December 22, 2006

I Want One Of Those

I hope some of my readers have been checking out the ECOtality blog, a new blog about alternative energy where I'm one of a handful of bloggers contributing regularly. The group of bloggers run the gamut politically, from "green" Bush-loathers to, well, me.

I'm a red-state conservative Republican and not exactly a tree-hugger, politically speaking. But I do love the outdoors and think conserving the environment ought to be a GOP issue just as it was when Republican President Teddy Roosevelt created Yosemite National Park. And I am interested in seeing the American economy make the transition to a new post-petroleum era, powered by greener, cleaner, less geopolitically problematic energy sources. In short, I long for the day when all that Middle East oil under the feet of Islamists who wish us ill no longer matters to our economy, our way of life or our politics. I'm also a passionate believer that good old fashioned Yankee ingenuity - American know-how and inventiveness - will eventually create that day.

And so, when ECOtality Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona, asked me to write regularly for their new alternative energy blog - and promised no interference on content - I eagerly checked them out and found that they are developing a new technology called Hydratus - which produces hydrogen for hydrogen fuel cells "on demand" from magnesium and water.

ECOtality describes the Hydratus as "an eco-friendly power source that is safe, non-toxic, non explosive, and geopolitically neutral." The system uses magnesium - a plentiful substance found around the world - and water as its "fuel" and emits virtually no exhaust other than steam. The hydrogen and waste produced by Hydratus is environmentally friendly: No combustion, no toxic materials, no pollution, and readily recyclable and reusable.

Cool - especially if they can make it work for powering buses and trucks and cars. So I decided to write for their blog. So far, I've written about a North Carolina proposal to generate electricity from pig waste, China's realization that a growing ethanol industry will compete with humans and livestock for corn, a University of Southern Cal research project to generate electricity from well-fed microbes, a Colorado demo project storing wind-generated power in hydrogen fuel cells, and the coming of efficient LED light bulbs. I hope you'll check it out and visit the Ecotality blog often. They might keep me around awhile if you do, which means I'll continue to get paid. And, just maybe, one day, I'll have a Hydratus-powered test vehicle in my driveway, or at least get a free trip to Scottsdale...