation.

Augmentation gets human 

The controversial trend of human augmentation focuses on the use of technology to enhance an individual’s cognitive and physical experiences. It comes with a range of cultural and ethical implications. For example, using CRISPR (clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats) technologies to augment genes has significant ethical consequences. Physical augmentation changes an inherent physical capability by implanting or hosting a technology within or on the body. It’s a scary to think about human augmentation but that technology is being discussed and evaluated by medical literature.  Right now, most human augmentation is brought about by wearable technology but that is not the only way to accomplish specific ends.  Legislation is way behind this technology and it is truly sneaking up on the population at large.

Greater transparency and traceability

OKAY, do you really trust social media, GOOGLE, your bank, etc. with the data they collect on an hourly basis? You cannot go to an ATM without being tracked and documented.  You must know that.   This evolution of technology is creating a trust crisis. Particularly as consumers become more aware of how their personal data is collected and used, organizations are increasingly recognizing the liability of storing and gathering data. But many are also using AI and machine learning more to make decisions in place of humans.  This is a further cause of concern, which is driving the need for processes such as explainable AI and AI governance. This trend requires a focus on these key elements of trust: integrity, openness, accountability, competence and consistency. More legislation similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is likely to be enacted around the world in the coming years.  If you provide code you had better realize greater transparency will become a necessity in the upcoming decade.

The empowered edge

The growing edge computing trend is based on the idea that keeping traffic local and distributed will reduce latency. This involves a topology where information processing and content collection and delivery are placed closer to the sources of the information. The empowered edge employs the technology on the internet of things (IoT). This extends to the role of devices as the basis for smart spaces and moves key applications and services closer to the people and devices that use them. By 2023, there could be more than 20 times as many smart devices at the edge of the network as in conventional IT roles. 

The distributed cloud

The distributed cloud refers to the dispersal of public cloud services to locations outside the cloud provider’s physical data centers, while still in the control of the provider. In the distributed cloud, the provider is responsible for all aspects of cloud service architecture, delivery, operations, governance and updates.  The evolution from centralized public cloud to distributed public cloud ushers in a new era of cloud computing. The distributed cloud allows data centers to be located anywhere. This solves both technical and regulatory issues, such as latency and data sovereignty. It also offers the combined benefits of a public cloud service and a private, local cloud.  Now, with that in mind, there are many people who have issues with privacy when using the cloud.  Great idea but rife with areas where privacy can be compromised.  I certainly share these concerns and have had my engineering data compromised.  This is a real worry and companies providing cloud services must be on top of this one.

Even more autonomous things

Autonomous things, which include drones, robots, ships and appliances, exploit AI to perform tasks traditionally undertaken by humans. This technology operates on a spectrum of intelligence ranging from semiautonomous to fully autonomous and across a variety of environments including air, sea and land.  In this morning’s news, a segment regarding drones flying over Colorado and Kansas, logging data, is a concern.  No one seems to know what they are doing or who they are doing it for.  It remains, for the time being, a big mystery.   While currently, autonomous things mainly exist in controlled environments, such as warehouses, they will evolve to include open public spaces. Autonomous things will also move from standalone to collaborative swarms – such as the drone swarms used during the Winter Olympic Games in 2018.

Towards practical blockchain

Let’s define blockchain:  Blockchain technology enables distributed public ledgers that hold immutable data in a secure and encrypted way and ensure that transactions can never be altered. While Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are the most popular examples of blockchain usage, this “distributed ledger technology” (DLT) is finding a broad range of uses. Data storage, financial transactions, real estate, asset management and many more uses are being explored

Enterprise blockchain today takes a practical approach and implements only some of the elements of a complete blockchain. Everyone with permissioned access sees the same information, and integration is simplified by having a single shared blockchain.  In the future, true blockchain or “blockchain complete” will have the potential to transform industries, and eventually the economy, as complementary technologies such as AI and the IoT begin to integrate alongside blockchain.  This expands the type of participants to include machines, which will be able to exchange a variety of assets. For example, a car would be able to negotiate insurance prices directly with the insurance company based on data gathered by its sensors. Moreover, blockchain will be fully scalable by 2023.

Greater AI security 

Evolving technologies such as hyper-automation offers transformational opportunities in the business world. However, they also create security vulnerabilities through potential new points of attack. Security teams must address these challenges and be aware of how AI will impact the security space. 

Future AI security will have three key perspectives: first, protecting AI-powered systems, securing AI training data, and training pipelines and machine learning models; secondly, leveraging AI to enhance security defense, and using machine learning to understand patterns, uncover attacks and automate parts of the cybersecurity processes; third, anticipating nefarious use of AI by attackers – identifying attacks and defending against them. 

CONCLUSIONS:  Get ready for another decade of disruptive technology—and this is only in the IT and computer world. 

BENDABLE BATTERIES

I always marvel at the pace of technology and how that technology fills a definite need for products only dreamt of previously.   We all have heard that “necessity is the mother of invention” well, I believe that to a tee.  We need it, we can’t find it, no one makes it, let’s invent it.  This is the way adults solve problems.  Every week technology improves our lives giving us labor-saving devices that “tomorrow” will become commonplace.  All electro-mechanical devices run on amperage provided by voltage impressed.   Many of these devices use battery power for portability.   Lithium-ion batteries seem to be the batteries of choice right now due to their ability to hold a charge and their ability to fast-charge.

Pioneer work with the lithium battery began in 1912 under G.N. Lewis but it was not until the early 1970s when the first non-rechargeable lithium batteries became commercially available. lithium is the lightest of all metals, has the greatest electrochemical potential and provides the largest energy density for weight.

The energy density of lithium-ion is typically twice that of the standard nickel-cadmium. This is a huge advantage recognized by engineers and scientists the world over.  There is potential for higher energy densities. The load characteristics are reasonably good and behave similarly to nickel-cadmium in terms of discharge. The high cell voltage of 3.6 volts allows battery pack designs with only one cell. Most of today’s mobile phones run on a single cell. A nickel-based pack would require three 1.2-volt cells connected in series.

Lithium-ion is a low maintenance battery, an advantage that most other chemistries cannot claim. There is no memory and no scheduled cycling is required to prolong the battery’s life. In addition, the self-discharge is less than half compared to nickel-cadmium, making lithium-ion well suited for modern fuel gauge applications. lithium-ion cells cause little harm when disposed.

If we look at advantages and disadvantages, we see the following:

Advantages

• High energy density – potential for yet higher capacities.
• Does not need prolonged priming when new. One regular charge is all that’s needed.
• Relatively low self-discharge – self-discharge is less than half that of nickel-based batteries.
• Low Maintenance – no periodic discharge is needed; there is no memory.
• Specialty cells can provide very high current to applications such as power tools.

Limitations

• Requires protection circuit to maintain voltage and current within safe limits.
• Subject to aging, even if not in use – storage in a cool place at 40% charge reduces the aging effect.
• Transportation restrictions – shipment of larger quantities may be subject to regulatory control. This restriction does not apply to personal carry-on batteries.
• Expensive to manufacture – about 40 percent higher in cost than nickel-cadmium.
• Not fully mature – metals and chemicals are changing on a continuing basis.

One amazing property of Li-Ion batteries is their ability to be formed.  Let’s take a look.

Researchers have just published documentation relative to a new technology that will definitely fill a need.

ULSAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

Researchers at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Korea have developed an imprintable and bendable lithium-ion battery they claim is the world’s first, and could hasten the introduction of flexible smart phones that leverage flexible display technology, such as Samsung’s Youm flexible OLED.

Samsung first demonstrated this display technology at CES 2013 as the next step in the evolution of mobile-device displays. The battery could also potentially be used in other flexible devices that debuted at the show, such as a wristwatch and a tablet.

Ulsan researchers had help on the technology from Professor John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois, researchers Young-Gi Lee and Gwangman Kim of Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, and researcher Eunhae Gil of Kangwon National University. Rogers was also part of the team that developed a breakthrough in transient electronics, or electronics that dissolve inside the body.

The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper first reported the story, citing the South Korea Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, which co-funded the research with the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The key to the flexible battery technology lies in nanomaterials that can be applied to any surface to create fluid-like polymer electrolytes that are solid, not liquid, according to Ulsan researchers. This is in contrast to typical device lithium-ion batteries, which use liquefied electrolytes that are put in square-shaped cases. Researchers say this also makes the flexible battery more stable and less prone to overheating.

“Conventional lithium-ion batteries that use liquefied electrolytes had problems with safety as the film that separates the electrolytes may melt under heat, in which case the positive and negative may come in contact, causing an explosion,” Lee told the Korean newspaper. “Because the new battery uses flexible but solid materials, and not liquids, it can be expected to show a much higher level of stability than conventional rechargeable batteries.”

This potential explosiveness of the materials in lithium-ion batteries — which in the past received attention because of exploding mobile devices — has been in the news again recently in the case of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has had several instances of liquid leaking lithium-ion batteries. The problems have grounded Boeing’s next-generation jumbo jet until they are investigated and resolved.

This is a very short posting but one I felt would be of great interest to my readers.  New technology; i.e. cutting-edge stuff, etc. is fun to write about and possibly useful to learn.  Hope you enjoy this one.

Please send me your comments:  bobjengr@comcast.net.